Aion

[karnokoto]

Just wondering if theres anyone else here who plays, and what servers.

My Elyos characters (including my main) is on Kaisinel West- I'm a lv 24 Templar named Furia. I'm the GM of Order of the Rose :D
All my Asmods are on Yustiel West, but I don't play there much.


Anyone else play?

[Zeb The Troll]

Alarra and I do! (As do my daughter and her hubby.) And as it happens, we made our Elyos (not our mains, those are Asmodian) on Kaisinel. I'll have to come back and post what our charactere names are there. Our Asmodians are on Marchutan.

None of our characters is very high yet, though. Not even level 20. I think our big ones are 18.

[karnokoto]

Oh cool!! Small world, eh?
You and yours are welcome to party with us any time, my boyfriend and 3 of our IRL friends play with us as well.

[Zeb The Troll]

Hey, we may just do that. We're east coast, but what times do you normally play? Do you have/use Ventrilo?

[karnokoto]

We're on PST time (GMT -8) and we normally play afternoons and evenings. The boyfriend works nights and since I don't have a job right now my schedule pretty much synchs with his.
We have a vent server for our legion, but not many people on it unless something is going on

[AgentPaper]

What's the big deal about Aion? I've heard all sorts of stuff about how everyone is all excited about it, but I'm just curious as to what exactly is special about it. The only thing I really know about is that you can fly around, but that's not really anything new. (City of Heroes has been out for a while...)

I'm just not sure why I would want to play Aion instead of another MMO, basically.

[Alarra]

It's pretty?

Seriously though, it was best explained to me as, "If Warhammer online and WoW had a baby, it would be Aion." What Aion seems to do is take the fun, objective based RvR that made Warhammer what it was (while adding in NPC conflict in addition to the other realm) and combine it with the exceptional PvE content that WoW did best. (Of course, this is all hearsay on my part, since I haven't actually gotten a character high enough to PvP, nor go through any dungeons. :smallwink:)

The crafting system is also very cool and a more intregal part of the game than in most other MMOs.

Flying is cool. Character differentiation is different from other MMOs, with, I believe, the Stigma system allowing you to pick up abilities of other classes. I haven't gotten high enough to play with this either.

But yeah, the biggest thing for me was really huge amount of customization in how your character looks, and how stunning the graphics are. I also rather like how they use videos to make you follow the story. The story isn't bad either.

[Zeb The Troll]

Yeah, the big thing (in my view) that is their selling point for this game is what they call PvPvE. Basically what this means is that, while there is PvP (what I like to describe as RvR, or Realm vs Realm, because it's not just about going into zones to kill enemy players, there are actually objectives to control and a reason for controlling them, unlike the arena battles most games have as the sole outlet for PvP, whose sole purpose is to grow your epeen.) in the fight for objectives, there is also an NPC race that wants to own those self same objectives and that NPC race (the Balaur) is enemy to both factions.

There is also an interesting ranking system which I don't think has had a chance to come into play yet, with the youth of the game as yet. Basically, there is an RvR ranking system where, once you accumulate enough RvR kills and gain Abyss points for them, you gain what are not dissimilar to military ranks and titles. However, once you get to a certain point, there can only be so many players of each higher rank in each realm, to the point where there is only one player who can hold the top spot on either side. With these advanced rankings come boons to make it worth it, but you are also marked for the other side to seek you out on the battlefield. I'm not up to speed on the details, though.

As for flight, this is the only MMO I've ever played that had controllable flight. I like my games fantasy (swords and sorcery) and am not so much a fan of sci-fi/superhero settings so it never even crossed my mind to demo CoX or Champions Online.

Karnokoto, what is your legion's name? I have a vent server also. I've opened it up to our legion on Marchutan but, like yours, it's rarely used except when Alarra and I group with folks that are not present in my house. :smallcool:

We'll definitely have to try to group up at some point. This weekend is bad for us but we'll keep in touch. :smallwink:

[AgentPaper]

Hmm, sounds nice and all, but so did Warhammer Online when it came out. I've learned that, with any game really but especially MMOs, it's the polish that really makes or breaks it. You can have all the revolutionary ideas and innovative gameplay you want, but if the interface is clunky, or the graphics aren't very good*, or there are graphical errors, and all those other little things that don't seem very important at first, then the game will fall flat.

