I can tell you, people look strange at you since most of them drink it, even most family members.
Roughly half of our family and friends drink coffee here.
But I feel the same when I meet people and learn that I do not drink alcohol ...
Hello I’m Sparx
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triple posts, pls ban him !
You know how that movie ended, don't you?
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You know how that movie ended, don't you?
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@Censpai ?
@Censpai ?
Can you rename him?
Tea YES!
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And no, i don't think germans are welcoming english speaking players on their servers, just like in real life as they are not welcoming foreigners in their country.
Just because 10% of them are nice, friendly and english speaking it doesn't mean that the whole servers is like this.There are some differences between an online game and RL. By the way, the German server is not just German players. Swiss and Austrians seem to become involved.
I would not say that the German server has less nice and friendly people like all other servers.
The language barrier could be more of a problem, but I would say that more than 10% can reasonably communicate in English. Since 5.X many people are accustomed to running serverwide instances and to communicate roughly in English.
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Don't they speak German also in Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Belgium and other microscopic lands considered countries?
My RL experience says that quite a lot more German people know English than they show it but a lot will not speak it. I don't know the reason why. One of my ex bosses was from Germany. We talked in English but in time he asked from us to learn German :). It wasn't needed for work but I didn't get the chance since I quit (for other reasons). One day I want to learn it on my own. In my town almost half of the companies are German+Austrian and German language is mandatory to work there, and you will do it since they offer most of the money (Germoney). In a way it seems strange that my language is never picked up if it's the other way around in other country.
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In fact after I played for 3-4 days on the french server not a single person wanted to write or interact in english.
But when people that dont understand german join the Server i see at least 3-4 people answering in english.
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One day I want to learn it on my own. In my town almost half of the companies are German+Austrian and German language is mandatory to work there, and you will do it since they offer most of the money (Germoney).
Simply learn German with
BabbelAion Board.Just learn online and have fun.
For only € 12.99 per month you get access to the German spam area. In at least 6 months you speak / write German as if it were your native language. Success guaranteed! -
In only 6 months? That is very optimistic of you, although it looks more friendly than English language.
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sigh
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Sparxy
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What other eastern mmorpgs, from other Asian countries, if I may ask?
People always seem to forget that games like Final Fantasy XIV are also "eastern" MMORPGs by definition...
Then again, there are some promising upcoming chinese MMORPGs like Justice Online that want to use the subscription model and then there are games like Lost Ark.
Anyway, nowadays the competition is just a lot higher between companies and a lot less opportunities to make money because of this, since players are spread further and further and mmorpg games are not that popular either.
I have to disagree.
There is barely any competition in the MMORPG-market nowadays. You have the big five, meaning WoW, GW2, FF XIV, Runescape (which is already incredibly old) and ESO and then a few small-populated titles like Eve Online, BDO, TERA, Blade & Soul or SW:TOR. It's telling that already shut down games like Wildstar still make it on top lists. That's really not much considering how big the market is nowadays.
I'd also say that MMORPGs are still quite popular. Proof for that is the extreme hype for any new half-decent promising MMORPG. Just look at how much hype there was about Bless Online. Just look at how much hype there was about Revelations Online back in the past. Just look at how insanely hyped people are about games like Ashes of Creation or A:IR nowadays. The problem rather is that most new titles are failing due to being bad and uninnovative - and of course employing P2W-mechanics.
And to keep the devs and staff members and everyone to not go to another company, they have to pay them good.
You don't quite get how the gaming industry works, do you? Devs in general are in a pretty bad spot due to the lack of unionization thus they suffer from really shitty working conditions like 100h/week crunch periods (no, this sadly ain't a joke). People are actually happy if they can keep their job at all since most major gaming companies are cutting costs by laying off developers.
You mean FF which is a pve game? Don't really have to p2w in a pve game. Lost Ark is Korean, and looks very much like an arpg rather than a regular mmorpg. I was asking for the other Asian countries, since you mentioned that only Korea is like that.
There are still a gazillion mmos out there but mmorpgs are not popular anymore. What mmorpg still make it in the top 10, by the number of players nowadays? Not even WoW, which has half the population only bots and gold farmers. Wildstar was the worst of NC's games from players numbers so I'm skeptical if it made it anywhere. These popularity contest is never about numbers so it's probably that.
Promises don't mean anything. In the end is still mostly disappointment from most of them, like in the last few years. I'm sure I'll never try any of these new ones, they all disappointed me so far.
What 3rd world country is that where devs are working 100h/week and badly paid? You're probably confusing devs with testers. Testers have it pretty bad even here, getting paid minimum and have to work extra hours, but not 100. A game dev or a c++ programmer in general should earn a pretty decent amount of money even in Europe, more than other types of devs. I know that in NA every software dev is earning a lot more than in Europe but here is still a lot more than other jobs. If those devs have it that bad, should reconvert into making websites or something more profitable.
But anyway, we should move this discussion to some offtopic thread.
As always: YMMV of course.
