Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

The biggest complaint in Aion since launch has undoubtedly been the kinah sellers and the bots.  These game wreckers plague every game on the market to varying degrees and they descend upon a new game like a swarm of bees affecting every legit player's gameplay experience.

It's almost disconcerting when you read and hear that NCsoft is doing every thing that they can to combat the problem then log in to see gold sellers setting up their marketplace advertising their websites in the same spots that you always see them in.  Hitting mob grinding hotspots will turn up an army of automated characters running around and killing anything that spawns.  If we as players know that they are there, shouldn't the game makers and shouldn't they be there with their ban hammers smacking them down?

I'm a gamer like everyone else, so I'm not privy to the whys and hows of NCsoft policy and procedure to take out these obvious offenders.  I continue to have faith that they will do what needs to be done but meanwhile, I am absolutely determined to not allow bots and gold sellers to ruin my fun.  As such, I've developed a little list of tips to take back your gaming fun!

 - Remove general chat channels.  This very easy process can practically eliminate exposing yourself to kinah sales spam.  You can either remove the regional channels altogether, or put them on a separate tab and only view them when you choose to.  Click on your chat preferences menu to add tabs or change what channels show up on your tabs.  To remove regional channels, go to the channel menu and uncheck channels 1 (Regional), 2 (Trade), and 3 (LFG) or simply add those channels to their own tab.

 - Use /autoreporthunting liberally when you suspect a player to be a bot.  This feature penalizes a player if they receive enough reports, limiting how much reward they get when they kill.  Limiting botters makes their job harder and flagging their accounts makes it easier for NCsoft to spot the offenders.  To use it, target the offending player and type the command into your chat box.

 - Trump the botters. Botters tend to pick well mob populated areas which also end up often being quest mob areas.  Along with using the above reporting tool don't be afraid to yank those mobs out from underneath bot farmers.  How can you tell if they are bots?  Looks for characters who are several levels above the mob levels that they are killing, they run after every mob that spawns in the area, they don't move when nothing is around to kill, and tend to be in the same area day after day.  If you're not sure, send off a whisper to the other players just to check.  If you're certain it is a bot, play nice rules don't apply.  Careful with this though, some legit players like to farm too!

 - Don't buy kinah or power leveling services!  Botters and gold sellers are in game for a reason; it is profitable.  If players do not support these services, visit the websites, or part take in these crimes, the botters and sellers have no reason to be in game.

Bots ruin everyone's gameplay experience, but they do not have to drive you away completely.  You belong to be in game and they do not so while NCsoft works on things behind the scenes to cut down on the problem, you can use these few steps to make your gameplay experience just a little bit better taking a small win against the game wreckers.

Do you have your own bot and gold sales strategies?  Be sure to pop by our forums and share them!

~Savanja
Aion Site Lead

Tired of travel costs?  You can travel between some zones on foot!  In Eltnen you can find roads to Verteron and to Heiron and vice versa.  In Morheim you can walk your way into Altgard and Beluslan.  You can save that kinah for other things like wicked armor and skill upgrades!

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• Gamespy Reviews Aion - How did Aion fare against this one site's review?  Follow the link to read more.
• CM Tamat Hints at Future Updates - Mark your calendars for November 24th to see video on upcoming changes.
• A Treat for Machinima Fans - See what creative players can do with a good song and some free time.

If you have questions, comments or suggestions for our newsletter please feel free to drop me an e-mail any time!