A Request
October 20, 2009 41 Comments
Not from me.
No, the founder of Curse network, had some things to say about Aion. It’s not often you see open letters like this come from someone in a position like his. Curse as a site has grown tremendously since it’s humble beginnings with WoW. It’s not long, so if you’re interested in the game, it’s definitely worth the read to see what he has to suggest to keep the game from being relegated to a “…300k subscriber game within 6 months, not the one-million+ subscriber game it should be.”
About Shadow
Shadow-war 
Thanks for the link, good read.
It was all great until I got to the addons part. That guy is hilaaarious. Of course he wants addons put in the game, he build the effing curse network.
While the UI is not perfect, it works fine. No addons please. Give everyone the same tools to work with.
Yes, spammers and bots need to be dealt with. Agreed.
I’ve not heard great things about the seiges due to the lag (was just talking to a guildie last night about it) so yeah, that needs fixed, and quick. If it doesnt get fixed, I can’t see staying with Aion, as it is the point of the game for me.
Take it from a casual player who is playing Aion…..the grind is fine. Especially if you’ve played MMO’s for years (like he says he has), there have been worse grinds in MMO’s. (I’d be willing to argue DAoC and even Everquest was worse than this) Just because shit’s gotten easy in MMO’s doesnt mean that this is “hard”.
Im actually really enjoying the ‘grind’, when I level in Aion it actually feels like a big deal unlike in WoW where it didnt feel like you had earned it.
Dont get me wrong the game is far from perfect but it has a good start, they just need to build on it. Im only level 15 at the minute so cant coment on pvp except for the few duels I’ve fought
@slurms: Take it from another casual player, the grind is NOT fine. Well, it isn’t fine for me. I want to PvP, so all the PvE is a big long boring grind.
Aion is a very easy game, you just press a few buttons in order and your done. If it were a hard game, it wouldn’t be crawling with bots. The amount of time something takes does not reflect its difficulty.
Yeah, maybe “hard” is a bad word to use. It’s absolutly not hard, just time consuming. But I have to agree with pitrelli, I feel like I’ve earned each level. I just hit 25 last night and felt great about putting in the effort to get there. Can’t say I felt that in WAR or WoW. It could be like Demon’s Souls (non MMO I know) and not take very much experience to level, but be brutally hard to stay alive, but I think that would piss people off to. So I think being something that requires time from the player, while not for everyone, isn’t such a bad thing.
Like I’ve stated before, I’m in Aion for the PvP (and I’m hoping it works out!). But just like in DAoC, when I get to the end game through all the grind, I personally will feel that I’ve accomplished something by getting to that top level.
Question for you Werit: Does it seem like a rougher grind because you’re playing multiple MMOs?
It feels like a rougher grind because I do not care for the PvE.
WAR could double the leveling time and I would be fine with it. I enjoy leveling in WAR because I can do it via PvP. I was hoping I could do the same in the Abyss, but their unrestricted PvP (high levels vs low) makes it near impossible.
Some people may love the PvE, if so it isn’t a grind for them.
Going to reply wholistically to the comments here.
Grind is bad. Yes, I’ve played games that have had crazy grind in them. My MUD of choice that I still play from time to time is often considered a grind (though I contest not so much due to forced resting periods to absorb the exp). Overall though, grind and hell levels are bad design. Leveling time along the curve shouldn’t be drastically exponential. The genre is pulling in more people from a whole host of new walks of life, and many of those are people without the time to commit to a grindy game, and if they don’t feel like they’re accomplishing anything they quit. Sure, the achievment at the finish line may be worth it, but there’s a reason marathon’s aren’t a common occurance, most people can’t/won’t do them.
