Massive Nerd

I did not play the Aion Closed Beta Event this weekend. As I mentioned last time around, I'm pretty much just waiting around for the retail release. However, I have been keeping up with the goings-on of the game.

There is only one word I have for the behavior I've seen this weekend: pathetic.

A portion of the player base has reached the Beta level cap of 30. This is not as terribly easy as you would imagine, as mid-20s leveling is brutal in version 1.0 of the game.

Now, at "level cap" in a PVP-based game, what is there to do? PVP, of course!

Aion has a PVP zone called The Abyss for mass-scale Faction vs Faction battle. Seems like a great time, eh? Except that's not how it went down.

There are also Rifts that open randomly throughout the world, allowing Asmodians and Elyos to enter opposing territory. In the release version, there are level caps and player limits on these Rifts, as well as penalties for repeatedly killing lower-leveled players. Unfortunately, that is not the case now.

So, what are all these level-capped players to do? face off and fight fair? Hell no. The stack up and surround lower-leveled cities and will not allow anybody to leave. Without chat channels enabled (again, Beta) it is impossible to mount a defense against this. Level 20 players have absolutely no way to combat this threat. Where are all the level 30 players of their faction to come to the rescue? Why, doing the EXACT SAME FRAKKING THING.

When given the option for a fair fight or making other people's lives miserable, what does a large portion of the community choose? To be complete asses!

Now, I understand. This is a PVP-focused game, and disrupting the other faction is a part of the game. I get this. I also understand that, when faced with impossible odds, the lower-leveled players have options. They can go to a non-rifting zone and grind for a while until the raid is over. Yeah, grinding sucks, but at least it's progress you wouldn't be able to make elsewhere.

However, this is Beta. Players are here to experience what the game has to offer. Intentionally preventing others from experiencing the game, for absolutely no gain of your own is just inexcusable to me.

You want to PVP? Go to The Abyss. That's what it's there for.

You want to raid the opposing faction? By all means, go for it. You're entitled to experience that part of the game, yourself. However, don't be asses. Don't spend all three bloody days that the event lasts camped outside a lower-leveled town.

That's just pathetic.

This is not an isolated incident, either. Some are worse than others, but from what I've seen, this is happening on both sides, across all servers.

Many players are incredibly upset about this. They think this is all they have to expect from the release version of the game. Thankfully, that's just not true, thanks to the limitations and penalties that I mentioned previously.

So, for any out there pissed about their experiences this weekend, please read this thread from the Aion Source forums. This is a fantastic thread (which, sadly, are few and far between these days) full of great information about what to expect in the REAL game, and how to avoid situations like this.

Also, if anyone out there actually reading this can give some perspective on the attackers, please do so. Help me understand the mindset of these people. As I said before, I understand that disrupting the opposing faction is part of the game. However, completely destroying someone's chance for entertainment seems unnecessary. Sure, the main point for attacking the opposing faction is to draw out defenders for battle and, presumably, fun all around. However, IT'S BETA, chat channels are disabled, and there IS NO OPPOSITION. So, simply, why?

This is my first PVP-focused MMO, so help this carebear understand.