Aion tops NPD Group PC sales chart for September
by James Egan 
Oct 21st 2009 at 3:30PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, MMO industry, News items
When NCsoft released Aion, they had hopes it would ultimately enjoy the caliber of success in western markets that the title has in Asia. It's been roughly one month since Aion launched in North America but it's off to a good start, as indicated by its entry to the NPD Group's September US PC sales chart at number one.
Aion usurped competing titles like World of Warcraft and Champions Online in the NPD rankings, and the Aion Collectors Edition took the number five slot on the chart as well. Not bad at all for a game that only launched in the third week of September.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Amstruq said on 3:47PM 10-21-2009
I think aion will get warhammerd.
people need to relize that huge sale of games dosent mean futhuer succses for a game. Personaly i dont see a big future for aion here in the west, we play and talk nice about it now beacuse its new and ncsoft did a fine marketing for it.
The girls voices in aion sounds like some taken out from a asian cheap rape porno, and the males are a buch of dragonball z fighters. Its just to much manga for the west.
I wish some game soon will compete with wow, but i dont see that happening.
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Roadkill said on 3:52PM 10-21-2009
Love that rape reference buddy, real classy.
Goonja said on 7:07AM 10-22-2009
I guess you've been watching cheap Asian Rape porno too much man.
*/Sad
Accordance said on 3:55PM 10-21-2009
I've been playing Aion now since it was released in NA and although I'm not entirely taken by the game, it's a welcome diversion from the other game I play. I've paid attention to the articles written here and the NCSoft forums and I'm aware of the spamming and botting issues that NCSoft has had in the past with their previous titles. However, I wasn't aware until today that, in Aion, there is no way to report botters. The in-game petition system does not work. According to the reponse I received when I tried to report a botter, it's under testing. Neither is there a way to report botters via the Aion or NCSoft websites that I've yet found.
As far as I have heard, blocking a spammer will automatically report them and NCSoft seems to have made some strides in fixing the problem with spammers specifically.
My questions are, has NCSoft made any public statements about their stance on botting? My guess is that they have and that they are against it. If that's so, why isn't there a channel available right now to report botters? Why has NCSoft, a company that has had a fair bit of experience with botting in their games in the past, neglected to put into place mechanisms to prevent it in Aion while they have obviously taken steps to prevent spamming?
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but it brings NCSoft's motives into question. I likely will not continue my subscription, though that's no threat to them at this point. There are a number of other titles due to release in the next six months that I expect will already have such necessary mechanisms in place.
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hardcoreufos said on 4:13PM 10-21-2009
Wow... you do know there is a report bot function built into the game right (/reportautohunting)? That there's a button for it even? Have you ever even played the game?
Accordance said on 4:29PM 10-21-2009
Thanks. I have played the game. I've never reported a botter before. I did not know what that button did.
Could have done without the sarcasm.
Celestian said on 5:51PM 10-21-2009
LOL@bot reporting. I've reported the same bots for weeks and guess what, most of them are still around and are outleveling me. Sounds great huh? Lets all bot since we NCsoft isn't doing anything about it and the game is just a long ass grind.
I had low expectations for this game but the fact you can't level up to cap in this game is killing it for me. I refuse to grind my face off anymore.
Jason said on 4:15PM 10-21-2009
So what are the sales numbers? Bare in mind the first month is free in an MMO so we'll see what happens when NCSoft announces sub numbers in a few months.
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DeathMutant said on 5:10PM 10-21-2009
Like the above poster, Jason, I believe the first month subscription numbers mean very little; Look at AoC or WAR for recent examples. The true test is the number of *renewed* subscriptions (by non gold-sellers).
That said, I have been playing Aion since OB and will continue to do so -- for another month or two -- but the Aion "live team" seriously needs to tune their game better to western expectations (of a modern MMOG) or there will be massive defections as new AAA-grade MMOGs become available.
ps. AoC is still alive and kicking and might be ready for a re-review (as a PvE game). WAR still has a few major issues to work out but, without populated servers, RvR has little point.
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The Claw said on 8:57PM 10-21-2009
I haven't checked out Aion and have no knowledge or opinion regarding its quality.
But my observation of people I know who did decide to check it out is that it is indeed going to struggle holding on to a large portion of its early adopters. I'd say more than half of the people I know have pretty much stopped playing it before their initial month is even finished, I certainly don't see them renewing a subscription.
Utakata said on 4:43AM 10-22-2009
I believe I have mentioned before...that I suspect the folks at Aion already knows this. This is why they where reluctant to bring in new servers during the que crunch...because they didn't want to be left with useless shards when the *locust swarm has left. They even might be interested more in those that are left...and improve the game based on that. I could be wrong though.
*Note: I believe as one player put it "politely" somewhere..."when the game has shed it's WoWtards." Not that I agree with that....because many who have left just found the game as it is, is not for them.
amber_curtis said on 9:42AM 10-22-2009
I get seriously embarrassed when I hear people say that this game needs to be more "Westernized" because they cannot reach the level cap in the first two weeks of the game's release.
Really?
It pains me to see such prevalence of the "ADD", instant gratification with zero effort mindset.
I personally cannot wait for the complainers to /cancel subscription.
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mrblister said on 11:50AM 10-22-2009
iknowright!? I love playing mmo's by myself. I cant wait till everyone quits too!
GryphonStalker said on 11:38AM 10-22-2009
Hmm. It appears NPD Group's results only count box sales and not digital distribution like Steam and Direct2Drive. Both of which list Aion at seventh and sixth place respectfully.
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john said on 12:04PM 10-27-2009
Thats interesting because in one of NPD Research's online surveys, they where asking me all types of questions about GTA4. I love GTA4. Everyone should join NPD Research and give their opinions on their favorite games.
http://www.npdor.com/joinnow.asp?recruit=PV09091344&Subid=bs
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