As for hard/easy, I have yet to actually play a HARD MMO. Even in beta for Aion, it wasn’t hard, it was just mind-numbingly slow and laborsome to level. From what I hear, that hasn’t really improved any. From a design perspective, grind is a tool used to do little more than keep player subscribed for a longer period of time. There is very little other incentive. For me, WAR got the leveling curve right finally. How it is now, is it take some work, but it doesn’t feel painful. The idea of an alt doesn’t make my brain melt (I have 3 40, and two 30’s). The long portion of WAR is the renown rank gain, which is a bit of a grind, but it’s gained naturally through the end game. What you’re there to play the game for is what gains you advancement. It’s not so much of a grind as it is an incidental increase in power. In Aion, that same incidental increase in power is more of a purchasing tool where your currency can be stolen (Abyss Point loss on death), and all signs point to a terrible, terrible grind there. Think on it this way, if so many people are complaining about just the leveling being a grind, how much worse will it seem when all those people hit 50 and start to PvP, if the same comparative grind is seen between WAR’s level/pvp “grind” and Aion’s level/pvp “grind”?
Lastly, I just want to touch lightly on slurms mention of the curse guy asking for addons. Yes, it probably is partially self motivated, considering a good portion of what his business is. On the other hand, myself as a gamer, always use addons and UI mods in every game a I play. Every time. Seeing a game who supports that community always makes me happy, because it means they will be getting input and colabaration from a whole slew of free players. Many of these ideas help improve the game so drastically, that many consider them integral to the game itself. A healthy mod’ing community can help keep a game alive and running by keeping the masses happy. Everyone has access to these tools, none of them cost money, and as long as they all follow the terms of the game and don’t exploit or break game mechanics, it’s an even ground.
I totaly disagree with addons. While in the past I’ve used them, I’ve used them because they almost became a requirement to play certain classes. But, if they weren’t there at all…everyone would make due and be on an even playing field. Having to look up and install mods is not something that everyone is going to do, even if it’s free and easy. Having a mod community is great, look what it does for games like TF2. But so many MMO addons come dangerously close to being more like cheating (like twist addons), that to even have them at all is making the game unbalanced.
INCOMING BURN
“WAR got the leveling curve right finally. How it is now, is it take some work, but it doesn’t feel painful. The idea of an alt doesn’t make my brain melt.”
In my experience, that’s because rolling alts is more fun than playing the end game in WAR.
Answer me this: what MMO have you ever played that didn’t grind at some point, wether it was in the beginning or the end? WAR was an enjoyable leveling experience, but then an endless loop of zerging that made most unsub or continuously reroll. EQ was a HECK of a grind, worse than Aion IMO, and I had TONS more time to play EQ than I do to play Aion. DAoC’s quests mostly sucked, so it was jumping from spot to spot to spot grinding to 50 (DAoC vets remember Avalon City??) but the end game was well worth it. And don’t even get me started on City of Heores leveling.
On the subject matter of addons, it’s just something people disagree on. If someone isn’t willing to go look for and install add-ons that MAY provide an advantage, tough cookies. Part of playing a game competively (like in a PvP game) is looking to eek every ounce of performance out of your ability and part of that is addons, which often give great advantages and ease of use with the interface. It’s why I use nerfed buttons, target ring, twister, and a host of other addons in WAR. Just because others aren’t going to do it, doesn’t mean we should prohibit everyone from the possibility. That’d the be same as saying, “Not everyone is going to go to college/tradeschool, so noone should be allowed”. It’s not even that hard to figure out how to find/install/use addons for any MMO I’ve ever played.
CoH was a crazy grind, it’s why I never got past the 30’s. EQ was a crazy grind also, probably a large reason why I never got past 40. EQ2, not so much, I never ground out mobs (picked a spot and just camped mobs). Even the crafting/harvest I never ground out (well once, when I realized how important it was and I had far, far outleveled it). Champions, I refuse to grind, which might be why my highest is level 33, where the content gap slaps you in the face. WoW, you never had to grind to level, I harvested all my crap while I leveled, and then went and did my crafting. If I didn’t have enough, I blew money on mats.
