Aion open beta hits some hiccups, but patches are on the way
by Seraphina Brennan 
Sep 11th 2009 at 1:00PM
Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Aion, Bugs, Culture, News items
The Aion development team has heard the community's call regarding the lag, authentication server, gameguard anti-cheating program, forum authentication script, and beta key release schedule. They understand that the problems with the lag experienced by North American users, as well as the login server not working, is frustrating. However, they are devoting resources to finding out the cause and will be patching the game ASAP.
As for the GameGuard, it seems the feisty little program has been coughing up more errors than usual for some users, making it another notch on the "to-do" list. Unfortunately, the beta forums didn't feel like cooperating either, leading to some users becoming unable to login and post their problems.
But, the team is making movement forward and will continue to iron out problems before release. We here at Massively wish them the best of luck in doing so.
Are you interested in the Aion open beta? Well no worries, you can grab your key from Fileplanet when you're ready to take to the skies. No Fileplanet membership is required, all you need to do is sign into Fileplanet with a standard account and download away!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mr Angry said on 1:25PM 9-11-2009
I've tried so hard with this one, but really still not feeling it.
Anyone who is in love with this game, what am I missing? I've had limited pvp experience, but what's the deal here, what is there to do.
The two races seem limiting, the quest areas look nice, but have a certain twee quality that is a bit of a turn off.
Anyone else offer any insight?
Reply
Jaiyeson said on 1:31PM 9-11-2009
Stop being so angry?
Jack said on 2:20PM 9-11-2009
I agree with Angry apart of all the issues I did go tru (GameGuard + Vista = Lag and problems). The overall game just seems like I did all that before.... I do not like the story line I do not care much for the world overall the grapics are nice but it kinda looks all the same over time. And my nr1 issue is the pvp oh my god I never hate pvp parts more them this game there is no way around it at one moment you will have to fight in pvp battles. Just that will not make me ever buy this game! I am a PVE player and this game is a big "Keep away from it at all cost"!
Scarr said on 6:27PM 9-11-2009
Mr. Angry, you shouldn't have to 'try hard' to like a game. If it isn't fun, then don't play it.
A lot of people like this game because it is a solid well pollished mmo. That in itself is super refreshing. It really is just something new that finally doesn't suck!
Perhaps you are burned out on the mmo experience?
Mr Angry said on 6:57PM 9-11-2009
I wish I was over them, heheh they cost em a fortune!!!!! I play loads of them regularly (from free to play to the large behemoths out there, to testing unreleased small MMO projects, I spend too long I guess), and I don't really ever get bored of the genre, I play for the social interaction and experience as a whole, and have a friendly group of people to call upon to get the most from each game.
I like the mechanics, the possibilities, and you know, it never ceases to amaze me how I can be teabagging someone I killed in one shot on my screen, and the next second it's up on their screen, it's really a marvelous thing the technology as a whole.
I believe in giving each game a chance, regardless of who made it, what it is, I do at least try a bit of everything. I get accused of being a hater on a regular basis, but that's usually after I've experienced issues that stopped making that particular game fun. It's what people have done to prevent fun, to prevent openness and common sense I dislike the most. I can't sit back and just allow silly decisions or poor games to go unnoticed. People say vote with your money, I vote with my mouth too, as public forums encourage people to speak their mind.
With Aion, i heard a whole bunch of stuff here on how great it was, and I do appreciate that might not be immediately apparent, so I've been persevering with it, but I'm not there yet. Games like Everquest, I had to stick through, even though it really was a slog to get anywhere, but it paid off.
I'm just wondering where that pay off is with Aion, for people to be so fervent about it being a viable alternative to what's out there now. I'm convinced there is something I've missed, the sudden moment that it becomes more than a game, and more of an experience, but I've not got there as yet.
Right now, the "wings" were a nice part, but not as great as I thought they would be, it wasn't the defining moment of the game I had hoped. The missions appear quite linear and merely as a mechanism to guide people through the leveling process a bit disappointing. I get the feeling that these are added in to the game to appease the western market, and as such they are limited in nature.
Sure these same criticisms could be leveled at other games, but given this is a newer game to the market, I had hope innovation wasn't just putting wings on avatars and making the game look less cartoony?
tw34k said on 8:46PM 9-11-2009
My personal problem with the game isnt the game itself but the lag, server location and game ping, They made a statement early on they they had developed net protocols that would ensure that . Most Oceanic / West coast players knew the claims were a bit spurious.
I just wish the team there would actually try giving oceania some support, if they dont want to, then dont bother including us in the launch, but including oceanic players in the launch and not even adressing any of their issues just seems like more of a cash grab and less like a legitimate reason to include us.
Scarr said on 11:35AM 9-12-2009
I'm convinced Aion is innovative in that they haven't released a half finished, buggy piece of crap mmo. =) They wisely chose to let it get some hours in Korea before releasing it to the rest of the world.
