Shaiya Review

Now for the real issue of the game… AP, the game’s item mall currency, is ultimately the only thing that matters. In PvP(the point of this game) it becomes very clear who is the bigger spender very fast. It doesn’t matter how much you learn your character, or how to play your skills, you will die before you use them unless you are willing to spend hundreds of dollars a month to keep up with the other top players.

The level cap is 70 currently, and every map above level 30 worth going to has no level restrictions, so you will be hunted down by a AP spending PvPer thats several levels higher than you everywhere you go.

The Service in the game is almost laughable. To be fair, I don’t actually believe that GM’s show favorable decision making toward high spenders, I think they just flat out ignore everyone. If you send a report on anything you will get a standard reply “We are looking into the issue” and nothing will ever happen.

However The poor service, and extreme cost to be able to play this game successfully pale in comparison to the community. The people in this game are a combination between the worst “Look at Me” attention seekers, and incredibly arrogant children in their “rebellion” phase.

The economy is routinely ruined by AP buyers who mess with prices of everything just for the sake of screwing Free players over, and nothing is set in the game to stop them from doing so. Players refuse to give any information to anyone else that might help a player advance in the game, and seem to take pride in their behavior.

Due to the Paying players tampering with prices, it is virtually impossible to come into the game as a new player and be able to advance without buying large amounts of AP, which shouldn’t be a problem I guess, because you shouldn’t become a new player without the intent to spend hundreds a month.

good points: fast download, simple gui, easy to play

You would probably call this game your second mmorpg, but you could also play windows solitaire to kill time too.

The PVP is a joke, RvR(Realm vs Realm) is a lag fest, and the item mall tends to unbalance gameplay for some. The mystery word for a neutral warehouse is called bootlegging. Its like a neutral Auction House like WoW has that is all it is. Do not let the term bootlegging fool you guys.

A lot of events in game come from fella players in a good size guild. GM’s in Shaiya act like they are gods gift to the world, and they will perma ban you for dumb reasons in the official Shaiya forums. They also host events atleast once a week, sometimes once a month. The Community is..Meh, about average.

The good thing about it, is graphics and animations of avatars and some mobs are nicely put togeather not all some. The background graphics fall short, and some other mob types also fall short. Shaiya is always getting updated, which is a plus. A lot of these free MMO’s get Neglected to much, and shortly die off.

Shaiya in one word is a major “Grindfest” after level 25+. Customazation is limited, and all armors are based on levels. So you will see several other players that look just like your character does. It comes to the point that you can tell what level a person is, just based on their armor colors.

Remember eventhough it is considered Free to Play(F2P) the game currency is AeriePoints, so yes their is an Item mall. In a long run Item Mall turns out to be more expensive then a Pay to Play(P2P) like WoW, Eve, Aion, Etc, that require subs. I did the math on a lot of these F2P games that have Item Malls. You my’s well get a P2P game which is better, less grindy, and way, way cheaper in a long run. Then a F2P “persay” with an Item mall.

The “Ultimate” mode WAHT A JOKE NOW THAT THEY UPDATED i played b4 the update and quiut and deleted everything shortly after used to be a goal to get UM toons so you could have more power and do more in game after the update they had nerfed them so bad that my lvl 38 priest that at 1 time would easily 1 hit lvl 20-25 mobs would now take 3-4 hit to kill off i think this was more a matter of aria wanting to leach more money out of the few morons that stick around and dump RL money in this outdated game

community wise- forget it their are a few few few amount of ppl that would help and the random one or two that were just awesome but 98 % of them were aragent self loathing morons that have spent way to much money on the game and refuse to let it go

to those i say enjoy myself i moved on to more advanced Mmos

all in all i rate this gam a big FAT 0 and if i coujld i would go lower

Story – The story is set in the world of…well, Unnamed we shall call it for now. There are two goddesses – the goddess of light, and the goddess of fury. They’re at war with each other, and they call upon their forces of good (or evil) to wage war on the opposing goddess’ forces.

There are a few sub stories and plots here and there, but they’re extremely bland and uninteresting.