FF XIV also offers PvP-content which renders your argument invalid. There is also P2W in Aion's PvE Content by the way. Be it the Luna buff or additional entries bought with Luna to raise your RNG-chances to obtain gear. Sure, Lost Ark may rather look like an ARPG, but - to be honest - most korean MMORPGs pursue the "Solo MMORPG" path. Aion isn't any different either. More and more activities are solo-oriented or at least designed for small groups.
Again, MMORPGs aren't as popular anymore due to aggressive monetization and the lack of innovation. Opinion always differ though. In that regard, I actually think that Wildstar was quite good and sadly wasn't as successful as it could have been due to some design issues and due to being targeted at the more hardcore audience.
Badly paid? I haven't brought up that argument. You can still get paid well and still suffer from bad working conditions. The gaming industry is the best example for that - especially the AAA-market. Sure, these devs probably are well-paid, but do you really think you can compensate total burnout (which many devs suffer from after crunch periods) with money? I don't think so. Crunch periods are quite the standard too in the AAA-industry. Sure, 100h/week is an extreme, but that doesn't invalidate the argument. Various AAA-projects had their devs work crunch periods with 60-80h/week. If you want to know more about that topic, you may should check some Kotaku-articles or some dedicated youtube-channels like the one of Jim Sterling (here's a commentory on NetherRealms 100h/week crunch period during the work on Mortal Kombat 11 - sure, the man is biased, but his arguments still hold true).
Fun Fact: C-AAA-ptialism is also one of the reasons why MMORPGs aren't as successful anymore. First and foremost, most publishers don't even want original work anymore - recycling content is more efficient and cheaper plus you may as well already have an existing audience. Then again, the game design is heavily butchered by monetization schemes turning the respective titles into boring and repetitive gameplay loops.
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I'd say the pvp there is 'dead' in that game. Can't really say it's dead since it was never a thing, it's just marginal at best.
PvE in aion being p2w, well, it doesn't bother me, or how fast other clean their instances and how faster they gear up. In the end, everyone can get carried there or buy the pieces. PvE is more forgiving because you can do your instances at your own pace and at any time of the day and there isn't really a competitive factor.
I personally don't think the monetization was the first or second problem that made mmorpgs less popular. It is some factor but to a lesser degree. For example, more p2w NCSoft games are more popular than Aion. Better population and all that. If you think 10k euro is p2w, try 30k-50k a year in other NCSoft games. There are other more p2w games out there and still more popular than Aion.
I think the first problem in general is that mmos offer (insert which is now a meme at this point) a 'long term' experience. You're most likely never start on equal foot, unless it's a new game or server. Players are hardly equal, either by time playing or other factors, unrelated to p2w. A lot of people don't like long term games, they want something here and now, with the little time they have. The grind factor in mmorpg is what made them even less attractive to western players.
Good thing eastern mmos have better graphics and better combat in general, otherwise they wouldn't make it to the west. Look at NCSoft most played game, with the most revenue and number of players. It's Lineage. I have played that for a bit but it was forced to shut down by NCWest in 2011. That game will never be popular in the west because it comes with eastern standards, being grindy, and it has the graphics from 1998 (when was launched). On the other hand it's also well designed. Even Lineage 2 was well designed. PvP was better designed, sieges as well. In Aion even the pve is meh. But I digress.
I've watched that video. I can hardly believe anything that guy says. I've had my first job as a 'programmer' almost 20 years (next year) and never heard of such things since. Of course, we had to pull some extra hours as well sometimes, even coming in weekends when it was needed to rush things. But there is law that prevent you from working more than 40 hours a week if it's 5 days, or 48 hours in 6 days, or somethng similar. I never had to read it again but it's there. If I remember correctly, you're from Germany, and there is something similar as well. It's probably because of the Union that we might have the same. So 60-80h a week is against the law, not to mention the 100h like in the video.
Then I looked up. That company he mentioned, it's from US. Okay, they don't have a law like that with working hours. They work more than European countries, sometimes 10 hours per day from what others say, but they have the weekend off. How does someone get 100h/week? Then he says 11$/hour. Are you telling me an entry level software dev in US is working for 11$/hour, like the video says? Entry level software developer in US is at least 50k a year. That is entry level.
I mean, nothing from that video makes me believe it's real. I'm starting to believe in conspiracy theories now, that the article he mentioned, is probably made by him or someone he paid him to mention it.
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I'd say the pvp there is 'dead' in that game.
Well... PvP is also quite dead in Aion, isn't it? I mean, the heavily RNG-based and exponential gear-progression is killing the game and especially PvP. Then again, I have to admit that korean MMORPGs with the exception of Blade & Soul aren't designed to deliver competitive PvP. Quite the contrary, they're designed to deliver unbalanced and heavily gear-realiant PvP to manipulate their players to spend more cash in the cash shop. There are even matchmaking-mechanisms that intentionally match you up against opponents with better gear than yourself just to manipulate you to spend more cash.
