I originally posted this under the Aion topic but felt it should just be out there... so if the references to Aion seems excessive... that is why.

After all the MMOs I played: MUD -> (Various F2P MMOs) -> Ragnarok Online -> The Sims Online -> Final Fantasy XI -> World of Warcraft -> Age of Conan -> Warhammer Online... the one I went back to was FFXI.

Before everyone screams and wails about how much of a grindfest and timewaster FFXI is... let me explain something:

I started FFXI in 2003 when it first released in NA. I also stopped playing a year later in 2004. Fast forward to 2009... I managed to jump through millions of loops to get my old account from 2004 reactivated. I left off where I was and all of my gear are still top tiered and fully usable. What I am just saying is that even though the time it takes to play FFXI is well worth it! Everything I accomplished was not wasted efforts. In WOW and other games... gear gets updated and levels get raised over and over. What pissed me off the most is the 2 years + of DKP grinding/leveling/pvping all disappears after an expansion comes out... sure I get to keep the damned pets and mounts, but all my gear I worked and ditched life for? ALL GONE!!!

Sorry for the rant! But to me AION is like all the others that failed to achieve what WOW achieved. If it is anything like WOW it will not survive the competition. Aion like another poster mentioned is not as hardcore as some others and not as intuitive and creative as WOW was and still is. Airborne combat is standard in those F2P Asian MMOs and does not appeal to me either.

Although I have to admit the Aion's graphics are beautiful, but graphics can only do so much to keep you from grinding boredom.

In short. If you want to play a MMO for everyone stick with WOW. If you want and like PVP/Korean style grindfests play Aion. If you want something with involving storyline, consistency, and more depth play FFXI.

Just my input as someone who has played a myriad of MMOs. I am just holding out with FFXI until some new refreshing MMOs come out namely APB and Jumpgate Evolution. Those two are more genre breaking games giving something the current MMOs are lacking... some real hands on action.