#17 Back to Aion

A few weeks ago I started playing Aion again. I played a lot when it came out in 2009, and on and off over the years. I joined the Korean open beta, NA betas, and bought it at launch. As a teen, I was hooked, skipping dates and chores to play more. I jumped to other MMOs, so I only stayed a few months. Early private servers were awful with broken quests and systems. Later ones improved, and I tried some since the official game turned so bad. In 2021, Aion Classic NA launched, but it was a pay to win mess, so I quit after a few days. EU Classic was better, but 300 ms ping was too high for me. I found this server close to my country and checked my ping. It’s 31 ms, the best latency I’ve ever had in an MMO. It’s a classic version, familiar and free of p2w junk. Some private servers I played were modern with bloated updates I didn’t like. This one feels good. I’ve been playing a bit and it’s fun, but issues are piling up. They said population peaked at 700 players last weekend, but I’m not sure how true that is. I checked the in game search and it’s usually fewer than 200 players on my side, so maybe 400 total at peak time. Starter and leveling zones are ghost towns. Even in main cities there’s only a few people. The economy’s rough with high prices and few items due to low population. I’m level 35 on my main with a level 30 alt, but the grind’s hitting hard. I knew it would be tough. After 40, leveling’s hell. Post 45, it will take days for one level. At 50, gearing up means a lot more farming. None of my friends want to play it because they know it’s a hardcore grind. I love Aion’s PvP, still one of the best, but low level fights are rare on this server. Reaching 50 and gearing to be competitive will take months. It’s hard to find people to do group content. I’ll need to grind more than PvP, so I’m burning out. I watched the Aion 2 trailer the other day and it looks awesome, but I don’t trust NC.