PvE is more forgiving because you can do your instances at your own pace and at any time of the day and there isn't really a competitive factor.
Now that's just plain wrong.
If you want to do endgame PvE content, you want to get into decent groups quickly. Good players - you can also call it "human capital" - don't grow on trees. That means you want to get gear that qualifies as "entry gear" by the standards of the community rather fast to get a good spot. So much for doing PvE at your own pace.
Also: PvE Ranks was a thing in the past and is apparently going to be revived rather soon. Sure, it's somewhat of a joke since Aion is heavily gear-reliant (which includes transformations and deavanion skills). but it's still akin to somewhat of a competitive scene.
I think the first problem in general is that mmos offer (insert which is now a meme at this point) a 'long term' experience. You're most likely never start on equal foot, unless it's a new game or server. Players are hardly equal, either by time playing or other factors, unrelated to p2w. A lot of people don't like long term games, they want something here and now, with the little time they have. The grind factor in mmorpg is what made them even less attractive to western players.
The problems are rather the design of gear-progression and how fast you reach "softcap" gear which enables you to fully enjoy the game. GW2 is actually a pretty good example of how you can avert the points you've stated. Sure, it may be problematic that there isn't really that much vertical progression, but there are several other progression systems which make the game work. Coming back to Aion, even Aion did a very good job at catering to both casuals and hardcore players during the early 4.x times. You got your entry gear rather fast and you had a logarithmic gear-progression which was perfectly fine. That soon got ruined though due to the implementation of P2W-promotional game design.
I've watched that video. I can hardly believe anything that guy says. I've had my first job as a 'programmer' almost 20 years (next year) and never heard of such things since. Of course, we had to pull some extra hours as well sometimes, even coming in weekends when it was needed to rush things. But there is law that prevent you from working more than 40 hours a week if it's 5 days, or 48 hours in 6 days, or somethng similar. I never had to read it again but it's there. If I remember correctly, you're from Germany, and there is something similar as well. It's probably because of the Union that we might have the same. So 60-80h a week is against the law, not to mention the 100h like in the video.
Then I looked up. That company he mentioned, it's from US. Okay, they don't have a law like that with working hours. They work more than European countries, sometimes 10 hours per day from what others say, but they have the weekend off. How does someone get 100h/week?
100h per week are actually quite possible. I'm also working in a job in which people aren't unionized. If some big project comes up which has to get done rather fast, pulling of long workdays isn't that uncommon. You work far into the night, go home and sleep some hours/take a shower, then come back to work. This can lead to 16h workdays during crunch periods which leads to 80h total if not more if you also work on weekends. And yes: While it may be illegal, who cares if the employee isn't doing anything against such behaviour due to being in a powerless position? In several nations, such stuff is actually not uncommon. Especially Japan is quite popular for its overwork culture where people even sleep in office. With "karōshi" they even have a specific term for suicides caused by overwork. You also seem to forget that we're talking about the AAA gaming industry here, so these people have a lot of pressure getting stuff done in time. It's simply real life.
I mean, nothing from that video makes me believe it's real. I'm starting to believe in conspiracy theories now, that the article he mentioned, is probably made by him or someone he paid him to mention it.
It is real though and certainly not a conspiracy theory. There are several cases in which the AAA gaming industry forced devs to endure extreme crunch time. You have to consider that these companies had cancer-like growth during the last 5, 6 years. Companies like Activision or EA have grown several 100% during the aforementioned period. Devs in the AAA gaming industry also constantly have to fear layoffs since these companies have to maintain their profit rates which they do by laying off employees. That's actually a pretty normal economic behavior nowadays. Just look at how many development studios EA has killed by now.
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Annarose is back i guess
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Annarose is back i guess
Aion just isn't all that fun anymore. You just get f***ed over by RNG every single time. Admittedly though, I'm probably stuck in the extremely low - meaning misfortunate - part of the RNG-scale. Could have gotten the wings out of PW yesterday on my SM, but alas... my rolling misfortune is really killing me. Have seen every single equipment piece I need during the last five months I'm running the dungeon on that character but have only gotten the bracelet thus far. That adds up and really kills any motivation I have for playing the game. Even though it's pretty unproductive, I'd rather have a discussion here, writing these walls of text whilst watching some youtube-videos than playing the game at all.
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I dont understand why you dont do it like me. You said ppl are addicted to the game, but you seem like you cant let it go either
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I dont understand why you dont do it like me. You said ppl are addicted to the game, but you seem like you cant let it go either
My main reason for not quitting are first and foremost social bonds and secondly emotional investment. Would be quite happy if I could go the same path you have gone (for which I actually have to commend you). But well... It's not that easy. Then again, I'm barely playing the game but rather idle in Lakrum whilst watching stuff on youtube or on TV, reading stuff or playing other games. Currently, I'm watching all kinds of silly videos about japanese culture, Marvel/DC movies and several gaming channels.
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well i dont think we should talk about this topic here, else Sparx will be mad