I never played DAoC, so I can’t comment, but I don’t play games that are a grind. In WAR, when people were zerg surfing, and keep swapping, I did that for a bit, but then I went to SCs and small groups. I also somewhat disagree with the “alts are more fun”. Alts are enjoyable, yes, but I always have FAR mroe fun on my SW, KotBS, and my DoK than I do on my 11 engie, or my 21 SM, or my 32 BG.
So, the answer, is, I’ve played games with grind, but not for long.
so yeah, basically, if you dont like grinding, stay away from Aion, but I REALLY don’t hink it’s as bad as some are saying it is. So it get’s my goat when people say that it will drive away casual players. (I play for maybe an hour a night)
Back to the addons. (more DAoC references ahead) I actually had a discussion about Minstrels in DAoC last night. We reminised about how tough of a class it was to play. If you could play a minstrel well, you were pretty much a badass. Then fast forward to games like WoW and WAR which have twisting addons…its just lame. Because of the addons, you remove the gap bewteen those with the skills to play the class better, and those who don’t.
I want to get the most out of my character by my actions IN the game, not by the addons I have, as if I was playing TF2 or CoD4. Plus, you can make custom addons that maybe no one else has, so for your college/trade school analogy; while everyone should get the same opportunity to go, people with custom addons are the people who get free rides because they’re pops bought off the dean. These people suck…and make it unfair for everyone else. (maybe thats a stretch, but my point remains valid! lol)
I see where people are coming from in regards to the addon debate, but I still disagree with them. It feels too much like punishing the playerbase for the actions of a very small minority. I’m curious as to why it’s wrong that someone can make their own addons to use privately. Anyone who wants to can try to learn, that’s just holding personal knowledge and ability against the player. I see it no differently than saying that the kid on the other side of the monintor from me has better reaction time, so keeps sniping me everytime I peek my head out. I’m not going impose an artificial lag on him to counter my slower reaction time. As long as he’s not doing anything to break the rules of the game itself that we have all agreed to operate under, it’s fair game. This whole philosiphy ties back into what I was talking about a week or so back in my “virtual ethics” post. It’s not prohibited, so it’s allowed, that is the lens through which I see video games. A robust mod community brings a host of possibilities not previously available.
In regards to twisting itself, it’s a terrible mechanic. I’ve always thought so, from the days of EQ bard twisting to even the current incarnation with KotBS/Chosen, I hate it. If a class is balanced around having X number of auras/songs/short-duration-buffs all running at the same time, then just let them maintain that number instead of adding an unecessary and overly complicated “mechanic” that detracts from ACTUAL gameplay. IIRC DAoC has actually done that semi-recently with Paladins/Minstrels.
I remember way back in 2006/7 there was a rumor that Chosen/Knights would see benefits from auras the longer they had them running (with a cap at some time x). This tickled me pink I was so opposed to twisting, plus it provided options (options are good!), allowing someone to maintain one aura for it’s added bonus, or to instead twist auras and get multiple benefits with a bit more effort.
Here, I’ll give you springy shoes so you can jump higher and compete with NBA players. They will unboudtedly get the same springy shoes and still be better than you, so…I guess these springy shoes were pointless after all.
Wow that’s interesting, when the creator of Curse calls you out.
while I question the whole Addon motivation, I do like that the dude seems to genuinly enjoy the game and just wants it to be more widely accepted/enjoyed.
If springy shoes were allowed, I’d be all for it, and just like you said, if the better athlete wanted to get them, he’s just as welcome to. It’s allowed. If he chooses NOT to get them, that’s his decision. Also, if the logical conclussion is that they’re pointless, then why care if anyone gets them?
Because what really matters is that the atheletes are where they are partially because of talent, but mostly because of determination and dedication to being good at what they do. Look at performance enhancing drugs. Would you be okay with them even if the NBA, NFL, etc etc said, “okay, there available to everyone who wants them”? I’d rather someone pwm my face in a game because they are truly better at outthinking and outplaying me at the keyboard/mouse (like an FPS). It’s never sat well with me to think what the other guy might have had to aid him other than gear and skill.
