Aion launched to more than 400.000 pre-order copies last week and has seen an enormous amount of players logging in over the past couple of days.
Thus far the servers have mostly held up, although the queues are still pretty miserable. In any event, it looks like Aion has been a resounding success thus far. Countless pre-orders, mostly good comments from players in the game itself and no game-breaking bugs or server issues at launch is something I haven’t seen in a fair while.
But the real question is whether subscriber counts will remain high a few months down the road. Age of Conan and Warhammer Online both started out with even more pre-order players, but are now down in the 100K region.
In this article I break out ten reason why Aion will do better than those games and retain most of it’s current subscriber figures. But don’t run off to the store to buy a copy yet! Because I also know ten reasons why Aion might yet fail.
Accessibility
NCSoft has clearly taken a look at what Blizzard did right with it’s MMO giant World of WarCraft. Aion makes MMORPGs even more accessible to the first-time player by providing innovative features such as video tutorials.
Also useful are the links in quest text that provide additional details on NPCs and items, as well as on-map location markers for the next step in your quest. And to top it all off, NCSoft has implemented an extensive wiki system on their website detailing nearly every quest in the game.
If you’re new to MMORPGs or gaming in general, then you couldn’t make a better start.
It’s Aion’s very familiarity that is likely to draw scores of players to the game
Graphics
The level of detail in the environments and characters is astounding. The animations are fluid, the colors are vibrant and some of the level design is simply stunning.
Yet NCSoft has also taken a good look at that other giant and followed in it’s wake by making the engine very scalable. Five year old PCs have no trouble running this game at lower visual settings, but it still manages to look impressive in spite of the sacrifice in detail.
Admittedly there are the occasional rough spots. The textures aren’t always as sharp as I’d like and certain environments (the graveyard in Ishalgen (Asmodian)) seem uncharacteristically bland. But overall the engine and design work together to make Aion (one of) the most beautiful MMO game(s) on the market.
Polish
The main reason why I think Aion will manage to keep hold of most of it’s current subscribers is the level of polish the game exudes.
It’s obvious that the game has been out for a year in South Korea. There are no bugs to speak off, the PvE content is solidly crafted, the engine runs beautifully and even the translations are top-notch. I’ve run into a handful of spelling errors, but otherwise it’s been smooth sailing.
This also extends to the sheer amount of features present in the game. Guild, crafting, alliance, raiding and PvP systems are all solid. It all just works. And that’s something I haven’t been able to say of a launch-day MMO since… well, since Guild Wars.
PvPvE / The Abyss
Okay, I have to admit I haven’t quite gotten around to this yet. But let’s face it: this is mainly a PvP game and there’s been nothing but good news coming from that direction.
The two sides are well-balanced, which is no surprise because they’re practically identical. But the classes seem well-balanced too, with none of the uber-imba and uber-nerfed classes that plague WoW and similar PvE-oriented games with PvP tacked on. If you’re into PvP, then this is a great game for slaughtering your fellow Daeva. Albeit only those on the other side.
NCSoft has done very well in balancing server populations, with one side never numbering more than 2% over the other. A vast improvement over my long-gone WoW days when our Horde was outnumbered no less than 4-to-1 on EU-Dragonmaw. But also over other PvP-oriented fantasy MMOs such as RF Online, where I recall the Cora’s on my server (Water I believe) being vastly outnumbered by either of the other races as well.
It may not be hardcore like EVE, or pro like Quake. But if you’re looking for straightforward PvP action, then Aion does not disappoint.
Frequent cutscenes are but one tiny portion of the heaps of polish Aion exudes
Flight
Some call it a gimmick, others a revolutionary gameplay feature. I think it’s a bit of both.
Aion present flight in a way no other pay-to-play MMORPG has done thus far, and while it has it’s (severe) limitations, it does work well. And it does change the game to a great extent. Threats can come from anywhere and quests can lead up in the sky, not just over the golden path to the next little village.
Flying combat, mining and questing is unique. And it will certainly draw a lot of players to the game. The question is whether these players will be realistic about the limitations imposed on flight.
Flow with the hype too much and it seems merely a minor gimmick once you get to it, but take the game as a fresh experience and it’s a nice new twist on the genre.
Quantity of Content
Aion doesn’t merely feature an astounding level of polish and attention to detail, but also an impressively large game environment and a lot of things to do.
Over 1500 quests, extensive PvPvE combat, intricate guild systems and multi-tier crafting systems ensure that there are plenty of things to do. It may not be as huge as World of WarCraft, but it’s quite possibly the most complete out-of-the-box MMO experience I’ve ever seen… including WoW-at-launch.
An Original Fantasy Environment
Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer Online and World of WarCraft are all based on existing universes. They’re also mostly (AoC being a mild exception) very much alike, with your pointy-eared Elves, stocky Dwarves (or Dwarfs) and green-skinned Orcs (or Orks).
Aion doesn’t go along with the trend and instead presents a completely unique game environment, crafted specifically for this game. No standard-fare Elves, Dwarves or Orcs, unless you choose to create a similarly-looking character. Which, thanks to the extensive character creation options, is entirely possible if you – still – like that sort of thing.
The unique setting ensures that the world of Aion does feel like a new experience, contrary to say… Warhammer Online. It’s interesting to explore the world and get to know more of the lore again. And while it’s still inherently a fantasy MMORPG, Aion’s setting does not feel stale.
You probably already know someone playing the game, so you're more likely to stick around
Familiarity
Aion plays very similarly to your average modern-day Western fantasy MMORPG. An interesting feat, considering the fact that it’s actually an Eastern game.
The HUD, the controls, the gameplay elements, all of it will be very familiar for anyone with experience in playing MMORPGs. This makes the step from one MMORPG to Aion much easier than jumping into something entirely different like EVE Online or Shattered Galaxy.
Some gamers may be begging for innovation, but it’s Aion’s very familiarity that is likely to draw scores of players to the game. Now, and in the future.
Community
Oh yes, I went there. In spite of the gold farmers and botters already popping up, and a portion of WoW’s horrible 12-year-old crowd making the jump… Aion does have an enormous and generally friendly in-game community.
Okay, the forums aren’t the best place to be at, but when you’re in-game people are generally helpful. Clerics heal players in need, Warriors help out people in losing battles and if you ask a question in general chat, chances are you’re going to get an answer pretty quickly.
That and a lot of jaded guilds and players have made the jump from other games. Many ex-WoW/Warhammer/AoC players are meeting up in Aion. Chances are good that you’ll already know a few people playing the game, so sticking around after the first month will come more naturally.
Hype
The hype will push Aion on past that first month. If players don’t burn out too fast, then we may see a WoW-like influx of players as word gets out about the quality of the game. And rather than losing subscriptions a few months in, this may actually become the first post-2005 pay-to-play MMORPG that grows after launch.
Oh it’s definitely not the be-all end-all of MMO gaming. Nor is it entirely without it’s flaws (which I’ll cover tomorrow). But as long as a majority of the subscribers enjoys their time in this game, I would except word-of-mouth to do the rest and Aion’s subscription figures to grow even more, as it tries to maintain the title of 2nd-largest pay-to-play MMORPG in the West.
How about you? Do you think Aion will do well in the long-run? Or would you give Age of Conan betters odds of climbing back up to 700.000 subscribers?
Share your thoughts below.
Also see: 10 Reason Why Aion Will Fail
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[...] Much of the feedback thus far has been overwhelmingly positive, in spite of prevalent server queues. There have been no major game-breaking bugs, server crashes or glaring gameplay omissions and yesterday I even managed to write down ten reasons why Aion will manage to hold on to it’s current subscriber figures. [...]