lvl 40

[Ethrael]

That actually was something that I experienced when I played City of Heroes. I got a character up to level 25/50 or so then wondered whether it would be more fun or faster with another archetype. So I ended up with about 7 characters all below level 15 and one still at 25 because I never played them. It was only when I told myself to play with the higher level one no matter how boring it may be that I got them to about 35. That was the only way that I realised how much fun the higher levels are.

[businesscats]

Originally Posted by Jman95

Wow. My first MMO was L2 so 2 months for max level to me is pie! I think it took me over 6 months on my first character for L2, JUST to reach 55. haha.

That was back in Interlude, like two weeks after it came out. Soo it was a lot harder compared to today's L2.

I hope you mean Prelude instead of Interlude, as there is quite a large difference between the two.

Originally Posted by Kazuhiro

Well you have to consider the fact that it is closed beta so there are a LIMITED amount people in a hunting area. Just think of all the people hunting in an area or waiting for a quest mob when AION goes live. From past screen shot experiences on a private L2 server you HAD to line up for the quest mob needed to class change into a rouge. LOL.

On a side note... I hate crafting just to see it FAIL... (Lineage 2 blow me.) All that time farming just to watch it fail kinda QQ. For farming areas god i hope a PK system is implemented so that you can kill your own factions. I needs my mobs mengs. And just to regulate those chinese farmers personally. Nothing like saving the world with your own hands =)

I remember when I was doing the lv20 and lv40 quests (Prelude) there wasn't any such thing as "lining up" for the quest mob. Sure you might come across some people trying to do the same quest, but if you couldn't get it after one or two tries you'd just pk the other person/people.

As for crafting, that's where a clan/guild comes into play! Every member deposits mats they picked up from pve into the clan bank, have a char sell off useless crap to the vendor and other players, play the market, etc. With a clan it wasn't too difficult to get things crafted. If your clan happened to be ahead of the game at the time you could craft those "rare" items (when the majority of the server was reaching a new grade tier) and sell them for a high price. Playing the market was fun! Then again the entire time I played the game (NA CB to C5) I never failed a craft - I know I was very lucky, too.

[loganz35]

Originally Posted by DaBestKilla

Well, I REALLY hope we have to grind forever to reach max level. I hate to be given things so easily. It needs to be grindy like 2moons lol, where u end up at level 65 with no money, grindin in the desert for about 5 hours for a level.

Not all people have those extra 5h to grind just for one lvl... take that in consideration too.

[Nzo]

Originally Posted by loganz35

Not all people have those extra 5h to grind just for one lvl... take that in consideration too.

Its not about playtime its about efficiency. And 'I dont have as much time to play as xxx and yyy' is never a valid argument for why it should be easy to level. Saying the game should cater to you because you have limited playtime is the same as people with more time saying the lvling should take longer. Why are people with less time automatically more important?

[loganz35]

Originally Posted by Nzo

Its not about playtime its about efficiency. And 'I dont have as much time to play as xxx and yyy' is never a valid argument for why it should be easy to level. Saying the game should cater to you because you have limited playtime is the same as people with more time saying the lvling should take longer. Why are people with less time automatically more important?

No, I am not saying that they are more important or something, just consider them as a fact. And they aren't more important then any of us but these people who lack of free time which they could invent in a gaming is still part of buyers/consumers just like you (that means to NCSOFT more income), so they should make game that appeals them at some point and in way that wouldn't offend Hard Core Grinders.

But thankfully deciding from what I have seen in videos with Ken Choi this game will appeal both groups of gamers.

[Kattrina]

Yeah I have to agree with Loganz, one of the reasons why Blizzard is so successful with World of Warcraft is because they've opened it up to a wider range of people by making it easy for the common non-gamer to pick up and get into. I'm not saying that I want Aion to be another World of Warcraft, but we have to keep in mind that they're a business just like Blizzard. If they want to optimize their profits from Aion (and thereby increase their company's interest in taking even better care of our beloved game) then they'll want to open their game up to all kinds of gamers and not keep it limited to a small set.

[Aelo]

2 months to get toward end game is kind of disheartening to us hard core players. If i can get full raid gear the best stigma and skills and max level in 3 months the game is waaaaaaaaaaaay to easy. I distinctly remember when EQ1 came out and no one had any idea what was going on and it took almost 7 months for the first person to hit 50.

I will be slightly disappointed if i reach max level in 3 months - what will i have to do after that? Farm raid mobs with my guidies? i mean it sounds fun and all but id rather have something more to do.

[Ariel]

Originally Posted by Aelo

2 months to get toward end game is kind of disheartening to us hard core players. If i can get full raid gear the best stigma and skills and max level in 3 months the game is waaaaaaaaaaaay to easy. I distinctly remember when EQ1 came out and no one had any idea what was going on and it took almost 7 months for the first person to hit 50.

