Wow, it’s been a while! It’s funny how a short trip to another city can take a lot out of you, right? I’m still on the road to recovery but don’t worry – I’ll be back to 100% real soon.
Today, I’m informing my smallish readership that I have moved on from one of my subbed MMO,s Aion. As those who play MMOs know well, unsubbing from one that you’ve played is not unlike breaking up with someone you’ve dated – it’s a bit awkward, makes you feel like you invested your time for nothing, and it kinda hurts your butt for a while. But just like any actual relationship breakup, ultimately, you need to look on the bright side and see that yes, even though you probably totally made a mistake putting months of your life into the affair, that you’ll have learned something. Yes, just like finding out that dating someone who is a little too into kitchen appliances might not be conducive to a healthy relationship, unsubbing from an MMO gives you a few lessons to take to the next subscription.
For example, here’s some great tidbits I learned about Aion during my journey from 1 – 50 as a Cleric:
- Perpetually poor people like me can’t pay for deaths and experience loss consistently. Soul Healer, you are the Donald Trump of MMOs.
- A little randomness is nice. Too much randomness, such as critting on crafting for quests, is nice to make you want to stab your eyes out with a spoon.
- Soul Healer, you should write a book on economical success in MMOs.
- The best treadmill grind is the one you don’t realize you are running. The worst treadmill grind is the one that you not only realize you are on but which also has spikes on the treads as you run.
- I like a little resistance in PvP. It makes battles more exciting. However, when encountering the resistance is like jamming your index finger as hard as you can against a brick wall to try to make a hole in it, it’s not quite as fun, you see.
- Getting loot is neat. But in the repeated absence of any loot at all, you can at least copy and paste items into chat to fantasize about having epic gear.
- Did I mention that if Soul Healer was a class, all they would have to have is an ability which sucks money and experience away to succeed? Easiest class ever, I say!
So the next time you bust up with the MMO love of your life, don’t drown your sorrows in pints of Ben and Jerry’s and constant YouTube and Hulu watching. Learn the lessons and move on (or back) to something you truly enjoy and can give you what you want. Trust me – you’ll be better and a little less flabby for it.
I hate having to unsub. Probably the saddest I ever was to unsub from a game was Warhammer Online. I still love that game; unfortunately, none of my friends do, and I can't seem to convince them that it's a well-rounded, enjoyable PvP experience. They all prefer WoW BGs/Arenas.
I did learn, though, that I prefer slower PvP and that leveling through PvP is my preferred method which has really helped me out through my last couple of alt treks through WoW's leveling game.
There's a reason why my WAR sub is still semi-active. It's a good game and recently is enjoying a bit of a renaissance in light of the 2009 titles not quite living up to expectations. It's not surprising your friends like WoW. It's vanilla and easy to get into. Focused MMOs like WAR already start with having trouble retaining subs due to their specific nature.
90% of the people I know dropped Aion before they had to pay for it. It hurt a little to pay $50 a game you knew you weren't going to ever play again, but looking back at the months put into a game that is fun…makes it feel a little better. Kinda like finding out your ex was a total slut, but your secretary at work likes to hang out under your desk all day.
Maybe not just like that, but still. Who doesn't want a secretary like that?
Don't get me wrong – I wouldn't have stuck with Aion as long as I had without one of my best friends playing, and there were moments when it was fun. That's why I don't get why people trash a game they used to play like WoW, when they played for years. Tourism like you mention is one thing, but having a years-long association with your game of choice and then claiming it was total crap when you left? I smell shenanigans.
Part of that I think is a sense of bitterness and disappointment in what the player feels should have been a longer relationship, or characterizing a relationship that ended in a fashion they didn't approve of. I always hear people thrash a game when their class got nerfed or something. Or they took out their favorite zone (Scenarios WAR..I loved Basin!).
Their trashing the game is just how they justify leaving abruptly. "That game is crap" is something they sell themselves, really. I mean, why would they continue to play a "crappy game"?
Few players leave a game and say "Sure, it might be fun, but it isn't for me" or "I just couldn't adapt to the changes they made to my class" or "While I didn't approve of the changes, I'll get over it."
Not sure what kind of breakups you've had… I for one have never had a breakup that made my butt hurt for a while… *shudder*