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Reader Comments (38)

Posted: Sep 11th 2009 5:01PM (Unverified) said

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I'm concerned about the limited number of classes and lack of talent/mastery trees myself. I like having a lot of variety and customization in my mmo (not just cosmetic customization) I should say though that I'm not high enough level yet in beta to really get a good feel of how the stigma system will impact gameplay so I may end up being pleasantly surprised with that.

Otherwise the game is awesome so far. It is definitely a bit cutesy for my taste, but it's incredibly well polished and it looks great. It runs beautifully too, minus the occassionally bad server lag, but that's to be expected in a beta. I haven't had any major problems with the dreaded GG either...so far ;)
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Posted: Sep 11th 2009 4:16PM Jesspiper said

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"ERROR: The server does not support the necessary HTTP protocol. Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) requires that the server support the Range protocol header."

That sums up my Aion experience thus far. I can't get my PC to download the game from the NCSoft launcher, I just get that stupid error message. Sucks 'cause my fiancee downloaded it onto her PC and the game rules. OMG I want to play so bad!!!

Posted: Sep 11th 2009 5:20PM Joystiq Login Bugs SUCK said

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I guess all those people who greyed out my comments over the past few months about GG and how it would be a problem for some people were right... I was making it up.

>.>

Posted: Sep 11th 2009 5:35PM agitatedandroid said

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I'm right there with ya. Gameguard is a tremendously stupid idea.

No program should be allowed to determine what other programs I'm allowed to use. This becomes a remarkably acute problem when the programs Gameguard forbids from use are Google Chrome and the Logitech Mouse software.

That's just completely fscked. There is no excuse, none whatsoever, to warrant the inclusion of Gameguard. It is the sole reason I will not be playing this game.
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Posted: Sep 12th 2009 6:42AM wjowski said

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Yes, all those hundreds of websites dedicated to subverting/removing/repairing the damage caused by GameGuard are clearly the works of delusional madmen.
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Posted: Sep 11th 2009 5:31PM JaySpeed said

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It's not that bad. Reminds me of WoW with high rez graphics and an eastern style. Also somewhat like Final Fantasy without the turn based combat. I won't be buying it but it's nice to pass the time in beta.

Posted: Sep 11th 2009 5:36PM LaughingTarget said

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I don't know why they even bother with these tests. It never matters how many problems the software has, the game had launch set months ago and it comes out on that day come Hell or high water. "It's still in testing" just doesn't fly, nothing gets fixed until we pay them some 6 months of subscription money.

Posted: Sep 11th 2009 6:10PM Averice said

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The games been released for 9 months already in Korea. This isn't some Champions Online beta.

The closed beta was strictly for localization testing and for fans who were highly interested in the game who wanted to try it out. Closed beta had none of the connection issues that this open beta is happening for a specific reason. Open beta is a stress test and server test to make sure everything is setup right for when the game launches.

I agree that gameguard is pretty lame. No matter how many complaints I bet they never get rid of it though, it's an NCsoft Korea issue, not a US issue, gameguards here to stay unfortunately.
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Posted: Sep 11th 2009 6:14PM SkuzBukit said

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I will not be touching AION with a ten-foot barge pole thanks to GameGuard.

I've tried games with it before & AION was no different, utter waste of time because it doesn't actually stop any cheating or BOTS the hackers bypass it all too easily so all it succeeds in doing is placing a very dodgy piece of root kit software on your system.

Go see Lineage or Lineage II & the hacking, cheating, exploiting & Botting is rampant on them, all I can guess is that NCSoft are copping a huge backhander payment to insist on this complete garbage being installed with the game.

GameGuard is a pile of s***!, & no matter how good AION is I and many others wont be going near it as a result.

Posted: Sep 11th 2009 6:54PM (Unverified) said

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When your game has an information and support web page set up for a "treacherous computing" (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/can-you-trust.html) application (Gameguard) that's not even the game itself, it's quite apparent that the product is not delivered in the best interests of the consumer.

If you want to minimize Aion and do some other tasks on your computer you might be in for a surprise when Gameguard conveniently stops an application for you.

