The “free” month is up and the subscription starts. Many players are deciding if Aion is worth their money on a monthly basis and this is also the point when the tourists pack up and go home. I’ve already heard of great guilds and players who’ve came and went. Not all were tourists. Although some may have burned too hot too fast, others bring up legitimate gripes that cannot be ignored for the long-term success of Aion in the west. The thing people have to decide for themselves is if they are going to play while these issues are dealt with or ignored or if they even care about them at all.
Personally, I’m getting behind in my guild’s leveling curve, but that is typical of me. I keep hearing that Aion is for the hardcore, but as a casual gamer, I’m really enjoying the game and I’m looking forward to all the fun I keep hearing about that seems just around the corner. In the now, this is enough to keep me subscribed as I la-la-la (la-la-la: a blissful random singsong attitude of one unaffected by the issues others are currently experiencing) through this beautiful world.
Do not confuse my current la-la-la-ness for unawareness. Careful now, this gets a little blargy. I am unhappy with certain issues and a quick look around the internet tells me I’m not alone. The bots and goldspammers, while not affecting me directly at this point, are annoying by existing and are not being banned quickly enough. That alone is not enough to chase me off a game I enjoy, but it is for many people and then population does become an issue that will cause me to leave a game I enjoy. The inability to participate in a fortress situation is potentially gamebreaking for me when I get there (my husband and I have identical PCs so his issues are my issues and I find these things out before I get there since he levels beyond me) and I’m almost there. Since I have an interest in the whole fortress thing, I’m not sure how long I’ll be sitting on the sidelines filling my time with the other activities available at my level. I’ll think about that when I get there. I’m fickle, have a short attention span and I tend to be impatient. It all depends on how amused I am at that point in the game, but gaming with my friends is a key component to keeping me amused.
Perhaps I’ll still be enjoying the otherness in Aion when it’s all fixed, but will my friends? I realize that despite my current enjoyment, I could be approaching a ticking clock situation with my continued subscription if things remain the same. I don’t mean to convey a bunch of doomygloomy vibes. The “if” in “if things remain the same” is a huge and unlikely one. MMOs are ever changing and we’re only a month out. NCSoft has responded quickly to other issues and I’m having enough fun that it’s more than worth it to me, at this point in the game, to give them the chance to take care of these things. Let the la-la-la-ing resume.
Accidentally Aion 