Patch 1.5.1 goes live for Aion
by Eliot Lefebvre 
Nov 21st 2009 at 12:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, Leveling, News items
A new patch for an MMO is a bit like a present. At best, it can provide a number of new opportunities for fun and enjoyment. At worst, it can break several things you already liked and now have to replace. Aion has recently deployed the new patch 1.5.1 and, as could be expected, fan reaction is somewhat split on whether it's a nice present or the immortal pairing of socks and underwear. Certainly there isn't a major content influx, and the often-requested reduction of the game's grind has yet to be implemented, but there are still a number of nice updates and additions.
Leaving aside the bugfixes and optimization with only a mention that they should help the game play more smoothly all around, several instanced dungeons have been adjusted somewhat. Nearly all of these changes look beneficial to players -- reductions in difficulty and increases in reward, as well as added UI displays for important objectives. They've also added stealth-detecting NPCs to starter areas and increased several NPC health totals in an effort to curb destructive PvP tendencies. Quest experience at mid-to-high levels has been adjusted upward, rewards have been slightly improved on several quests, and level-difference experience penalties have been reduced. Last but not least, there's now more incentive to hold a fortress in the Abyss and work to defend it, as rewards are offered for defending players. Aion's fans aren't all happy about the changes, but it's best if you take a look at the changes yourself. Just remember that even if you don't like it, this present is unreturnable.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Otter said on 12:17PM 11-21-2009
i have the same problem with aion as i did with aoc.... fun until 25 (in the case of aoc, 20) - then it became a grind fest... not that aion wasnt a grind fest the whole time, but at least i felt like there were new things to discover.
i cancelled and uninstalled.
my vote is going to STO - in the meantime, fallen earth and l4d2 are getting my time.
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starzzareblind said on 12:57PM 11-21-2009
The changes are definitely nice and help alot, but I really want to see what 1.6 does for them.
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tw34k said on 8:24PM 11-21-2009
Some nice changes, but in my book its a little too late. Theres some good fixes but realistically it wont eliminate the grindfest at higher levels, and it wont curtail some of the inventive pvp "camping" in the sub 25 zones, and the fields of farmers. Ncsofts "blind-eye" approach works for some aspects of the game but we all know how make and break the first few months of a mmo are. You need to capture your audience and keep them hooked.
If hooking them means, the team puts in longer hours to pump out patches update content and keep the player base happy thats what you have to do, you gotta spend it to make it, and releasing slow patches especially at the start of a release is not the thing to do. Take a look at any current long term MMO's release over the first 3 months, a good majority of them had major patches/fixes/releases within the first few weeks.
Yes the game has been out over a year in the asian market, but western/euro gamers are a totally different bread. The game is beautiful and has an amazing combat system, which granted suffers the same folley as many others, hopefully it will survive, but the dev team are essentially the games linchpin.
CindyL said on 1:39PM 11-21-2009
So........ You blatantly disregard NCsoft policy and you think you shouldn't pay for it?
........................... Here.... Have some common sense.
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CindyL said on 1:43PM 11-21-2009
I can't enjoy this patch anyway, as the latency for the entire month of December so far has rendered my game unplayable. :/
I'll try a few more tricks but there are people from all over the map who have this issue and we've waited a long time. I was hoping some of the hot fixes and patches would help but to no avail. Apparently they are looking into it, however it's making a lot of people unhappy as we are paying for something we can't enjoy. I can get behind a few days of trouble, but 3 weeks?
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CindyL said on 1:48PM 11-21-2009
I meant November.....
Utakata said on 2:07PM 11-21-2009
...I'm not sure this is a fine example of blind nerd rage or someone not taking their meds properly.
On topic: From an outsider, the patch notes look like a step in the right direction. I still want to see WoW quantity/quality quest content for mid to high end before I purchase this game though.
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XXX said on 4:29PM 11-21-2009
Don't waste your money. Quit playing for now and go back once they've fixed all these issues including the huge grind one.
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Jay said on 5:05PM 11-21-2009
So; you clearly swore and you clearly posted a link to some pornographic video... both against the ToS and you got banned.
And you are complaining why?
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Jason said on 5:26PM 11-21-2009
Interesting patch notes, but it doesn't fix the fact that the game felt soulless. It was a fun game at first, but after a while it just got boring. I don't mind if it takes a while to get between levels, and I want to work for the items, but mindless grinding is not what I consider fun.
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Graill said on 5:22PM 11-21-2009
Well, while i didnt last past the free month. I am waiting for one thing. I am waiting for Lani to be fired or at least post why they have tubed >another game
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crsh said on 5:51PM 11-21-2009
I'm still playing, but I had canceled my sub renewal as the dreaded crysystem.dll crash issue was pissing me off to end; actually, to be clear, I can deal with issues when a game just launched, but NCsoft's stubborn silence is what has been irritating me.
Well looks like they partially fixed it by tweaking the character draw distance mechanism; not perfect, but I haven't been crashing at all since 1.5.1 went live; kudos to them, I wasn't even expect this.
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The Claw said on 9:03PM 11-21-2009
You sound like a juvenile idiot, Aion will probably be much improved by 72 hours of your absence. Congratulations to ncsoft for taking a sensible approach.
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DeathMutant said on 9:30PM 11-21-2009
While it is true the amount of kinah-selling spam (in the chat channels) has been significantly reduced why in the world did NCSoft *remove* the ability to right-click on a spammer's name to block them?! /boggle
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crsh said on 12:43AM 11-22-2009
There never was such a feature, what are you talking about exactly?
DeathMutant said on 2:56AM 11-22-2009
If you right-click on someone's name that just said something in a chat channel (like LFG) you *had* the option to /Whisper or /Block them. Originally, it was just /Whisper but for the last few weeks there was a /Block option too but now it is back to just /Whisper; even the pop-up menu is gone now, it just goes to /Whisper.
jaydlawii said on 3:27PM 11-23-2009
Any one want some cheese with all that whine? Is the game a grind, Compared to WoW yes!
But the game is pretty fun, i admit, there were times where i felt the numbness of "Grinding", but its more of a mentality thing as opposed to a game issue. We want the game to be easier, yet curse it when its too much like WoW. I think Aion is set up very well with the latest changes. If there is one thing i would add to Aion is more group quests, and group dungeon areas. that way it gives the player a choice as to where and how he/she wants to level up, by either performing group quests and grinding bosses, or soloing. the one thing WoW had correct was the amount of group instances that it had, you barely needed to quest after you hit 15. This is what Aion needs.
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