Aion found itself falling short of greatness

When Aion came out in 2009, it was supposed to rock the foundations of the MMO world.  I mean, what new hyped released in the genre isn’t these days?  But Aion found itself falling short of greatness in the West not because it wasn’t a polished and well-made game, but because it’s pacing and mechanics catered more towards the Eastern market.  Over the course of the twelve-plus months since it launched NCsoft has been toiling away vigorously, with the western and eastern studios trying earnestly to make the game what it needs to be to draw more North American and European gamers.  I’ve been playing the title now for a while, and feel it’s safe to suggest that Aion is much closer now to the game NCsoft needs it to be than it was at launch.  It’s polished, pretty, and content complete with a much smoother progression that will please most Western gamers looking for an Eastern-influenced fantasy MMO that comes without the mindless mob-grind.  Still it does rely a little heavily on repeatable quests to fill in gaps, but new solo dungeons help spice things up quite a bit.  By and large Aion of today is a much better game than it was at launch, but it still won’t be a title to attract the masses.