[Reverenth]

And alas WoW will remain champion of the MMO market?

This is coming form a consumer's point of view. If a company like Blizzard has an MMO product being consumed by millions around the world, and its contents can generally please any gamer, why would I look at Aion for any reason? WoW has dominated the MMO market for over four years now and has accumulated so much polish and innovation over the years. If a game like Aion is struggling with issues such as botting and population control, then why would someone like me care to give it a look? WoW has the occasional gold farmer, but other than that, its pretty much bot free. Sure, there are still some balancing issues, especially with the introduction of Death Knights, but out of all of the MMOs I've played, it still has the most balance with classes for PVE and PVP.

AoC was a fiasco. Warhammer was released at the same time as WoTLK and it is suffering due to bad release timing. WoTLK had just recently hit shelves and it will be a while until Blizzard conjures another expansion. The point I'm making is this: Aion has the stage ready for it. Veterans of WoW are salivating at the mouth for a new MMO experience and new players will question whether or not they would like to level a character in WoW and not play it in the future, or switch to Aion first off and level a character in that game, and Warhammer will still be lost in the wake of WoLTK suffering population issues. People would love a new MMO to come and sweep them off their gaming feet and whisk them away to a new fantasy adventure.

But if Aion releases while it is riddled with bots, balancing issues, and population problems, it doesn't matter how many Asians play or how many people bought it after OBT, it will not sell. People will play this game that is already fated to be compared to WoW, and people will find WoW to still be the champion of MMOs just because of its polish and solidity. Everyone knows MMO games are raw and rough around the edges at release. But people have been playing in an MMO market that is dominated by Blizzard's giant, and whatever releases is guaranteed to be compared to WoW.

Aion needs to be solid at release. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Its not fair. Its not right. But it is reality. This game needs to be almost as polished as WoW is now in order for it to be successful in NA/EU areas. In a way, it is a blessing the game was released in Korea and China before the west side. This gives NCsoft to plug away at glaring gameplay errors and iron them out before an NA/EU release.

The stage is set and WoW is waiting for Aion to step into the ring. We can only hope that NCsoft cracks down on the botting and class imbalances before the NA/EU release. Its the only shot Aion has at leaving its mark in the MMO industry for the Western Hemisphere.

My two cents.