City of Heroes for example seemed cool since you could fly, had neat powers, and could customize your avatar a lot in how they looked, but at the end of the day you're just going out and killing random mooks day after day after day. Sure, every once in a while there's a interesting mission with a nice story attached, but these are few and far between, and even they are usually just another reason to go kill more mobs. And there wasn't much motivation to get to the higher levels of play, because the end-game dungeons are apparently just more of the same, and the bosses are just bags of HP that sit there and beat on you.


*By good graphics, I don't necessarily mean that the graphics have to be realistic, they just have to be functional and pleasant to look at. WoW for example has it's slightly-cartoony look and it works really well, as far as I'm concerned.

[karnokoto]

Definetely!

Okay, this is why I like Aion.
I played WoW for 4 and a half years. The warcraft universe, dear to me since I was wee and little, has finally grown tiresome.
I finally quit, but would feel weird being totally free of a computerized timesuck, and Aion launched, sooo...
Figured I'd give it a shot.
I am so hooked. :D

This is my most superficial reason, but ITS GORGEOUS. My character looks exactly the way I want her to, and I haven't seen a single player that looks like her yet (whereas if this was WoW I would look like every OTHER lv 20+ warrior out there). You can dye your armour and, for a price, you can transfer a new piece of gear's stats into an old piece of gear's model- its an upgrade, but it will look the same on your toon :)

NCSoft has always been big with crafting but it seems to be a core part of the game- a good amount of the good gear in the game, especially at lower levels from what I hear, comes from player crafting. Course this means the economy is kinda nuts right now- but its only been a few weeks and I imagine it will balance out once people learn what something is worth.

I thought flying would be a big part of it, and lets face it, the wings are pretty awesome- but at lv 24 I've only found 3 places you have full control over your flight. And theyre fairly small zones. You can glide everywhere in the game, and thats a skill in itself. Also more fun than it sounds :)

The game is a touch grindy, but thats okay. MMO leveling is all about de-stressing for me and its relaxing to just mindlessly whack at stuff for a few hours, for me anyway. I hear it gets a lot worse in the higher levels but I'm not there yet :P

So far it looks like the game is 65% PvP oriented, so if you don't like that kind of game then Aion might not be your walruses' bucket- but it does have some PvE- I'm playing a tank class, and I've been in groups for stuff already. The PvE content does exist.
The game has been out in Korea for a few years now (I think at least one) so there are some videos out there of Templars (what I play) DESTROYING in pvp...so I personally can't wait >_>

Its fun stuff, I like it :)

[Zeb The Troll]

Hmm, sounds nice and all, but so did Warhammer Online when it came out. I've learned that, with any game really but especially MMOs, it's the polish that really makes or breaks it. You can have all the revolutionary ideas and innovative gameplay you want, but if the interface is clunky, or the graphics aren't very good*, or there are graphical errors, and all those other little things that don't seem very important at first, then the game will fall flat.

City of Heroes for example seemed cool since you could fly, had neat powers, and could customize your avatar a lot in how they looked, but at the end of the day you're just going out and killing random mooks day after day after day. Sure, every once in a while there's a interesting mission with a nice story attached, but these are few and far between, and even they are usually just another reason to go kill more mobs. And there wasn't much motivation to get to the higher levels of play, because the end-game dungeons are apparently just more of the same, and the bosses are just bags of HP that sit there and beat on you.


*By good graphics, I don't necessarily mean that the graphics have to be realistic, they just have to be functional and pleasant to look at. WoW for example has it's slightly-cartoony look and it works really well, as far as I'm concerned.You're absolutely right. (I personally like Warhammer. The reasons I left have nothing to do with gameplay and mechanics. When properly balanced, the RvR is unbeatable. The dungeons are fun and worthwhile without being too much of a grindfest. They managed to keep my interest in the dozen or so times I ran through the ones that I did. And even when I had the gear I was supposed to get from them, I didn't mind coming back to help others get theirs. I love the look and feel of both realms from a graphical "can I look at this for hours" standpoint.)

If you left Warhammer within six months of release, you didn't give them a chance to fix what was ailing them at release time. You might find it worthwhile to give it another go. I suggest, however, staying away from the Badlands server, on either side.

