Lack of updated information

[Onycho]

Last year I disappeared off the forums for nearly 10 months...in all that time..the amount of new information we got was virtually nil. My guild leader made the sarcastic comment "You could disappear for another 10 months and there still wouldn't be any information".

In fact...I came back in Dec and that was when we learned that #1 No world wide Beta, and #2 No World Wide Release.

The player base demanded (myself especially vocally) new information...we got some round-about answers that really answered nothing.

Now over a month has gone by and the only information we've gotten is....basically a "Why I like being a Graphic Artist" exerpt.

I made a lot of complaints in my other thread about the separate business entities (NCSoft Korea and NCNA/EU) model being a major failure. In another game I'm playing right now..RF Online...that again is showing. CCR has no interest in updating CM's NA/EU version. They don't send the updates, the information is lacking...we, outside of Korea are basically screwed.

Now with this continued saga of zero information being filtered to NC NA/EU...I see it all too clearly again. When will you people learn that it doesn't work? It's very sad that we pick up more information about the game through translated 3rd party websites than we can from NCSoft NA/EU.

Please, get your act together...don't let this game be destroyed before it even starts.

As it is right now though...it's looking like NCSoft NA/EU =

[Fleiva]

Originally Posted by Ayase

Our plans [schedule] for Aion are somewhat seperate from the Korean plans and their progress. Information from our side will increase when we reach a stage similar to what you are seeing in Korea now. For instance, NCsoft Korea is currently performing Closed Beta tests whereas we are not there yet.

As I mentioned before, expect to see a more assorted variety of information from us when the larger EU Aion website launches and thereafter.

Hope this calms you, at least they give us an ETA for information flow to come.

[Caineth]

Hey, at least you got the Memorablia update. Other fansites have been on life-support for the past month. I can understand that they aren't releasing worldwide, there is after all a lot of effort involved in localisation. However, my only gripe is the lack of information. This is "the" Internet, so release schedules isn't an excuse for not letting us know what the koreans already know. Working on a fansite myself, its sad to see how much of our content is based on speculation, fan-translations, and rumours, instead of official information. Please give us something more than two-sentence descriptions of the classes, NCSoft Europe.

[Fleiva]

Most of the information we get is through korean fansites, whenever there's official info in korea we get it here, with a bit of delay, but we do get it.

Other than that, this quote may refresh our memories:

We do not wish for the game to be criticized for a mere few unique features. We wish for the game to be looked at by its completion. We also do not reveal much info because we do not want the game to be summed up by the several unique features it has. We wish to provide a game with a variety of contents and completion.

[Knite]

Not to mention if they start to blab to the world in detail about their unique features, other games coming out around the same time, and already established ones, will reveal the best of those features first and then Aion, the originator of them, will be thought of as a follower.

And I don't know how hard you looked, but the last 10 months have been the most fruitful 10 months of this wait. Screen shots, info from korean Beta, LOTS of gameplay video, Asmodians released, detailed character creation, snippets from the soundtrack, actual class names & descriptions, and translations from actual beta testers.

Stigma, the main Abyss, and a much more complete game will be in next month's Korean CBT.

Really all we're waiting on is a rock solid beta and release date, which will both be after Q2 of this year.

[Ayase]

Originally Posted by Fleiva

Most of the information we get is through korean fansites, whenever there's official info in korea we get it here, with a bit of delay, but we do get it.

Other than that, this quote may refresh our memories:

I wish we could release more information to you, but the situation is pretty much as Fleiva says. We do relay official information from Korea, even if the speed with which this happens sometimes isn't optimal. We do however not relay information that is under NDA (put on Korean fansites).

Right now, the closed beta is on a shorter break, since the Dev team needed some extra development time (they are, for an example, implementing vast changes to character creation).

[dalin]

thanks Ayase...

its certainly refreshing to see that a beta is having a meaningful impact on the final game... ive participated in too many "failed" betas, where all they amounted to was a means to advertise the pending release of the game...

[Aseenus]

yeah i agree, hence y i havnt been on these forums in a while, the lack of information is killing me >_>

[Kattrina]

I'd personally rather play a finished game than one they half-heartedly released for speed. I might be the only one who thinks like this, but I'm actually happy when a game gets pushed back. It means that much more work is being put into it before I need to spend hard earned money on it.
I just hope that when it does come out, it's everything it's been advertised to be. Great end game PvP, siege combat, instances for when you want to PvE, end game solo places so you can casually waste your day away, and plenty of solo and party quests so you don't have to level grind.
If all these things are there, I don't mind waiting.

[Hellriser]

The only hope I have is when Aion will be released in US/EU, it won't suck. I don't care if it's released tomorrow or in 2010. The waiting time is relative... different for every person.

[Calindor]

I agree with you that this platform is a fail, however I dont really care as long as NCSoft Austin puts the effort in to stop exploits/bots/rmt.

[Onycho]

Originally Posted by Ayase

I wish we could release more information to you, but the situation is pretty much as Fleiva says. We do relay official information from Korea, even if the speed with which this happens sometimes isn't optimal. We do however not relay information that is under NDA (put on Korean fansites).

Right now, the closed beta is on a shorter break, since the Dev team needed some extra development time (they are, for an example, implementing vast changes to character creation).

Ayase, if you knew this information...why did it take a thread like this to bring it out?

This is what we mean by the lack of information. Would it be difficult to let us know some of the things they're working on? Occationally update us? The last real "official" update we had was the classes being named.

To you it may be "nothing news" but to us it's a LOT. Gives us some fresh stuff to speculate, chew, and ruminate on...

[Dekar]

What worries me the most is that we are huge fans of something that does not yet exist. I've seen to many situation where teh wait was by far the most enjoyable part of the game, I wish this won't be the case here :/

[Ayase]

Originally Posted by Onycho

Ayase, if you knew this information...why did it take a thread like this to bring it out?

This is what we mean by the lack of information. Would it be difficult to let us know some of the things they're working on? Occationally update us? The last real "official" update we had was the classes being named.

To you it may be "nothing news" but to us it's a LOT. Gives us some fresh stuff to speculate, chew, and ruminate on...

It was also mentioned in this thread. It was a case of clarifying an abstract Q&A answer.

[Howling]

Originally Posted by Ayase

Right now, the closed beta is on a shorter break, since the Dev team needed some extra development time (they are, for an example, implementing vast changes to character creation).

NEW INFORMATION!!! I don't know about anyone else - but I didn't know what they were actually doing in this break with the delayed Betas. We knew they wanted more time because they felt they weren't ready for phase 2 of CBT.. but nothing more (someone correct me if I'm wrong there?)

I think tid-bits like that is what everyone wants Ayase - Thats why in my suggestion thread to you about the weekly updates.. Even bits as tiny and insignificant as that are faaaaaarrrrrrrr more satisfying than hearing nothing at all.

Originally Posted by Ayase

It was also mentioned in this thread. It was a case of clarifying an abstract Q&A answer.

That thread doesn't provide anything specific though. Q: Why is CBT delayed? A: There are bits we're not satisfied with.... That hardly counts as information.. It's answering the question sure enough, but the expression drawing blood from a stone springs to mind.. The answers are giving the least, if any, information possible.

The bit you mentioned a little earlier about them changing the char creation - that was news to me, and probably quite afew members.. We knew they were doing something but as always - we were simply left in the dark to speculate.

<3 Ayase