If sports institutions lifted the ban on them, I would absolutely be okay with it. Equitable availability makes the playing field fine. Hell, a part of me even says, yes, lift the ban. MLB would have more homeruns, NFL would have more touchdowns and sacks, and the NBA would have whatever they consider exciting (slam dunks? – I hate basketball). It would most likely draw more fans with the excitement and bring greater entertainment.
How do you feel about sprinters in the Olympics useing specially designed clothes to reduce wind resistance? Some people argue that the reason for all the records being broken in recent decades isn’t because of training or natural athleticism, but because science has been helping along in a huge number of areas to take that natural talent to a next level.
Hell, there is a whole job-set designed around creating new sports equipment, and refining the existing to draw out every inch of performance over the other guy. That’s a better analogy to how I see addons.
I don’t get where this idea of “Punishing gamers” comes from. Wow you suck and can’t play the game, here’s an addon to make you 1337? Wth? UI addons I can understand, but when you get down to addons assisting players with gameplay, its bullwaffle.
If you can’t play the game the way it was intended, why should you get some magical assistance to be on par with my natural skill? (For reference, I’m not saying I’m 1337, just consider me “anti-addon” guy [alongside Slurms] in this discussion) NCSoft has stated that they are considering UI addons, but that’s about it, and that’s exactly what I wanted to hear. (Good discussion though guys)
“If you can’t play the game the way it was intended…”
That’s exactly the type of narrow-focused, rigid thought that leads to so many people to be outplayed and outpreformed. It’s a self-impossed handicap to presume to know the intent of the developer. If it’s allowed in game, then it’s intended, a person may not agree with it, or may think it’s “cheap”, but it doesn’t matter. If I walk away from a fight, having used pocket items, pots, and various addons, I don’t care what the other person thought. I won, without breaking any rules, tough cookies to the looser.
And it’s punishing gamers if the goal of not allowing addons is to stop the extremely small minority from breaking game mechanics by preventing access to a whole realm of tools. It’s punitive and unfocused, a bad combination.
I don’t even like basketball.
@Shadow in reply to lifting of substance bans:
I’ll let my kids know that it’s okay to use drugs to get further in life then. Don’t work hard, just take this!
It isn’t like I could start taking steroids and go walk on to a team 😉
I’m with you though, if the technology (i.e. steroids) becomes the deciding then it pretty much ruins the aspect of a sport between players.
That’s where their decision comes into play. They can choose not to partake in drugs, or they can choose to do so. In the current state of professional sports, and in the current legislative system we live in, the majority of performance enhancing drugs are outlawed/illegal. From a purely moral viewpoint, I don’t see anything wrong with the use of drugs, in and of themsevles to help performance.
Think on it this way, have you never pulled an all nighter? Did you take any caffeine or ingest nicotine in any form? Both are drugs that can help keep you alert or releave stress of work. However, both are legal, and noone would bat an eye at the use of either, but when it comes down to it, both are performance enhancing drugs.
God knows, when I was in college, I kept a good supply of Red Bull on hand for whenever needed. Will you frown at your children when you see them drinking a coke or a cup of coffee to help them stay up writing a paper? Do you think less of coworkers who walk in with a cup of coffee so they can be alert and ready for the start of the day and keep their jobs?
The only difference between that, and say, taking aderol (sp?) is that one is a legal, over the counter ingestible, and the other is a prescribed and controlled substance. I know plenty of people in college who regularly took aderol when studying, doing final projects, etc… I never had a problem with it.
The idea that you can take a pill, or substance and be magically good at something is overly simplistic, and it applies in much the same way that addons to in video games. In no way is steroids going to make you stronger on their own. You need to work out as well in conjunction with them. In no way is nerfed buttons going to make you a great player, it will improve performance, but a crappy player will still get beat by a good player.
Nope, I’ve never pulled an all nighter, never smoked, never drank coffee. I do enjoy the occasional pop (usually diet coke, which I think has a few less side effects than most performance enhancing drugs) and have, in my lifetime, drank 4 energy drinks. They make me groggy the next day, so I do better just to avoid them.
