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!