What does all this mean? It means that you might want to give Aion six to twelve months to tweak things and then give it a fair shot (NEVER, ever, judge a game solely by the first few weeks after release, in my not so humble opinion). You might just like it.

[JadedDM]

Is there a demo for this game? I can't seem to find one.

[Zeb The Troll]

I'll have to look around when I get home. There may not be right now because of the HUGE influx of players at launch. Some servers had as much as a six hour queue to get logged in the first week. This has largely gone away, though I still have a queue of a few minutes on occasion, but it's rare any more. They may be wanting that dust to settle before they invite more people to test drive it.

[karnokoto]

No demos as far as I know.
I'm just glad the gold sellers have to keep buying new accounts (50 bucks every time, haw haw:smallamused:) every time they get banned.

[Hermit]

What does all this mean? It means that you might want to give Aion six to twelve months to tweak things and then give it a fair shot (NEVER, ever, judge a game solely by the first few weeks after release, in my not so humble opinion). You might just like it.

One of the reasons Aion is doing so well is because it's already had that 6-12 months. It's been out for over a year in the east, so a lot of small bugs usually plaguing a launch have been squashed by now.

Anyway, Aion intrigues me. I was going to try the beta, as I had a code, but was put off by the ludicrous copy protection they had on it. They've since dropped that for the full release, so if there's a free trial I may well look into it. Too busy to dive into another MMO right now, mind.

[AgentPaper]

You're absolutely right. (I personally like Warhammer. The reasons I left have nothing to do with gameplay and mechanics. When properly balanced, the RvR is unbeatable. The dungeons are fun and worthwhile without being too much of a grindfest. They managed to keep my interest in the dozen or so times I ran through the ones that I did. And even when I had the gear I was supposed to get from them, I didn't mind coming back to help others get theirs. I love the look and feel of both realms from a graphical "can I look at this for hours" standpoint.)

If you left Warhammer within six months of release, you didn't give them a chance to fix what was ailing them at release time. You might find it worthwhile to give it another go. I suggest, however, staying away from the Badlands server, on either side.

What does all this mean? It means that you might want to give Aion six to twelve months to tweak things and then give it a fair shot (NEVER, ever, judge a game solely by the first few weeks after release, in my not so humble opinion). You might just like it.

I did indeed get it at first release, and stopped after a bit over a month of playing, but I was aware that many of these kinds of issues could be worked through and fixed. Because of that, I went and re-subscribed again a bit over half a year after it's release, and found that the game hadn't changed one whit, major graphics errors still turned up, (I once saw a dwarf flight-master with his arms somehow bent to look like weird growths sticking out of his chest, which waggled around whenever he moved. It stayed like that for a few hours as I left to do quests and came back) and all the little annoyances were still there. The biggest thing for me was that, whenever you used an ability, it just didn't feel like you were really doing anything.

I might pick it up again in a while, perhaps when an expansion comes out with skaven, my favorite race, but really these kinds of little problems shouldn't ever have been there when the game was released. I got the chance to play in the early alpha testing of World of Warcraft, and it had more polish even at that point in it's development than Warhammer had six months after release. Combine that with the fact that they've only continued to polish and refine the game, and will continue to do so, (to the point of re-designing the entire world, essentially) and I just can't find any reason to switch to any other MMO I've seen so far.


That said, Aion does sound interesting in certain aspects, and I'll probably at least try out a demo if they ever release one. The part where you can choose to have your armor look like any other armor you've had is probably the most interesting part for me, because that's something I've thought would be awesome to have in WoW for a while now. (As well as having your total item level be added to your actual level somehow to find your effective level, and then limiting PvP to only work on people at most 5 levels below you :smallwink:)

[Zeb The Troll]

I did indeed get it at first release, and stopped after a bit over a month of playing, but I was aware that many of these kinds of issues could be worked through and fixed. Because of that, I went and re-subscribed again a bit over half a year after it's release, and found that the game hadn't changed one whit, major graphics errors still turned up, (I once saw a dwarf flight-master with his arms somehow bent to look like weird growths sticking out of his chest, which waggled around whenever he moved. It stayed like that for a few hours as I left to do quests and came back) and all the little annoyances were still there. The biggest thing for me was that, whenever you used an ability, it just didn't feel like you were really doing anything.