Aion is due to be the first mmo in years that doesn't have a population spike on launch, then crash after month one. Time will tell if this is correct, but that is what it is setup to be. To me, that is innovation. Getting people to re-sub in this tough market!
As for it being 'linear'... yup, it is. If you follow the quests, you act out the story, or die trying. There doesn't really seem to be much in between. But I don't think they ever claimed otherwise. I really hope I'm not sick of the game when I hit 50. I'm a little worried, but they've got me hooked enough to at least try!
Mosi13 said on 1:39PM 9-11-2009
I'm in the same boat as you. It seems like it could be cool, but I've never been a big fan of Asian RPGs - I couldn't stand final fantasy games.
Give it a month, read some post-launch feedback and then pick up the free trial when it is released - that's what I'm going to do to see it.
Reply
Cyspeth said on 1:44PM 9-11-2009
It's a good game, just want it to come out. Tired of leveling up disposable characters in beta's.
Reply
Rocheklip said on 1:44PM 9-11-2009
Only 2 problems I have had was Lag and the gameguard. Lag i got rid of by turning my graphic settings down as by default it had everything maxed.
Gameguard just needs to go. It is a huge POS.
Reply
Mr Angry said on 1:47PM 9-11-2009
I managed to remove GameGuard, by replacing the file with another I found on the internet, and it worked a treat, as initially I had serious problems.
Why they are sticking to this is beyond me, it's a barrier to playing the damn thing, and their persistent disregard for player feedback on this issue was one thing I earmarked as being troubling at this early stage.
Jack said on 2:22PM 9-11-2009
Remove Gameguard can get you IP banned from the game also final version! watch out with this!
mrjamiep said on 1:47PM 9-11-2009
Thanks, i'll download it now to check if I love it or hate it, instead of purchasing straight up. Fileplanet can suck a dick though, i'm downloading this baby from RS instead of waiting 20 hours.
Reply
Wieland said on 1:51PM 9-11-2009
Hiccups?
There are people that still cant get onto the servers after 5 days.
Reply
Accordance said on 2:16PM 9-11-2009
I'll wait on this one. I dislike that I needed to have a paying account with Fileplanet (a service I very rarely use that's not worth the fee) to download the client initially, and I dislike that, now that I can access a 'free' version of the open beta, I have to use IGN's downloading software. I don't like loading my system down with unnecessary programs. I'm not computer savvy. I don't think most players are. I don't have the time or interest to searching out ways to avoid such obstacles to trying the game.
I greatly appreciate the feedback many players are giving and it's great to hear about these issues before committing myself to another frustration (WAR). I'll give the game a go in a few months once it's settled down a bit unless something else grabs my attention.
Thought: These days it seems increasingly important for games to present well or the developers risk losing your subscription fee to the next game coming down the pipeline.
Reply
Accordance said on 2:26PM 9-11-2009
EDIT: "...time or interest to SEARCH out..." - not "searching."
CindyL said on 2:29PM 9-11-2009
You only needed to have a paying account with FP initially keys were given to every FREE registered member later on. There's a statement on this on aiononline.com
Just saying so people don't think you needed to be a paying subscriber.
remixedcat said on 2:20PM 9-11-2009
I am concerned becuase I use my xbox for windows controller to play games and I use it for my mouse since I have a permanent wrist injury that prevents me from using a regular mouse.
I use xpadder and my xbox controller to do this and one of the applications that is listed as a no-go for GG is xpadder. I think this is wrong for disabled people like me and other who may use this for assistive purposes. This is also used for other disabled people to use alternative input devices such as foot petals and such is they lost thier hands in battle or an accident. I knew of someone who hacked together a sultion to play WoW and he was happy he could game again after a accident took out both his hands and half of his right arm. he used a speech to text app for typing things and such.
Please advise the gaming companies to not allow GG to discriminate against those who use alternative input devices like me and other with injuries/disabilities. I was very upset when I saw AION on the list, as I looked forward to playing this game.
I hope that this issue is resolved soon.
Reply
CindyL said on 2:31PM 9-11-2009
Someone over at NC head office is hell bent on having GG.. Because the community has voiced their concerns for a really long time but so far it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. :/
Other then that, after the latest patch my performance has dramatically improved and I have to say I'm really happy with the game as it stands right now.
Reply
Hub said on 2:41PM 9-11-2009
It's worth a look I think if you are looking for WoW with PvP/RvR. If you're happy with your current game(s) and not wanting to try focusing on RvR then you might not be too impressed. Brilliant for people who don't want to risk trying WAR at the moment.
Personally I love RvR zones so I'm willing to stick it out. At lower levels it is VERY WoW like to the point when you wonder if the devs blush in shame everytime they see a Warcraft advertisement. A little underdeveloped at the moment, but then what game is amazing at this stage.
The lack of class depth is a little dissapointing, no talent trees and not many classes to chose from, but then it's only a year old (In asia) and there are a few other options for tweaking should you feel the need. Technically fine though, at least for me on the euro servers.
Reply