Graphics – The graphics in this game are decent for a FTPMMORPG. There are bloom effects, neat water effects, and decent character animations. Your character animates fairly decent, showing different animations for each skill, and a randomized animation for your normal attack.

NPCS look bland, and the models for them are used time and time again. I found at least twenty NPC models from the first part of the light side being used almost twenty levels later, in the second map.

Enemies also go through the same phase. At first, on each new map, there are a few new enemies that are introduced, but later on, they all look the same, being either re-colored or their size was enlarged a bit. The enemies also animate the same way for every model. The way they run, the way they attack – it all looks the same for each model.

The armor designs in this game are unique, but the armor never changes look when worn on different classes. Sure, there are class specific armors, but they all make the character base look the same. As you progress, they get a little more decorative, but they still retain the same look for the classes that wear them. The weapons all look great, and animate well, and the later weapons are pretty unique in design.

Sound – Shaiya’s background music is comprised of adventurous orchestral pieces for walking around, and each town has its own little tune. When you enter battle against an AI enemy, a battle tune starts to play, which is pretty neat. But it repeats over most every map.

There are a few other pieces of music for each area, such as light, calm tunes and some fast paced combat tunes for certain areas.

The dungeons also have their own theme, setting a mood for dungeon crawling. The bosses in said dungeons also have their own, unique theme. They are all pretty average, and for a FTPMMORPG, they did a good job.

Quests – What do you expect from a Korean-originated MMORPG?

The quests are what you’d expect from a MMORPG – gather items, kill a certain number of enemies, and delivering items to a different NPC. They offer the basic rewards, such as EXP, currency, and maybe a rare item or two. There’s not much else that can be said.

Gameplay – Gameplay in Shaiya is fairly straightforward. You have a basic interface, comprised of a mini map, your skill hot bar, your character’s vital stats, and your exp bar. But an interesting twist is the Bless of Goddess bar.

As players fight in PvP, killing enemies of the opposing team and capturing “Ides”, they gain Bless for their realm. As the Bless bar fills, the entire realm, on any map of that realm, is bestowed extra temporary stats, such as boosted strength, less EXP lost when killed, and critical hit rate is increased. When this bar fills, the realm is bestowed with double the number and rates of the normal boosts, and critical hit rates rise off the charts. It’s a great mechanic that can really ease the grinding.

Speaking of grinding, once again, what do you expect from a Korean-originated MMORPG? The grind is basically the core of the game. You do it all the time, no matter what form it’s in. All you’re doing is trying to get that extra level so you can take on a few more of the same quests, and fight a few more enemies, and wear different armor.

Other Stuff – The community in general is actually pretty great. The members are VERY nice and helpful, and Aeria Games pulls an Infinity Ward move and involves their members in many events throughout their games. They even select a player to become a Game Sage (which is basically an admin with reduced powers) to help keep their games and forums safe.

Their item mall is pretty much what you’d expect from a FTPMMORPG. There are EXP boosting items, mounts, etc., all of which you have to pay real money for.

All in all, the grind is what killed the cat. I’d give it a 5.

Shaiya’s a pretty game and has some great ideas but they’re implemented poorly and it ends up leading to a pretty frustrating experience. You’ll have difficulty reaching a level where you can compete with the top 2 or 3 guilds because they won’t let you kill the bosses to get items to power up. Aeria gives them free run and if they’re strong enough to take the boss away from you, you’re out of luck.

PVP would be really fun except that you’ll be heavily outnumbered if you pick the wrong faction on the wrong server. Throw in massive lag, tons of hacking/cheating, and nothing to do except grind, it loses its appeal pretty quickly.

If you do want to spend some money in the cash store, you’ll find most things are outrageously prices for the effect they have. Something that lasts for an hour or two may cost you $5. Something that keeps your characters from instant death for a month costs somewhere around $40.

Could be great, but the implementation lets a handful of players really hinder the gameplay for everyone else.