I might pick it up again in a while, perhaps when an expansion comes out with skaven, my favorite race, but really these kinds of little problems shouldn't ever have been there when the game was released. I got the chance to play in the early alpha testing of World of Warcraft, and it had more polish even at that point in it's development than Warhammer had six months after release. Combine that with the fact that they've only continued to polish and refine the game, and will continue to do so, (to the point of re-designing the entire world, essentially) and I just can't find any reason to switch to any other MMO I've seen so far.I played from beta until a month ago and I never saw any graphics issues like what you're describing. I certainly never felt like I wasn't doing anything while I was casting as my sorc. I can't say why you did experience it, but I know that of all of the people I know personally who played for the same duration (brother, sis in law, daughter, son in law, wife) none of them ever mentioned anything like this either.

[Zeta Kai]

Well, Mike Krahulik seems to like it (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/10/2/), for one reason or another...

[Lord_Asmodeus]

I play on Yustiel for Elyos and Ariel for Asmodai, I'm part of the PA Legions on both. I got my Asmodai guy to look pretty cool if I do say so myself, also my characters name is Morlock.

wings out
http://i37.tinypic.com/2k4shv.jpg

weapons drawn
http://i35.tinypic.com/28lb34j.jpg

gliding

http://i33.tinypic.com/eqdt36.jpg

[karnokoto]

I play on Yustiel for Elyos and Ariel for Asmodai, I'm part of the PA Legions on both. I got my Asmodai guy to look pretty cool if I do say so myself, also my characters name is Morlock.

wings out
http://i37.tinypic.com/2k4shv.jpg

weapons drawn
http://i35.tinypic.com/28lb34j.jpg

gliding

http://i33.tinypic.com/eqdt36.jpg


:smallannoyed: Aww your wings are cooler than mine, lol
What level are you in those screenies, anyhoo? Looks pretty cool!
One thing I like about the asmods is the clawed feet- the tail thing is a little bizarre though. Not bad bizarre.
I'll stick to my elyos, though. Still very cool having white wings and high heels everywhere I go :D

[Karoht]

I played it for a little while on a friends account. He's an avid CoX player, I'm an avid WoW player.

We were both able to agree, based on what experienced we'd had with each others respective games, that NC has basically created a WoW + CoX hybrid with some JRPG graphics and some new mechanics, and done so quite well. The combat however is unique enough that a WoW or CoX player won't just sit down and hit the same buttons the same way. The combo system keeps things varied enough.

If you are/were a WoW player, you will love it.

Sadly, no free trial out yet. And no solid opinions that I trust regarding the endgame content.

The PvPvE approach I rather like. As a casual PvP'r and non-causual PvE'r in WoW, I'm actually really interested in this game, just for it's PvPvE approach to things.

My WoW account is free. Once I've downed the Lich King, I'm going to give it a go.

[karnokoto]

Had a 'this is why I love this game ' moment earlier today lol
Group of about 15 of us flying IN FORMATION through asmodian lands in a rift gank squad. It was completely epic, I loved it.

[Thanatos 51-50]

I play the OTHER current "new hotness", Champions Online.

To be fair, my source(s) of information on Aion are pretty biased, most of them coming from whatever floats my way, and most of that is coming from the Escapist or whenever people on the CO forums bash it. (Two completely different games having communities that bash on the other simply because of release dates being close together is absurd, but thtat's the intertubes).

Now, the only good thing I've heard about Aion is that the music/graphics are absolutely stunning/gorgeous/et cetera, and that's pretty much where the compliments end.
Personally, I don't mind a bit of grind, as long as I can hammer out the majority of my XP with quests instead of boar-slaying.

So, now that I see this thread here on the Playground, with, y'know, people that are not unrepetant trolls (Seriously, the Escapist and the CO forums are downright toxic and acidic), I come to thee with a few simple questions:
Is there anything positive about the game other than absolute prettiness?(For the Love of all that is Good and Holy, don't say 'Flight' I can get four to eight forms of that in Champions, depending on what you classify as 'flight')
I hear the PvE content stops around level 25, and from there everything becomes full-tilt PvP. Is this true? (And if so, yeech :smallyuk:.)