And I hold my own against 13 year olds in first person shooters who are jacked up on Red Bull.
@Slurms
Then your experience is vastly different than the majority of America. And that’s fine. However, it’s accepted that the majority of people have no issues with useing things like I mentioned to help them out. If another person chooses to obstain from use of those items in real life, or addons in game, that is their right. They are after all, merely tools to assist and enhance the underlying talent/ability of the user.
The side effects of energy drinks, pop, nicotine, or HGH aren’t the issue that I’m discussing here. It’s morally/ethically seperated out from the subject matter. The importance is to have equity in starting position and equity in availability of resources.
So just because lots of people do it makes it okay?
When I was a kid, I saw this thing come out called the Game Shark. Remember those? Never owned one because, even though it was available to me, I thought it was a little bizzare that someone would want to breeze though a gaming experience. It’s odd to me that people would want to use these things to get by and not show that they could do it without the aides. I mean, seriously, the point of playing games is for it to be a challenge. Something to experience and say, “look, I did that, me, no one else.” Then MMO’s come along and I can say, “Wow, WE did that, as a team, as people.”
So, partaking in nicotine, caffeine, and energy drinks isn’t okay?
In a very broad and general sense, yes, the majority decerns the consensus of moral leniancy for the society within which we reside. What I’m saying in regards to that specific instance is that if one is acceptable, then all should be, since all perform the same function, to varying degrees of magnitutde. Picking and choosing which is lawful runs counter to a logical continuity, and is part and parcel with legislating against things based purely on the basis of dislike, or a moral difference. I follow the laws and rules of the society I stay in, but it doesn’t mean I always agree with them, or would even choose to exercise said freedom if the restriction was removed.
However, outside human morals don’t really play into the topic (despite how far astry we’ve come trying to draw coralaries between gaming and other real-life activities), the only “morals” or laws really pertinent are those of the individual game. As a gamer, my particular gaming philosophy is somewhat simialr to that of my real life philosophy. Reduce the number of rules to a game, break down barriers, allow players as many options as possible, put as much control into the players hands as possible.
Either way you come at it, where addons are allowed, they will be used. Anyone can take a stance against them if they so desire, and declare that it is cheap or poor play, and obstain from their use. Some people who don’t use any addons will still beat other players who do use them, or find that a previously easy enemy suddenly poses more of a challenge, while the reverse is also true. I believe that it is not only right, but desireable to see the mod segment of gaming explored to it’s fullest potential in any and all MMOs, becuase it allows the most options to us as gamers, and brings the greatest level of diversity to the playing field.
The point of playing the game for YOU is the challenge of completition. Other people play games for a story, or play a game to discover a location and see it first hand. Others enjoy coordination of people toward a singular goal, the micromanagement that comes with group functions. Not everyone, and I would say, not even the majority, play a game for a challenge, they play a game to be entertained in the way they seek to be entertained.
And yes, I recall the Game Shark, I never had one myself either 😉
(I’m really bored at work today, if you can’t tell from the crazy amount of replies)
“So, partaking in nicotine, caffeine, and energy drinks isn’t okay?”
Very loaded question. But basically, if it negatively effects me if you partake in any of them, yes, there’s a problem. Caffeine and energy drinks don’t really effect me, but smoking does (secondhand smoke, cost of insurance).
“put as much control into the players hands as possible”
I’m all for this, within the confines of the game. But 3rd party stuff just makes me cringe.
“Either way you come at it, where addons are allowed, they will be used”
I don’t disagree with this one bit. But I’m saying I don’t like them. I prefer them to not be in my game.
“Other people play games for a story, or play a game to discover a location and see it first hand.”
I’m in for that to, but you don’t need addons to do that. The ones I’m concerned about are those used to get an edge in combat.
PvP = Player vs. Player
Not PA vs. P (Player + Addon vs. Player) or PA. vs. PA. (Player + Addon vs. Player + Addon)
Giving someone an edge from a 3rd party is just wrong, period.
