Facts why Aion fails so much.
Greetings, I played 5ish months after the release of Aion. I have one level 50 character, a level 35 rifting character and few lowbie alts. After half an year I decided to log back in to check if things have changed into better direction but unfortunately it was not quite so. I'm not looking for easy mode but many things are just incredible stupid in Aion.
Here is a list why I think Aion fails so much. People with top gears will probably disagree as they have already gone through all the trouble but feel free to comment. The things listed are in random order.
Complete lack of PvP content
There is no PvP content at all in Aion. There is only PVP combined with PvE (PvPvE). Dredgion is horrible and 90% PvE, fortress fights are all about PvE, rifting is, well, filled with annoying mobs, abyss "open" PvP is all about mobs and guard NPCs.
Horrible PvP ranking system
When you get high "pvp" rank, you will always be the number one target in battles. As everything is based on RNG you can die in matter of seconds, or get ganked by a group easily. High ranked players loose so much points when they die, that most don't even bother PvP anymore, which leads to the next point.
"PvP" points through PvE
Usually the best way to get "PvP" abyss points in Aion is to PvE. Imo it is incredible bad design when players doing PvE are the ones getting PvP gear. Especially high ranked people can't PvP anymore due to loss of points when they die, so they will be forced to PvE instead.
RNG in combat
Aion combat is ridiculously based on RNG. So many high damage abilities are based on procs. Also extremely powerful god stone procs are based on luck. In PVP the combat should be about skill, not luck. Horrible design.
Imbalanced servers
Especially after the merges and player transfers the servers have gone totally imbalanced. In almost every server one of the sides are dominating and people are transferring to those servers where their own side dominates. This makes the lives (or no-lives) of the players on the loosing faction really bad.
Magic Resist stat
Magic resistance stat is one of the worst ideas ever. It multiplies the RNG aspects in the battles. As said before, PVP shouldn't be about luck, but skill instead, but people, especially clerics socketing magic resist stat are almost impossible for casters to kill, unless they contribute insane amount of stats to magical accuracy, which makes them relatively weak against other classes. Even small amount of resistance is terrible in PvP when the key spells fail to hit, but when the resist rates are 30%-50% or even more, I can't find even word for that. Magic resist also makes it impossible for low level casters to fight back vs high levels. Imo spells should be able to hit even with reduced dmg vs high levels.
Need of insane amount of consumables
In order to PvP in Aion, everyone need LOTS of consumables ALL the time. I find is annoying as hell to being forced to buy health, mana, healing and flight time potions, running speed, flying speed scrolls. Without these it is practically impossible to PvP. Some people even buy absorb scrolls, buff foods etc.
Limited flight time and ability limitations while flying
While flying is one of the most hyped features in Aion, I think it is way too limited. Flight time is limited and recharges very slowly. You need to constantly take flight time potions. Also many major abilities are not usable while flying. In additions almost all the NPCs have abilities to cut wings and completely drain players out of flight time. It is especially annoying while trying to pvp nearby NPCs.
Zerg vs Soloers
I like to solo or duo a lot. However in Aion almost no one actually does that. So soloers are unable to survive anywhere as most people are moving in groups or alliances all the time. It is almost impossible to find a fair fight.
High levels ruining low level PvP while rifting
Rifting is one of the few things I actually find enjoyable in Aion. However low level rifting is ruined by high level players who need to boost their ego by ganking lowbies. Cause my lowbie char's gear is getting a bit too good, I like to fight against groups of players, but in matter of seconds or minutes the high levels always appear. Also trying to rift a bit with my green geared level 20 character immediately summons all the level 50 full fabled people around. The same thing happens on both sides.
Lag in fortress fights
Fortress fights consist of hundreds of players and NPCs. This could be a nice thing, but the lag is incredible even with high-end system. To help this there's a way to make PC characters invisible (Shift+F12), but it eats a lot of fun out of it and makes it really hard to target the players you want to. Use of tab is just too random.
RNG while socketing gear
Socketing manastones into gear can be extremely expensive because it is completely based on luck and the success rates are horrible. Socketing even level 30 gear can make people bankrupt. I have heard people using over 20 million kinah on socketing single piece of level 30 gear. Higher level gear can be even worse.
RNG while enchanting gear
Same as above. Afaik it is not even possible to get 100% success rates no matter how expensive enchanting stones you use. As enchanting fails you will actually loose one enchant level instead of gaining one. Again based on luck and is very expensive.
RNG while crafting gear
This might be fun for someone, but I find it very annoying when you need to do 100 crafts in order to proc an needed item. Then you probably need to try use that item to proc your next craft to upgrade it. Unless extremely lucky, you will need to use zillions of materials just to get the item you need. I don't consider this game-breaking as the other facts however.
Grinding grinding grinding
While leveling, even with the new leveling improvements, players need to grind like hell, which is REALLY boring. Maybe Asian people find it fun, but I don't think many in the West like it. Also even when you're level 50, you need to spend insane amount of time grinding money, fenril/miragent set etc.
The PvE content
The PvE in Aion is really dull and boring. There are only few real dungeons/instances in total while excluding the incredible boring fortress instances. At level 50 there is 1-2 dungeons that people are doing over and over and over again. Dark Poitain for example is pretty nice for the first few times but then it gets boring. Also I find it sad how much time you have to spend in one instance, say 4 hours in DP. More HC PvE'rs might disagree but I'm more of a PvP player anyway.