[JadedDM]

Sounds like a fun game, but no demo means I won't get it. No way I'm sinking $50 on a game that might not even run on my computer well (or at all).

[Crispy Dave]

I have been watching Aion and highly considered getting it.

To be honest the main reason is because I think it would make for a great music video for one of the new songs from the new Breaking Benjamin album, Dear Agony.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

I played it for a little while on a friends account. He's an avid CoX player, I'm an avid WoW player.

We were both able to agree, based on what experienced we'd had with each others respective games, that NC has basically created a WoW + CoX hybrid with some JRPG graphics and some new mechanics, and done so quite well. The combat however is unique enough that a WoW or CoX player won't just sit down and hit the same buttons the same way. The combo system keeps things varied enough.

Could you elaborate on how Aion is a WoW/CoX hybrid? They are my two favourite MMOs and I find the notion intriguing.

[Tengu_temp]

Now, the only good thing I've heard about Aion is that the music/graphics are absolutely stunning/gorgeous/et cetera, and that's pretty much where the compliments end.


My experience with Aion ends with very low teen levels at the beta, but that's how I see Aion too - very pretty graphics, mind-numbingly boring gameplay. It's very grindtastic, killing anything takes ages, and the crafting system is even slower. The classes are generic and uninspired - if you played any other MMO, you know what abilities to expect from your character the moment you pick it up. If you like stories in MMOs, you're in for a very rough ride - it's obvious that the storyline (and the "kill X enemies" quests, while we're at it) was tacked on for the western release, and it's both generic and cliche-laden and completely not making sense at once. Maybe the RvR aspect is better, I didn't really try it, and maybe the game gets better at higher levels - but at low levels, PvE is very bad, and the graphics don't make up for that.

[karnokoto]

Well, its harder than WoW, thats for sure. You'll die a lot, and for silly things, but if you don't nerdrage easy you'll have fun.

I just got to lv 25 and started questing out the PvEvP part of the game. Started out nice, got a few cool cinematics about how the whole 'capture artifacts to turn the tide of battle, capture fortresses for awesumz' thing works, went out to kick ass.
Course within 10 minutes of exploring and smacking quest mobs around solo I got gangbeat by a 4man Asmodian gank squad ;)

Honestly, I get really turned on by the whole PvEvP aspect, its very cool.
There are fortresses which are controlled, at the beginning, by the balaur- the NPC faction both sides are at war with.

Fortresses are covered in a repulsor shield that makes it nigh impossible to attack from the air.
So you get your siege weapons- crystalline railgun type things by the looks of it. Everyone beats down the door.
On the other side of the door, you have players and an object 'healing' the door.
Say you get past the door. You can now take down the shield generator.

You have a TON of both balaur AND players to slaughter your way through to get to the bottom of the fortress. At the bottom of the fortress is a very badass looking boss type thing. Defeat him, you win the fortress. Oh, and you have to fend off other players while you do it >:)

Fortresses give your ENTIRE SERVER buffs when your side captures them. Plus vendors for awesum stuff that are only available when theyre captured.
Capture artifacts that do fun stuff like, oh, kill everything in a 100yard radius.

But yes, the lv 25 zone is like (sorry if you never played WoW) going into Stranglethorn Vale as a level-appropriate lowbie on a pvp server and expecting NOT to get killed.
It will happen, and often.
BUT still fun, if you can handle the ganks. Because when I gank others, my cup runneth over with evil, cackly glee.

If you absolutely refuse to PvP, maybe not your cup of tea.
Then again, I when I played WoW I was vehemently against pvp. Hated it.

But, since they have no trial, 50 bucks is a hefty amount of money to spend on something you're not even guaranteed to like.

[PinkysBrain]

Fortresses give your ENTIRE SERVER buffs when your side captures them.
Making the winners stronger in a two sided contest (AFAIK the Balaur siding is simply a fixed percentage RNG, regardless of which side controls more of the Abyss ... so they are pretty much irrelevant to realm balance). This just doesn't seem like a sustainable model to me.

I think PvPvE is a decent concept, but there should be far more focus on guilds rather than realms IMO. Guilds inside a realm should be competing against each other for resources (for instance the help of other players in capturing a fortress, or resource gatherers and crafters for siege equipment) because it's much easier to give a guild an advantage on the battlefield without throwing the whole game out of balance than a realm.

