Competition is a good part of what MMORPGs are about.  Even
without the aspect of player versus player gameplay, which by itself is
particularly competitive, PvE players often also strive to show up other players
and legions.  This drive to play better and be better often ends up being the
cornerstone of cheating, the competitive environment leading players to look for
new ways to prove themselves as gamers.

Cheating has various definitions in each game and some are
definitely more restrictive than others.  There are always grey areas, and then
there are some definite lines that your user agreement will not allow you to
cross.  We are going to cover what constitutes cheating in Aion then show you
some ways you can help your game without putting yourself at risk for a
banhammer smack down.

User Agreement Highlights

Every MMOG that you play will have a unique user agreement
that covers just about everything you need to know about what the game will and
won’t allow.  These agreements are long, tedious, and written in lawyer speak
that most of us cannot understand which generally means that no one actually
ever reads them before agreeing to them.

Citing that the user agreement is long and boring doesn’t
make for a great defense once you find your account banned for breaking the
agreement, so it really is better to read through it and try to grasp the basics
for the health of your player account.   Here are the basics:

No account sharing.  Only one person is allowed to
use an account and the account is never allowed to be traded or sold.  It isn’t
often that friends or a husband and wife get into trouble for this one.  Power
leveling services and account sales are generally the target.  Don’t share your
log in info and don’t let others use your account if you would like to keep it.

No emulators.  This has become a huge problem with
World of Warcraft.  Private servers that basically steal Aion’s content
are prohibited.

No 3rd party programs or hardware.  At
this time, NCsoft does not permit that use of any assistive programs or hardware
including add ons or mods that are often used in other games.  Programs such as
Curse’s extremely helpful and widely popular EQ2 Maps and other UI mods don’t
yet have a place in Aion, so don’t use them!

It is also probably a good thing to note that Aion
users shouldn’t be making any changes or additions to their game files for any
reason.  With some of the recent bans, it has been found that alterations to
game files may have contributed to some very confused players getting their
accounts banned.

No selling, or assisting other players to sell, any
in-game items.  Yes, buying items is assisting in selling so it is
punishable too.  Buying kinah to get yourself better gear may seem like a good
idea, up until the source of that kinah is traced and you lose your account and
any account made with the same info and/or credit card.

Making the Best of What You Have

NCsoft’s hard line against add-ons and mods, something that
many of the newer games have softened against, really doesn’t leave much for
players to utilize to help step up their competitive edge.  So what tools do we
have then?

The number one tool you have is knowledge!  As cheesy as it
sounds, the best players always have a profound knowledge of their class, their
skills, and their weaknesses.  Some think of them as min/maxers, but these guys
are generally the ones that are beating you down in PvP and making major
milestones for their legions.  While you don’t necessarily need to spend every
waking moment of your day researching your class, do put some time into it.

Along with those basics, you’ll also want to spend some
time brushing up on in game gear and weapons.  There are various qualities of
gear in game, but eventually you’ll want to shoot for Abyss gear if you want to
stay competitive.  The better gear you have, the more effective you will be in
game.  All these things can be found on the internet, and while some may choose
to purchase guides, I’ve found that nearly anything you can get from a purchased
guide you can get from a good website or forum of players for free.

Your user interface is another important part of making the
best of your limited resources.  Particularly in PvP, having a good UI set up is
key in being able to quickly execute maneuvers.  You can find a lot of good tips
online and much of the UI tweaking just comes from trying different things out
for yourself in game.  My personal favorite tip has been arranging my quickbars
in a way that makes sense to me.  I have my most used skills on my main bar
using my number keys.  Hitting a key is quicker than navigating the mouse around
so learning to use keys for skills is a good habit to get into.  I use the 3^rd
quickbar on the side for my utilities so those are out of the way.  Things like
my return, health restore, buffs, and rest keys are all over there and out of
the way so I don’t inadvertently hit one during battle.

Look over the UI options in game.  You’ll see that it is
fairly customizable and just about all keys can be re-mapped however you’d
like.  Rather than retraining yourself to learn the game’s UI, fix the UI to fit
what you already know and you’ll save yourself a lot of time and confusion.

Macros are a beautiful thing and if you aren’t using them
in game, then you should be.  From the uncomplicated task of assisting a tank or
targeting a group member for heals to the more complicated skill combos, macros
just make much of what you do execute quicker.  Aion’s macros are pretty
easy to use.  Along with the typical slash commands that may have seen in other
games, you can also drag and drop skills to link them together with a single key
activation.  This works really well with skill chains and pet commanding.  If
you arrange your combos to fit between auto-attacks, you can not only save
yourself time and key mashing, but ultimately raise your damage potential. 
Mages can group together skills that compliment re-use timers so that they have
less down time during a fight.  Healers can create macros that target group
members then automatically cast a heal saving time that can mean saving lives.

While it has always been said that cheaters never prosper,
I think most of us realize that it isn’t always true.  Hacks and cheating will
always be a part of gaming but for those who would like to ultimately compete in
Aion without running the risk of losing our accounts, you can see that
there are ways to do more within the confines of the rules.  It may take more
effort but the payoff is so much better when you know that you’ve earned it
fairly.