Pros
cool characters
fun battleing
perfect weapons
fair characters

Cons
horrid graphics
bad paying system
stupid moving system
bad quests

I RECOMMEND THIS GAME

I gave it a try, and game gets REALLY boring after lvl 15… At first the appealing graphics and character designs kept me going, but soon even that wasn’t enough. Everything was just.. grinding… boring quests (more like running errands =_= ).

I didn’t have any trouble with lagging at all, but players (including me ^_^;; ) are mostly unfriendly but it seemed really pointless to make a party or anything because there weren’t a lot of team-based activities…

I wish the character class and customization had a greater variety… Sorry, now I’m just whining XD

In my opinion it doesn’t matter whether you’re on the dark or light side, it’s all the same. I’d prefer the light side for esthetical reasons, and no other. I can’t say the dark race is a very pretty race 🙂

It’s good that you earn better armour by finishing quests. This way you won’t have the ability to buy better armour than you can handle, as it is in LastChaos (also from Aeria). That’s quite useless, isn’t it?

So.. a well-earned 6 from me, for the graphics in this free game. Shaiya is a good way to get known with (free) MMORPG’s.

The bad:
The monsters are way to spread out, which means, slow grinding. Crap combat…really slow, kinda reminds you of runescape.

The weird:
Theres nudity xD

over all a 5 i can find as many good things and bad. but hey try it your self you may fall in love with it but iam gonna give another game a try.

the community was good for me though, this party of (what seemed like) close friends let me in their party to help me complete a quest

its very satisfying with to use AoE spells and kill about 12 monsters at the same time XD

The graphics were satisfactory, the concept was brilliant, excellent PvP system, great guild competition, good gameplay, and very fun characters.

The story was lacking, but seriously, if you’re playing a game for story, you picked the wrong genre. Play a console RPG. MMOs have nothing to do with story.

The drawback was it’s community and it’s company. It’s overrun by greed and monopolization. Unless you spend thousands (yes thousands), you won’t be able to compete on a realistic level.

Unbelievably good game for being F2P ruined by a bad community and a company that doesn’t care about its players.

I’m going to have to give it a 9/10 anyway though. It’s not the developers fault that the players are bad.

Gameplay : less than sufficient AI. Very simple skills set. Not enough quests where it forces the player to grind for levels. Awesome PvP battles.

Content : Nice selection of mounts. Few armors/weapons etc to wear. NEED more gear.

Mobs : Not very many types but those they have are nice. NEED more mob types.

Controls : very sluggish. Highly needs improvement for better reactivity.

Story : As far as a story .. what story? The game does a horrible job bringing that across. If they want it better npc’s and quests NEED to reflect that. Otherwise its a blah blah next sort. Need to draw people into the game.

Overall : tons of grinding with a lacking in PvE & story. Only shinning grace here is the PvP. Oh and for those saying its FREE get over that. It is not. FREE to login but to do anything worthwhile in what little PvE it has, or PvP you PAY! Payment is not a free concept…

I read that some ppl dont like the money spending part or the exp grinding. Although money spending is optional and it does give u an edge over others- to me its no big deal. U can earn AP (Aeria Points, what you buy with ur money then cash in for special boosts/items) or u can get rich in game and use in game gold to buy the cash items. ITS NOT THAT HARD. Exp grinding can get slow but theres no point in lvling too fast.

Shaiya is a fantasy MMORPG made by Aeria, who have also made popular games such as 12Sky and Last chaos.

The game is free, that combined with it”s wonderful graphics makes it eye catching.

Upon logging in for the first time you are given a choice between the two factions: The Alliance of Light and the Union of Fury. Being the wonderful, good person that I am, I go with light.

This choice dictates where you will play in the game, although the to sides are almost exactly mirrored in terms of classes.

After picking one of the three servers, you are taken to your character management menu. I then click on create character. I am then taken to a character creation where I can choose various things such as my character”s race (Elf and Human for Light, Vail and Death Eater for Dark), looks, height, gender and name. I can also choose my characters class.