Giving someone an edge from a 3rd party that everyone has free and ready access to is just right, period.
The point I was making with the different drives is that some of those goals can be more rapidly reached with third party software/addons/etc… For instance, if all I care about is the story, then going god-mode through the game to more rapidly reach the story points is a highly attractive option. Like I said, I understand where anti-addon people come from. In general, it’s seen as a detraction from ability and the “core” value of what it means to play the game. Obviously, I disagree 😉
As to my “loaded” question, it really has to do more with a categorical philosophy of things as opposed to a graduated scale. For instance, caffeine does affect you, just not to a degree you’ve ever noticed. Used in high doses people can and do have severe withdrawals that include shakes, extreme temperature fluctuations, and mood swings. A graduated and piecemeal approach is just as valid as a categorical. There is neither right or wrong here, merely perspective. If a person decides (such as yourself) that other stimulants are undesirable, that is fine. A person (such as myself) sees nothing wrong with the masses using them in a responsible manner, as they are just various degrees of already legal and widely used versions. The laws set down to stop consumption and spread of these products is an attempt to protect citizens from harming themselves, and that base desire is not something that translates well into the game world. Which is where the entire analogy kind of falls apart.
(As an aside: I’ve read some interesting reports about secondhand smoke that suggests it’s not nearly as much of a hazard as common thought tends to lean toward).
Anyway, it’s my third anniversary, so I doubt I’ll be around to continue the conversation anymore today, thanks for the talk Slurms!
“if all I care about is the story, then going god-mode through the game to more rapidly reach the story points is a highly attractive option”
Then the developers of that game are shit if they can’t provide a good story experience for the player without making them feel like they need to use a “get rich quick” scheme.
“it’s seen as a detraction from ability and the “core” value of what it means to play the game. Obviously, I disagree”
Agreed, and it baffles me that people use cheats. To them I usually ask, “why do you even play?” Addons are a much more slippery slope, because they aren’t technically “cheats”. But some cone close enough that I’d rather just avoid them altogether.
We’ll leave the stimulant debate for another time….that’s a whole different monster hehe.
Enjoy your 3rd anniversary, tell her Slurms says hi. She’ll be like, “who?” then you say, “you know, SLURMS!!” it’ll be the best 3rd anniversary ever.
Wow. This got off track. How in hell did a conversation about Aion devolve into a discussion about nicotine, all-nighters and performance enhancing drugs in basketball? LoL.
I would like a few ways to move the interface around. I don’t like the default placement and something like WAR’s default resizing and moving functionality would be ideal. I don’t care much for add-ons but not for most of the reasons given here. I don’t like them because:
A. I get tired of having to update mods constantly every time a new patch comes out. It’s even more infuriating when the mod maker quits the game and abandons the project all together. This happened a few times in WoW and even more in WAR with it’s mass exodus of players.
B. I also tire of having to wait for others to update THEIR mods before a raid. I can not count the number of times that we had to wait for someone in the raid to update their “Deadly Boss Mods” because they were a version behind. Raids can be infuriating enough with the AFKs, late arrivals and general asshats, without having to add that in there as well.
C. Mods can be a very big performance hog. It’s not a big deal on my PC because I have a good one but my nephew would sometimes slow to a crawl because of all the mods he loaded.
Yes, I also think mods can make the game too easy. WoW with its Deadly Boss Mods and some of the other raid mods just went too far. Telling you what to do at every step.
At the most I would like to be able to resize and move the interface around. I would like to have dual targeting ala WAR. A healing interface like the WAR mod Grid would also be nice. I don’t need or want anything more.
As for the rest of his letter, I agree totally with the bot situation. They HAVE to get a handle on that and fast. It’s insane and morale depleting to walk into an area overrun by bots. Get a handle on it now and stick to it.
I don’t mind the “grind” so far, mostly because I am having a lot of fun. A few more quests would be nice but nothing that I have to have. Quests giving more XP will be nice after the next patch.
