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

“If you kill steal, then you should get eye cancer,” is my friend’s response when asked about his experience with the issue. Ah kill stealing, a favorite target for forum whiners and griefers.  In many ways Aion is a bit of a throwback to game mechanics of yesteryear. We already discussed the inclusion of downtime and another way Aion nods to veteran games is how credit is doled out for a defeated monster. Aion’s experience points and loot from killing a mob are allocated to whoever does the greatest amount of damage to the enemy. Most games on the market are using a “first tag” system whereby the first person to get on the agro list of the enemy will get credit for the kill. All this being said, Aion rears its competitive head by saying, “if you want the loot then bring the pain!”

Don't steal this man's kill.

As a game mechanic I waffle between appreciating its inclusion and shaking my head in frustration. I enjoy the competition and the fact that ethics come into play. Sometimes it’s great people watching time where you can see their true character (as in their moral fiber). On the other hand I cringe when I see the idiots causing grief.

Compare Contrast with Insta-Tagging

Is that mine, or yours?

There are strong proponents for the insta-tag system used by many games today. Insta-tag is the idea that the first one to tap a target with damage owns it. This system can definitely be exploited and caused much angst in World of Warcraft when character classes with instant cast damage would swoop into an area and tag all of the mobs, rendering non-ranged classes useless for farming materials.

I am a caring person. I care, sometimes to a fault. When I run by someone who is locked into combat, I enjoy lending a hand. Insta-tagging games have conditioned me to lend a hand and help that person knock out the bad guys. If I help out in Aion, not only will I poach on someone’s experience, I’ll be adding myself to that person’s hated list.

In a game with insta-tagging, sometimes people come to expect help if they overpull. Many times I’ve run by someone who was into a battle well over their head only to receive a tell of, “gee thanks for letting me die.” To which I respond, “Are you that idiot back there that overpulled expecting a government hand-out?” I will probably never have that exchange in Aion. The rule is black and white, if you help someone, then really you are not helping them, you are stealing from them. It also means that people don’t expect help, nor do they want it. In this it is quite refreshing.

Let’s be honest here, those aren’t people at that keyboard.

A quick rundown of the forums shows that most of the kill stealing issue relates to battling the bot problem not so much my “good Samaritan” scenario. Let’s face it, not that many people would stay in one place and farm stolen kills. I like to believe that people have higher moral fiber than that.  After gold spam and the related RMT issues, the botting problem should be very high on NCsoft’s list of fixes. Luckily I have not been in a situation where I can’t get away from a bot problem, but the 100+ threads on the official forum seem to point to a major player base concern.

Does it build or break the community?

I’m very torn on the issue of community and the issue of kill stealing. On the one hand, everyone should know the rule and act appropriately. On the other, it does not foster a situation where players can help each other and not deter from the character’s gains. Aion is about competition so the community should also be competitive. Does this mean we should all be racing against the damage meter for loot? How do healers factor into this competition? These are the fundamental questions that will be answered over time. How will the answers come about? The community will develop unwritten rules for people to follow, and those that don’t will have the rules explained to them. Then those that follow the rules will see one version of the game, and the others will be some lonely sods.

Going back to WoW.

This single game mechanic is responsible for more “go back to WoW” comments than any other I’ve seen. Heck it’s taken me a while to get into the groove and not drop a DOT on an engaged mob as I run by (only to see a “You have gained 99xp” a minute later when I’m a mile down the road and utter “Oops”).  Well we all live and learn and so far I’ve grown to appreciate this particular game mechanic.

Don’t wish eye cancer on people, seriously.

While my friend has a little more staunch attitude towards kill stealing, please don’t wish bodily harm on others. Well maybe if they really deserve it, wait, no don’t ever do it. I am still surprised that NCsoft has chosen this route for allocating loot and experience. It is the only game on the market that I know of (in the mainstream) using this method. It will be interesting to follow this into the next round of games launching to see if others revert back to this or stay with the WoW model.

Have you had issues with kill stealing (you know, beyond the occasional Medeor running by and dropping a DOT on your mob), or has NCsoft implemented the right mechanic for its game?