We flutter back into Atreia, the world of NCsoft's Aion, and revisit some of the elder game content to see what's changed and what's stayed the same.

Unfortunately, as with any game with players who just want to maximize their gains, Aion's players have found that they earn the best Abyss Points (Aion's version of World of Warcraft honor that can be used to purchase PvP gear) when they're not PvPing. In Aion, as players accumulate more Abyss Points and reach higher ranks, they also lose an extraordinary amount of Abyss Points if they die to a player of the enemy faction. Even in a position as low as a Rank 5 Soldier, we were losing about 100 Abyss Points per death, and this can stack up if someone decides to really wreck your day. Because of this, many players even swear off actual PvP, and instead they choose to focus on "grinding guards," which means to kill off the Elite Guards of the enemy faction. Not only do these guards give a great amount of experience points, but they also give steady Abyss Points.

In other words, while Aion's PvP does promote "intelligent PvPing," the fact that there is an alternate method to accumulate points without the dangers of losing them to another player means that many players will defer to the PvE side of Aion's PvPvE. For some players, they've even taken to rocketing to level 50 as fast as possible so that they can fund a level 30-40 alternative character with the best gear (and consumables) possible, and then they simply go rifting all day, running around enemy territories so they can terrorize the other players who are trying to get to level 50 so they can do the same thing.

It is here that one of Aion's biggest problems comes into play. To us, it seems as though Aion is meant to be played more slowly than its North American competitor, World of Warcraft. Fans of Final Fantasy XI may remember the joys of slowly advancing through their levels, taking breaks to level their crafting, or participate in a crucial mission. In Aion, however, players aren't allowed to enjoy their leveling process and take their time, as they are constantly in competition with the opposition. There are very few "safe zones" in Aion once you hit level 25+, and while the developers intended for this to happen, it does create the mentality within players to get as strong as they can, as fast as they can.

Of course, NCsoft is not without blame here, as it has been almost half a year without any significant changes on the way. While it's a happy sight to see NCsoft occasionally listening to their community, as with the Fort Siege extensions, many of their actions have been somewhat troubling for fanatical Aion fans. By example, their Valentine's Event, as we've noted, was being sold for $9.99 USD, but most of the items in the package could be purchased in-game for paltry amounts of Kinah - only the five Pink / Red clothing dyes and the unique floral-themed hat were new, but hardly worth spending almost $10.

In the end, NCsoft has had almost five months to shake off its post-launch instability, and finally deliver something for players to look forward to. Unfortunately, these days all we have is Aion's Visions Trailer, released almost three months ago, to hope that we may, one day, see Aion spread its wings and take flight.