I will be slightly disappointed if i reach max level in 3 months - what will i have to do after that? Farm raid mobs with my guidies? i mean it sounds fun and all but id rather have something more to do.

I hope it takes @ most 3 months....anything above that would kill me....i want to get into RVR @ lv 50 ASAP but thats my opinion.....if i wanted 7 months ot get max lv i would just play a f2p grinder ( not rly i love aion to much ) u get idea =\

[Reith]

Two months is fine with me. Back in FFXI if you had bad luck it could take you 3mo+ to level up, depending on job and what kind of gear you needed/had. Though honestly, I recall having a static party and recently in ffxi and we went from 1-75 in under 13 days without spending every single day leveling and every waking hour (or it would of been less). With the cap at 50, I *hardly* see an issue with 2 months. If anybody recalls FFXI also started at 50, and from mid 60s (been a while so I forget) to 75 is the same exp as it takes from 1-mid60s. So for those hardcore gamers that burn through you kind of need to remember most people don't do that, so when you burn to the end there may not be that much waiting for you. After all it is a brand new game. Think back to all the other MMOs that started but didn't really cater heavily to end-game until the next expansion or so.

Getting 50 in FFXI would take about a week if you had a good setup, hardly difficult by the standards that FFXI has now. Though at the time nobody knew of the best leveling practices, how useful bard was, etc etc so leveling was slow. I know the 'grind' in FFXI (team play rarely feels grindy to me, go figure) turned a lot of people off because it was so hard for them and they quit. Personally I like having capped level mean something, but personally I like knowing how to play your job well mean more.

[Kattrina]

I think balance will be important. Leveling doesn't have to be the focus if there's plenty of other things for hardcore players to do. With the amount of Abyss content and dungeon content they add, I'm hoping that leveling will be something we can just "get by" and quickly move on to the wonderful end content.

[Nzo]

If you want balanced pvp play an fps. Inequality due to level and gear differences is one of the main components of a good pvp mmo and is a motivator for people to continue to play the game.

[Arvalo85]

Lol if one more person complains about how Aion isnt gonna be a hardcore grind im gonna explode XD

After playing Lineage 2 for 4 years i can honestly say that i will never play a hardcore grind game again. I had to bust my *** to get 78 with only a mid 60's subclass.

Hard grind is what leads to bot power leveling services. NOT TO MENTION the fact that you will not be able to grind in Aion anyways as the mobs will adjust their difficulty based on how much your farming on them. If you "Hardcore" gamers want a grind go play something else. NC is preparing Aion in such as way as it might actually thrive in the US unlike Lineage 2 which had a steady drop off through its entire life span. I think Aion built as it is might push WoW off its cartoonesqe craptacular dorkfest popularity pedestal And it cant happen soon enough IMO.

[Grobyc]

Originally Posted by Kattrina

Yeah I have to agree with Loganz, one of the reasons why Blizzard is so successful with World of Warcraft is because they've opened it up to a wider range of people by making it easy for the common non-gamer to pick up and get into. I'm not saying that I want Aion to be another World of Warcraft, but we have to keep in mind that they're a business just like Blizzard. If they want to optimize their profits from Aion (and thereby increase their company's interest in taking even better care of our beloved game) then they'll want to open their game up to all kinds of gamers and not keep it limited to a small set.

I completely agree. Who wants to see someone at max level and to know that it's going to take them half a year to get there? It's disheartening to hear that when you first begin a game. And on top of that, just to know that they were playing endlessly during those 6 months. Assuming people work 8 hours a day (which is unreasonable given today's standards), that doesn't leave a whole lot of time to play. I hate to sound like an ***, but just because you (not you, Kattrina, just directing to people in general) don't have a life doesn't mean others don't and it will be stupid of NCSoft to tailor a game to people with no lives.

[Shmak]

It makes no difference how much time it takes to level. Leveling is always something people will point to because is quantitative progress, but EVERY MMO IS BASED AROUND TIME COMMITMENT. The people who play the most will always have the greater achievement. This is the very reason they are popular. Are people just deluding themselves about this, resulting in the, "I don't want to have to spend my life playing," comments? I just don't understand.

You cannot change the game, you can only change how you approach it. You have to be committed to get the end rewards, and for the end rewards to be valuable, they have to be hard to get. In order to make them hard to get, they have to take a long time to achieve. If you cannot commit the time, then you cannot realistically set your sights on those end-game goals.

Skill plays a hopelessly small factor. If it actually did come into play, even less people would have access to the end game content, and the game would be outright impossible for a portion of the audience of MMOs. So tell me again how the devs are "taloring games for people with no lives"? Players set goals for themselves. Please tell me how NC has taken away your free will. You cannot have the best of both worlds.

[eVenom]