There already is an option to disable all player character models (except the ones you are targeting and the ones in your alliance) by hitting shift+f12. Doesn't do a thing for those experiencing crashes.

The crashing has been dissected and replicated by users on the forum. We know exactly what's causing it. It's a memory leak. There's also a problem which has to do with Aion not being flagged for PAE (Physical Address Extension) that increases the amount of memory the application can use to 3Gb and there isn't a 64 bit version of Aion. Both of these can be easily fixed, especially since the Korean and Chinese versions don't suffer these problems.

I largely agree with his comments, the gold spammers are out of control and pvp issues, while relatively flawless for a newer game (it has had time in korea remember) are kinda obnoxious. But "THE GRIND" come the *expletive here* on. People have already hit 50 and the game has been out for only a month. Seriously, I get it the hardcore gamer is not on top any more, we won't be catered to, but this is going way way to far. The xp curve is fine, especially for a new game, but does every game that has come out now have to be WoW ified? Again I like wow (although I will definitely be taking a break after 3.3 til 4.0) but the reason wow is so easy to level in is because it has 4 years of content that we've all done a few times or you want to join up in this game and catch up quick with your friends. IMO the xp curve needs to not be touched, in fact I would kind of be happy with a slight nerf but again it's just one crying fans opinion. Sigh, I guess what I want is one single modern MMO that doesn't just give away things and makes you earn them, and yes you can do that while being catering to casuals. If they are going to turn this into get to 50 as quick as possible and raid/pvp why not make it a micro-trans model then the casuals can get into the game as much as they want? Flame me for being an elitist but I think I have some valid points that should at least be considered.

It'd be funny if Mark Jacobs wrote an article like this.

Flying is a huge letdown after playing games like City of Heroes and Champions (in the MMO space). I can't even say I care for the controls in Aion for flight either. They made something that other games have had simple for years more difficult than it needed to be.

Don't confuse difficulty with tedium, mkay?

I don't think there's any excuse for botting and I really want them to get a handle on it soon. Otherwise, I pretty much am right ther with ya with that you're saying. I personally enjoy the leveling process in addition to endgame.

I like gradually building a character, getting to used to its strengths and weaknesses, learning when to use certain abiltiies, gaining new ones over time, etc. And I like when leveling is at least somewhat challenging.

I really don't like how fast and easy it is to level now in WoW for example, particularly in the vanilla areas. To me, tedium sets in when I know there's no realistic chance of dying unless I totally screw up big time. It causes me to just go into a trancelike auto pilot that gets boring really fast.

I enjoy how in Aion there's a sense of risk in what I'm doing. Even completing basic quests, although not particularly difficult, requires paying attention to your surroundings. An extra add or two that aggros can equal death which equals a hefty price to regain the lost xp. This makes it exciting!

Anyway, I do however think group xp and quest xp should be increased. I like the overall leveling speed pretty well so far (at 34) but it is silly when I can get more xp from continuing to grind than I can from spending 2 mins walking back to camp to turn in an already completed quest. It's also a bit silly to lose xp/hour by killing elites with a group rather than solo grinding regular mobs.

So I'd like to see those tweaked (and the quest xp increase is thankfully in the works) but otherwise I am enjoying the moderate degree of challenge and slow pacing of the leveling experience.

Like your "facts" on Champions Online?

Care to expound upon that attempt at being witty? If you're referring to my post where I talk about why I wasn't going to play CO, I kindly direct you to the definition of an opinion. I never used the word "fact" in my post. I stated things as they were in beta when I played as I played them.

Let me share with you what a fact is, straight from google.

Definitions of fact:
(n) fact (a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred) "first you must collect all the facts of the case"
(n) fact (a statement or assertion of verified information about something that is the case or has happened) "he supported his argument with an impressive array of facts"
(n) fact (an event known to have happened or something known to have existed) "your fears have no basis in fact"; "how much of the story is fact and how much fiction is hard to tell"
(n) fact (a concept whose truth can be proved) "scientific hypotheses are not facts"

Most of the facts from the letter to NCsoft are either future events that have not happened yet or subjective.

Now, this doesn't mean I disagree. In fact (yes, this would be a fact), I agree with everything he says. That doesn't make them facts though -- that makes them suggestions and opinions.

Thanks!

I put "facts" in quotes because they are just opinions. "I stated things as they were in beta when I played as I played them." You stated things that mislead a lot of your readers because you hated the game. Some people took them as "facts".

"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true"

Homer J. Simpson