For an unofficial list of applications which Gameguard prevents you -- the owner of your computer, and probably not a criminal or cheater -- from running, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NProtect_GameGuard#Known_blocked_applications

Posted: Sep 11th 2009 7:38PM (Unverified) said

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That list is either outdate or just plain wrong.

Im running daemon tools, steam, ati tools and other wierd programs while I actually play aion and alt tab in vista 64 and I've never ranned into problems. I do have friends having trouble with chrome but Im pretty sure an upcoming update will fix that.

And I dont mind it blocking things like "hacker defender" or "cheat engine"

As for my experience from the beta, its been fun so far, I am rubber banding alot from time to time. Narrowed it down to two of the nodes that my packets travel to, sent my info to NCsoft as others have. Once they fix these routing problems we will have a really smooth launch.

I mean, im getting 80ms-120ms and I live in the caribbean! Its all some faulty routing thats causing the hickups. That and some GG problems that a small percent of people are suffering from.
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Posted: Sep 11th 2009 7:13PM (Unverified) said

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Also I should mention that GameGuard is one of those applications that -- like diigtal rights management software -- can simply be disabled by an enterprising hacker. All you have to do is figure out how it tells the game that it's running and develop your own substitute which tells the game "Yes, gameguard is running", but then does nothing. There are already gameguard hacks out there that disable it, so all gameguard really does is treat legitimate users as cheaters.

Posted: Sep 11th 2009 8:32PM Marked said

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gameguard is the killer for myself too. While I enjoyed the beta, I will not buy the game until they either get rid of it or fix it. It caused too many problems for myself and several friends during the beta. If you don't believe me, go to any of the forums on the fan sites and you'll see multiple massive threads with people complaining. I know the "No Gameguard" thread on aionsource alone is well over a thousand posts.

My honest guess is that NCSoft is under a contract to use it with Aion for some set period of time. There is just too many people complaining about it and the fact everyone knows it does zero good actually stopping hackers/botters. The devs themselves have acknowledged there are major problems with gameguard.

Posted: Sep 11th 2009 9:40PM (Unverified) said

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Yeah, I really wanted to try this game out but every time I hit the login button, my router reboots. Doesn't do it with any other game, but happens every time I try to log in.

Posted: Sep 12th 2009 2:16AM (Unverified) said

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But I thought Aion was perfect?

Seriously, even with technical issues resolved the game is still a major let down.
1. It shows that the game as been built on an engine primarily made for FPS games... feels a lot like running around in tf2 with the /thirdperson command
2. No skill trees is a major turn off for me as there will be little diveristy between the sames classes.
3. The games is ugly. They put to much effert into the character models and it as results in a rather generic world with big ugly textures.
4. The Korean MMO grid is still there.

Posted: Sep 12th 2009 8:02AM (Unverified) said

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1. I didn't get this impression at all and I don't know of anyone else who has. Care to explain what makes it feel this way? Feels the same as any other mmo to me except with very responsive animations/controls.

2. I agree here, it could use more diversity. The Stigma system, whilst not as diverse as many mmo systems true, is a way of customization which will hopefully be improved upon in future updates.

3. Ugly? XD Seriously, to each his own in terms of taste and all but the game is anything but ugly.

4. Because all western mmos are completely grind free. Fact.

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Posted: Sep 12th 2009 8:36AM Crsh said

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I just got around to it this morning after sitting through the endless download last night; nice enough so far, but I'm only lv5. It definitely feels a lot like your generic fantasy MMO (be it WoW, Everquest, Vanguard, etc), I made a priest and even the skills/abilities are generic: a HP-boosting buff, a slow-casting offensive spell, physically weak and squishy in melee forcing you to slower progression as you need to heal yourself to keep going.. the stereotypical priest class, basically.

Not only am I tired of the fantasy genre in general, but making healing classes purposely weak due to the possible imbalance it'd create in PvP combat is getting old; I fear Aion is set to repeat the same patterns as older MMOs.

Posted: Sep 12th 2009 12:20PM (Unverified) said

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Priests are godly, i dont know what your talking about. they never die! i have made it to lv 21 without one death. No other class can take on 4 mobs at once and live to tell about it.
And at cap clerics are one of if not the best pvp class out there.
Give it a bit more time and try out a few more classes, and get to at least lv 10 with them. You cant even choose your real class till then.
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