This isn't necessarily abou Aion specifically, but since it's mentioned I kind of wanted to discuss quests in MMOs. Everyone likes to cap on kill/collect quests in MMOs, but they're generally what I prefer - within reason. Kill and collect quests are more often than not simple and self contained. You go to one or two areas and you get EXP for the actual mob kills themselves, then go back to the quest giver and get more EXP on top of that. When these are well balanced, with steady drop rates and clear mob locations, I'm always glad to be doing them in any game.

Completing many of the well-praised quests in WoW's latext expansion - particularly the Icecrown zone - was an agonizing experience for me. I groaned everytime the questgiver would drop another gimmick quest item into my inventory so I had to tag/mind control/locate/fly on/shoot/blow up/stun/drop bombs on/capture/throw pizzas at some sparsely placed mob group. "Can't you just give me a kill quest," I pleaded helplessly to the monitor.

I'm not a grinder at all. I can't stand grinding. But I also can't stand ridiculous gimmick quests at every turn, either. When quests get praise for doing "something different" in MMOs, it's typically something I find really annoying and jarring. While I'm not sure I'll be picking up Aion because it sounds similar to L2 in that there was a really directionless feel to it, I'm also wary of WoW's approaching expansion and all the stupid, clunky extra stuff I'm going to have to do just because everyone is so desperate to do anything but gather a few rat tails.