As is usually the case when something major happens in an MMORPG, most players have been using sick days, vacation time, and pushing themselves to the edge of their sanity in the rush to conquer, and in this case - to level. As a general rule I love new releases - the idea of a fresh world to explore, a level playing field, and a race to the finish line all combine to put a sparkle in (and huge bags under) my eyes. It also seriously damages my ability to sit down and write even the smallest of blog posts. Now that the release has had some time to settle down and the push to stay ahead of the masses has somewhat subsided, I can take some time to reflect on the game launch and the game itself.
The Aion release went largely as expected. Server overload, population caps, log in queues that were no joke (they legitimately restricted the number on the servers at any time to minimize lag issues for those lucky enough to be in the game) and occasional crashes and downtimes. And of course, lots and lots of whining that it was "the worst MMO launch ever" from kids who clearly weren't around for the launch of WoW to see how poorly managed that was, even with its massive number of servers. The queue times sucked, but once you were in you were in, and it was (for the most part) playable.
For the first time ever I had very few problems with a new title - I had the game installed from the beta, and was able to play for a couple days without even needing to pick up my game. No technical issues until I attempted to upgrade my account to the Collector's Edition - that took about an hour's time during which it appeared my code had and had not been accepted simultaneously. Apart from that my only complaint was missing the first two nights of prime levelling time to go to a(n insanely awesome) Pearl Jam concert. Talk about bad timing!
It didn't take long for most of our predictions about Aion to come true. People started quitting the game in their late teens before ever hitting the PvP zones, or the early 20s before earning even half of their skills and equipping stigmas. The general complaints were that the game was "too hard" or the characters "didn't have enough skills" at level 20. It's not until the mid 30s that most characters really come into their own with a nice variety of skills.
It's a shame to see people forming bad opinions of the game (which they then spread) that are based on such a small portion of the gameplay. The first 20-25 levels are meant to serve as a tutorial in how to play your character, what the world is and why it is that way, and what your individual role is in the drama that's unfolding. All roads lead to level 25 and the abyss - the PvPvE zone that exists between the two worlds that comprise Atria. Though it's sad to see many people quit before ever seeing this zone and the future of the gameplay, it's not entirely unexpected, and the weak hearted will not be missed. After the first few weeks the server queues died down and now the servers appear to be well and evenly populated, thanks to NCSoft's careful control of character creation.
Thanks to the gameplay design, people are well entertained as they level. Characters are begining to peek over the level 40 mark, and explore exciting new areas. Forts are regularly conquered and lost, as are the artifacts surrounding them. Owning the forts allows each faction additional instances to be run once daily, which is excellent for experience and also for rewards. The first instance in the game is even structured like a fort, populated with Balaur, the game's third (NPC) faction. By taking each player through this dungeon with good xp and loot for rewards, the game also trains the players to know what to expect during a siege.