Aion Servers To Merge, XP Grind Softened

Massively reports that NCSoft's fantasy MMO Aion will soon be getting a round of server mergers to balance player populations and shore up in-game economies. A newsletter from Aion producer Chris Hager also brought word that character transfers will be an option starting in June, and NCSoft will be "offering them to all of our players for free for a limited time." This is happening in the lead-up to the game's 1.9 patch, due on June 2, which contains a number of measures to make the XP grind a bit less harsh (among other things; patch notes). They're creating more quests, increasing XP rewards from existing quests, and implementing a system that "grants you experience bonuses as you continue to play."

Re:Asian MMOs

[Cimexus]

The reason you need to be referred by an existing player is so that currency farmers don't just sign up for the free trials by the thousands to run their bots. It seems to work too. After an initial wave of bots at launch, NC cracked down pretty hard and you don't really see any now. Maybe one in a noob zone every now and again but that's it.

Re:Anyone notice that black cat just now....deja v

[stonewallred]

Lol, server balance. Tell that to my toons I have on Cho'Gall Alliance side. Been there and /who at 8:15PM server time on a Friday night and there was 39 players on Alliance side in the entire world. Seen as few as 5, with me dual-boxing two of them. But Blizzard says there is no server imbalance.

Re:Anyone notice that black cat just now....deja v

[caerwyn]

Why don't they then just quit? I mean, you can hunt carrot only for so long before realizing that, yep, i am hunting carrot and i will always be hunting carrot because that is how company turns profit.

They generally don't quit for one of (or a combination of) a few reasons:

1) They've already invested a lot of time into a character, and they don't want to throw that away.
2) They're playing primarily for social interactions and the "grind" is mostly something to do while hanging out with friends, so they don't mind it.
3) They're playing for the end-game raiding, which for many people *does* provide enough enjoyment to balance out any grind.
4) They're playing for the PvP, and they enjoy that enough to balance out a grind.
5) Hope springs eternal, and they suffer through a current grind because looking toward or getting that next shiny really is that much of a reward to them.

I've personally experienced all of those at times (1 a little less so), and I've definitely seen them in people I've played with (I don't play MMOs anymore).

Re:Anyone notice that black cat just now....deja v

[Andy Dodd]

"Even the Achievers don't derive any enjoyment from endlessly repetitive tasks - what they enjoy is achieving something hard or getting something rare or unique: the "hard work" needed to get those hard to get achievements needs not be endless grinding: in fact, complex, difficult encounters with hard to get pre-requisites can be just as satisfying."
This is how a non-grindy MMO like WoW appeals to the achievers...

Re:And the ongoing infestation of hackers and bots

[Get on the boat]

One might suggest keeping such indignant retorts and demands (addressed directly to the game producer no less) to the Aion website News comments section.

As completely ignored as that comment section is by the GMs, to say nothing of Chris Hager himself, it's at least a degree of separation closer than posting a reply on slashdot.

Just saying.

Re:Asian MMOs

[subanark]

There are no currency farming bots in Wow with a trial subscription. The trial accounts in Wow don't let you trade, use the AH, chat in global channels, and only let you accumulate a very small amount of coin. Most bots in Wow are the result of accounts that had their password stolen. The reason this doesn't plague Aion (as you claim) is that it has not reached the player base threshold for farmers to invest the time to create phishing scams to get these passwords. If they did, it would be easy to get a few passwords and have those accounts refer their bots. To make a non-car analogy, it would be like saying that linux/mac is less vulnerable to viruses because it is harder to compromise. In actuality, it is the popularity of Windows that makes these viruses more profitable to make.

Re:Asian MMOs

[Americano]

Max level in WoW is not achievable in "mere days", unless you do nothing but play WoW for 20 hours a day straight. I have 5 max-level characters, and have been playing for about 3 years now. Rough numbers, all 5 of those characters took 8-16 days /played to hit max level. The amount of time reported is the hours spent logged in, playing the game. 8 days = 192 hours. 2 hours a day daily puts max level at just over 3 months of "real world time" to hit max level. 6 months for the longer case of 16 days /played.

If you are focused like a madman on leveling, yes, you can do it in a few days of non-stop grinding. I don't know too many people who have (even with assistance & heirloom items) done it in less than 4 days /played - 96 hours. I actually enjoy playing new classes, and many friends I play with always remark on how quickly I manage to level... I'm guessing that my 8-16 days of /played time is probably a bit faster than the "average" too, given that.