From Aion to Fallen Earth
Posted by: Snafzg
On: Nov 03, 2009 at 11:32am
I unsubbed from Aion on Sunday night. When the prospect of staring at a wall in deep thought is more appealing than logging in to grind another dozen bubbles or so in boring PvE, it's time to hang up your subscription and move on for a while.
Many parts of Aion appeal to me but the PvE is just soul-crushing. I'd put the quality somewhere between DAOC, EQ1, and WoW 1.0 (pre-TBC/WotLK). That may sound great to some people, but it doesn't tickle my pickle. Perhaps the thing I miss most in Aion is the ability to progress through PvP -- or even just to break up the mundane PvE-grind with a bit of stress-relieving PvP. It took WAR a while to get the balance right in this area, but I think they've finally nailed it a year later.
Rifts are a cool concept but I've never managed to find one even though I know the exact locations. My timing is just horrible. Also, at level 23, I'm not in the Abyss yet. And I can't even stomach the 1.5 levels of PvE XP to get there. Call me a fan of RvR over PvPvE I guess. I want to be able to whack on my opponents from day one, not grind 25 horrendous levels before the opportunity presents itself.
Check out Werit's post on the pros and cons of Aion. I pretty much agree with him.
Does that mean I'll be heading back to WAR? Uh, no. Been there, done that. Nothing I've been reading lately gives me any desire to head back there either. Perma-city sieges? No thanks. Maybe they'll sort out their endgame one of these days and I'll give it another college try.
So where does that leave me? I want to get into a newer 2009 adult MMO, so that leaves Darkfall, Runes of Magic, Champions Online, and Fallen Earth. Darkfall seems to have promise but I've done fantasy to death. Since I've dones fantasy themepark even more to death, that takes RoM out of the running too. I tried Champions Online in beta. Since I didn't enjoy (read: hated) the PvE and there isn't enough emphasis on PvP, that option is out as well.
I guess that leaves me with Fallen Earth. I can't say I'm the hugest fan of post-apoc titles, but I haven't played many of them either. The scenery will be a breath of fresh air. I hear FE walks a fine line between WoW themepark and EVE sandbox, which sounds cool too. I also like that it's only been out just over a month now, so I don't feel like I'm that far behind everyone else.
In terms of drawbacks, I hear it isn't very polished. That might be a hard pill to swallow since I'm a polish freak, but given the lack of alternatives out there for me right now, I might have to chug it down with a glass of cool water. There's also the fact that I know very little about the game; I skimmed about 40% of the official website. Then again, that could be a good thing. I really have no expectations.
So yeah, I'll be picking up FE tonight from Direct2Drive. I hear the special horse bonus item is really cool and versatile. Is there any way for me to interface it with Steam? I'd buy it from Steam but you don't get any bonus items aside from client integration. Boo. I want the best of both worlds!
Beyond FE, I'm looking at Global Agenda and Guilde Wars 2. GA will probably require a team of active friends and scheduled playsessions. I'd like to give it a shot, but I don't see it working out in the long run. The game looks pretty deadly though. GW2 seems amazing from what I've seen, but that isn't much. Also, I have no idea when that's coming out. Hopefully, 2010.
Anyway, that's where I'm at as of today!
Many parts of Aion appeal to me but the PvE is just soul-crushing. I'd put the quality somewhere between DAOC, EQ1, and WoW 1.0 (pre-TBC/WotLK). That may sound great to some people, but it doesn't tickle my pickle. Perhaps the thing I miss most in Aion is the ability to progress through PvP -- or even just to break up the mundane PvE-grind with a bit of stress-relieving PvP. It took WAR a while to get the balance right in this area, but I think they've finally nailed it a year later.
Rifts are a cool concept but I've never managed to find one even though I know the exact locations. My timing is just horrible. Also, at level 23, I'm not in the Abyss yet. And I can't even stomach the 1.5 levels of PvE XP to get there. Call me a fan of RvR over PvPvE I guess. I want to be able to whack on my opponents from day one, not grind 25 horrendous levels before the opportunity presents itself.
Check out Werit's post on the pros and cons of Aion. I pretty much agree with him.
Does that mean I'll be heading back to WAR? Uh, no. Been there, done that. Nothing I've been reading lately gives me any desire to head back there either. Perma-city sieges? No thanks. Maybe they'll sort out their endgame one of these days and I'll give it another college try.
So where does that leave me? I want to get into a newer 2009 adult MMO, so that leaves Darkfall, Runes of Magic, Champions Online, and Fallen Earth. Darkfall seems to have promise but I've done fantasy to death. Since I've dones fantasy themepark even more to death, that takes RoM out of the running too. I tried Champions Online in beta. Since I didn't enjoy (read: hated) the PvE and there isn't enough emphasis on PvP, that option is out as well.