Finally, I agree that itemization needs to be looked at. It’s not as bad as WAR’s itemization was, Bright Wizard strength gear FTW, but it could use some tweaking. I think more of the quests should give basic equipment rewards instead of the kinah and XP that they only give now. I also think that bosses should ALWAYS drop loot, that’s what makes bosses fun and suspenseful.
Well, games are balanced without addons, so that is the level of challenge that the designers feel is “about right”. Addons, afk botting, buying gold, etc. all make the game easier than intended. I’m fine with that in offline or pve games. Whatever. Do what makes it fun for you. But in pvp, the playing field should be even (players should be playing the same game). And that game should be Aion, not “who can find the best addon.” 😛
Or to go all Doom on you, addons = “Don’t Hurt Me, Daddy” mode. Baseline = “I am death incarnate.”
Again, this is presumptious to believe we know the intent of developers (unless explicitly stated otherwise). For instance, WAR from the start said they wanted to support the mod community and let them do as much as they could. By doing this, they are also balancing the game around possible future addons. It’s not uncommon for MMOs to rely upon the community to fill in the deficient gaps of the UI/interface the base game has (look to WAR, WoW, EQ2, etc…).
PvP games are never an even playing field. I don’t go looking around for even fights in WAR, I look for the weakest mofo I can find to take out. I will attack with everything I have and kill them as quick as possible, if they are stragling behind, great. If they are are half life from fighting mobs, even better. If they are so lagged they never see me till laying dead on the ground and I’m moving on, superb. Nothing is ever fair, and I will use everyhing allowed to me by the game to win. If someone else doesn’t liek that, thay are more than welcome to do there best to defeat me in game, and go gear up/study/practice/implement addons till they can.
lol Im loving some of the discussion points on here.
GIMME DEM STEROIDS!!!
In all seriousness though I’d prefer Aion to stay how it is …… without the add ons. Sure I’d like them to incorporate somethings into the base UI but I think that minor tweaks can be made by the devs themselves and not the lads over at curse.
Naamah good point about the healing, I find it a real pain in the ass switching round the targets to heal. Again I could set up macros but I prefer to rely on my own reactions and skill level.
I’m surprised that Aion hasn’t implemented secondary targets, target of target, or allied target yet. Hell, CO did that about two weeks after launch I think. That has become one of those integral staples of an MMO UI today I thought.
I think thats the problem mate, its still effectively an ‘Asian style’ game – yes they have westernised it to an extent however imo they have overlooked certain functionalities that us folks from the west take for granted will be there, I would have thought alot of this stuff would have been picked up in beta however obviously not.
Still its a great game and I’m enjoying it so I’ll just keep my eyes open for the upcomming patch and what its gonna add this time around
@pitrelli
Let me know, I said from the get go, that if the majority of people who jumped over there are still playing it 6 months to a year and are still enthusiastic about it, I’ll give it another shot. I know I’ve seen a lot (a LOT) of people leave, but I’m still willing to keep my mind open.
Of course, my recent revelation of framerate amazitude with CO leaves little in my vision for anything else right now 😉
yeah this is it, id played it for a couple or hours in the beta and really didnt enjoy it, a twist of the arm a few weeks later and I’d bought the game.
There aint nothing new here I will say that, but im just having a great time of it. Im by no means commiting to the game for the long term, I havent tasted the pvp so cant comment and I just know I’ll be returning to WoW to roll a worgen…or two.
Add to that I still want to play champions (once i can afford a decent pc to run it) and I think I’ll be an MMO nomad for a while (I never sub for two games cause im a tight wad)…. which aint a bad thing, there is afterall plenty of choice these days.
On the subject of addons id have to say aion kinda sucks without addons. i like benig able to move everything on the screen as i see fit to suit my needs. name a addon for wow outside healbot or decursive that gives u an advantage over others. most addons that are made display the same info that the default ui already shows just in a way that u like better. i cant see how a unit frame addon or action bar addon could do give someone an edge