The classers are Mirrored between Light and Dark like so:

Fighter/Warrior
Mage/Pagan
Preist/Oracle
Archer/Hunter
Defender/Guardian
Ranger/Assassin

Following the advice of my friend I make a mage. The reason being is because in Shaiya there are 4 game modes: Easy, Normal, Hard and Ultimate. Ultimate mode could result in the permanent death of a character. When you start the game only Easy and Normal are avaliable. After completing Normal mode you unlock Hard mode, after completing hard mode you unlock Ultimate mode. Since the game doesn”t truly begin until hard mode, it is recommend you use the fastest possible way to level, hence a mage.

A few minutes in my faction gain the blessing of the goddess. This is a metre at the bottom right of the screen which slowly fill up when players do various things, such as win a 1500/1500 faction battle, or defeat a boss. With this blessing many of my stats are increased and various other bonuses are givin to every member of my faction.

At first the quests seem everywhere, but soon enough they will become rare and far between, until at level 20 you will bearly be able to find any at all. This game is a grind-fest. Theres no way of getting around it. The best thing you can do is turn on some music and wait till you reach the level cap on hard mode.

It is at this point where you can truly play the mass pvp. A friend let me play it on his level 60 hard mode character and it”s worth all the grind.

This game takes a dedicated player, but once you reach the level cap on hard mode, this game really becomes something you think about all day and dream about.

7/10, The grind is bad but the PvP evens it out.

PVP in this game is GODLY. It’s so fun that you won’t see the majority of the players in the PVE maps; they’re in PVP enjoying themselves.

I couldn’t find a better game out there. The graphics are GREAT, and the download is actually pretty tiny. The weapons are sort of bland, and so is the armor, but that changes once you reach about level 30.

Oh, and quests are boring. Don’t do ’em unless you want equipment…or if you like doing them. Meh.

PVP affects the game in various ways via Blessing of Goddess, which is a constant magical ability that gives the players throughout the game (depending on which side you chose) certain buffs and abilities that wouldn’t normally be available. For example, the Light side is doing great in the PVP map, and they eventually get the Blessing bar full. This activates the full Blessing, which gives double EXP gain, items don’t lose durability as fast, more gold drops, better item drops, etc..

It’s a great concept that’s obviously been thought through, but it’s still not perfect. It’s getting there, though.

For a fairly new game, it’s awesome. It makes me want to wait and see what they come up with next. Thanks, Aeria Games!

In the end, it is defineatly worth it to download the game and give it a try!

Pretty to look at. But beyond that it’s really monotonous. Each class has a set of gear and the gear looks the same, but as you get better gear, you’ll get another little small addition to your costume. So basically what I’m trying to say is that they used one set of gear and added more pieces on it as you get stronger. It’s kinda hard to explain, but you’ll see what I mean if you play the game. So it’s kinda lame in that sense.

Most of the players are lacking in any real intelligence and are less than likely to help you and just end up calling you a n00b.

Like I said before, nothing in the game really changes are you progress except you’ll see small detail that look different.

The only other bad part is that once you get to level 20, mission/quests start becoming more rare. So grinding becomes a huge aspect of the game, and once you do get a quest, it’s the same old thing: kill X number of Y, or find X number of Y.

Still kinda fun, at least until level 20.

If you said yes to any of the above you MUST try Shaiya .. great graphics, well linked quests, and a bit of grind – no more or less than what WOW has.

Give it a try if you’re a bit more mature you will love this game.

As it saysin there advertisment, Most anticipated game of 2007, It is not.

Here is my review on another cash shop, grind fest, noob infested crap pile.

Graphics 73.4355%
Sound 40.454%
Community 25.4545%
Innovation 34.545%

Overall 47.5454% – Definetly not reccomended.

It”s free forever,NEW advanced grafics,4playable races 2good(Human,Elfs) 2evil(Vail,Death Eathers),huge game maps,pvp maps there u fight good vs evil(pvp can you do from lv1-lvl****),full screen,no lagg,fun quests,coolest pets,you can choose playing with your mouse or with the keyboard(like WoW),exp from killing people,a cool mode selection and very fun to play!