I guess that leaves me with Fallen Earth. I can't say I'm the hugest fan of post-apoc titles, but I haven't played many of them either. The scenery will be a breath of fresh air. I hear FE walks a fine line between WoW themepark and EVE sandbox, which sounds cool too. I also like that it's only been out just over a month now, so I don't feel like I'm that far behind everyone else.
In terms of drawbacks, I hear it isn't very polished. That might be a hard pill to swallow since I'm a polish freak, but given the lack of alternatives out there for me right now, I might have to chug it down with a glass of cool water. There's also the fact that I know very little about the game; I skimmed about 40% of the official website. Then again, that could be a good thing. I really have no expectations.
So yeah, I'll be picking up FE tonight from Direct2Drive. I hear the special horse bonus item is really cool and versatile. Is there any way for me to interface it with Steam? I'd buy it from Steam but you don't get any bonus items aside from client integration. Boo. I want the best of both worlds!
Beyond FE, I'm looking at Global Agenda and Guilde Wars 2. GA will probably require a team of active friends and scheduled playsessions. I'd like to give it a shot, but I don't see it working out in the long run. The game looks pretty deadly though. GW2 seems amazing from what I've seen, but that isn't much. Also, I have no idea when that's coming out. Hopefully, 2010.
Anyway, that's where I'm at as of today!
I believe that the decision to have players wait till level 25 to do PvP is a big mistake. That and the fact that the grind both leveling and crafting is horrid.
And don't worry about missing the Abyss. I left at level 25 after repeatedly finding myself useless there. Unless you're roaming in a big group, and most times even if you are, you'll get rolled repeatedly. Especially as an Assassin. I found out 23 levels in that Assassins are massively gimped in the Abyss because we only get like 2 skills to use while flying. We have to hope to keep people on the ground, otherwise we're severely underpowered.
Fallen Earth is a decent game but I worry if you care a lot about polish. It's pretty much missing everywhere. A lot of people, myself included, have been looking past that but performance and everything is a work in progress. Still crafting is fun. If you're looking for PvP, it's limited there. You can go to the PvP zones but it's very different from normal MMO PvP. It actually reminds me more of a slow paced Call of Duty.
Darkfall, even though it's fantasy, has good PvP. If FE doesn't work out for you, give it a shot. The social aspect of the game makes it stand out from any other MMO I've ever played. You can jump in and join your clanmates from level one, which is refreshing. I'm pretty sure there are a couple of people from the K&G community still playing there, if you decide to dive in.
It sucks Aion didn't work out for you and I but at least it's another title with potential that's worth keeping an eye on.
Please keep us posted on what you think of FE!
As for Steam integration, steam has the add non-steam game tab in the lower left corner of the steam window. that adds the shift-tab ability for friends window and community, but other than that your limited on your steam integration.
that being said i did a little Beta on FE as well and polish is a huge issue for me as well and I just could not handle the lack of it at the time i assumed that is was merely a Beta kinda issue and that it would get the polish it needed pre-launch but as it seems this is not true sadly. Let us know how FE is going and I will try to continually remind you that WAR is inevitable :P
As far as games i am looking forward to Star Wars:The Old Republic is on my major contender list, i fear there will be some similar class balance issues as Warhammer though seeing as a Bounty Hunter vs a Jedi, Jedi should win everytime hands down, This being said i believe their PvP theory is that:
"Balance will not be found in 1v1 battles it in group battles"
meaning that some classes ie Bounty Hunter/Smuggler may have greater group utilities while other classes Jedi/Sith Warrior will be more built around themselves
Still i am speculative
As always I appreciate your input and hope to see you in Warhammer again soon :D
I've actually been eyeing with FE for a while, interested in what your thoughts on this game are. From what i read my impression of FE gameplay is: huge single-player rpg/themepark, with meh immersion and occasional grouping/pvp. Not sure if its worth the subscription fee for me...
Your reasons for leaving Aion are very similiar to people i talked to, who left WAR to try it out. Basically HUGE PvE grind (15-20 days /played ?), with no real options (solo grind/group grind/instance grind.. or get farmed in PvP areas) which you must endure through to get to PvP endgame content. Which... aeh noone even knows if it'll be any good...
I've actually been eyeing with FE for a while, interested in what your thoughts on this game are. From what i read my impression of FE gameplay is: huge single-player rpg/themepark, with meh immersion and occasional grouping/pvp. Not sure if its worth the subscription fee for me...
Your reasons for leaving Aion are very similiar to people i talked to, who left WAR to try it out. Basically HUGE PvE grind (15-20 days /played ?), with no real options (solo grind/group grind/instance grind.. or get farmed in PvP areas) which you must endure through to get to PvP endgame content. Which... aeh noone even knows if it'll be any good...