With realm focus all you get is zergs and inherently unbalanced systems.

PS. I know individual players can still compete for ranks even if there is a lack of guild competition ... but the whole ranking system is actually more of a PvE grind for equipment than anything else (ie. you can grind up your rank, buy the uber gear and then start doing real PvP again at low rank ... if you want to keep your rank in the highest regions PvP is simply not on the cards for you, any loss will cost so much points that the risk/reward balance means you will only lose ranks for trying).

[karnokoto]

Making the winners stronger in a two sided contest (AFAIK the Balaur siding is simply a fixed percentage RNG, regardless of which side controls more of the Abyss ... so they are pretty much irrelevant to realm balance). This just doesn't seem like a sustainable model to me.

I think PvPvE is a decent concept, but there should be far more focus on guilds rather than realms IMO. Guilds inside a realm should be competing against each other for resources (for instance the help of other players in capturing a fortress, or resource gatherers and crafters for siege equipment) because it's much easier to give a guild an advantage on the battlefield without throwing the whole game out of balance than a realm.

With realm focus all you get is zergs and inherently unbalanced systems.

PS. I know individual players can still compete for ranks even if there is a lack of guild competition ... but the whole ranking system is actually more of a PvE grind for equipment than anything else (ie. you can grind up your rank, buy the uber gear and then start doing real PvP again at low rank ... if you want to keep your rank in the highest regions PvP is simply not on the cards for you, any loss will cost so much points that the risk/reward balance means you will only lose ranks for trying).


The buffs are only in place for like 30 mins to an hour, I think, so its only to let the winners enjoy their victory for a short period of time (especially since the fortresses captured allow you to buy epic gear only available at those fortresses) before the opposing faction can start muscling their way in again.

[Stormthorn]

Its pretty eh? What sort of rig do you have to run it.

My family has three computers. The one that i used to play WoW on is in an uncertain state in which for a few months it runs like my electronics engineer father built it to run, and for a few months it doesnt work at all.
It also looks wierd. The moniter, scanner, speakers, keyboard, and casing all bought at different times often from different companies. And i dont think any of whats int he casing is origional to the rig.

The other computer (which i am sitting at) has few games.

Then MY computer comes in. 1 year old average grade laptop with no upgrades to allow it to play anything modern (i did make it play Sins Of A Solar Empire, even tho it shouldnt be able to) and it has an overheating problem but its past its warrenty so i just got used to only using it 30 minutes at a time.

[Zeb The Troll]

Now, the only good thing I've heard about Aion is that the music/graphics are absolutely stunning/gorgeous/et cetera, and that's pretty much where the compliments end.
Personally, I don't mind a bit of grind, as long as I can hammer out the majority of my XP with quests instead of boar-slaying.

So, now that I see this thread here on the Playground, with, y'know, people that are not unrepetant trolls (Seriously, the Escapist and the CO forums are downright toxic and acidic), I come to thee with a few simple questions:
Is there anything positive about the game other than absolute prettiness?(For the Love of all that is Good and Holy, don't say 'Flight' I can get four to eight forms of that in Champions, depending on what you classify as 'flight')
I hear the PvE content stops around level 25, and from there everything becomes full-tilt PvP. Is this true? (And if so, yeech :smallyuk:.)I haven't hit level 20 yet because I'm not a hardcore type gamer, however, I can tell that I have reached the level I have (18 on my highest) only duo'ing with Alarra and we've not had to grind at all to this point. We've only done the quests along the way. We've had a couple that we weren't happy with (uncommon spawn that doesn't always drop the item you're sent for, so the spawn point is camped, for example) but they are rare so far as I've seen and even those will likely get better as more people get out of the lowbie zones.

I can't comment on PvE going away past 25, but the game is designed to be a good PvP game, so if that's not your gig, you should probably look elsewhere. There are those who crave not having to PvE to be able to play. (I'm very middle ground on this. I love RvR like DAoC and WAR do it. I love dungeons and raiding as well. I hate PvP that is only there for the sake of saying you have PvP to assuage the griefers.)


My experience with Aion ends with very low teen levels at the beta, but that's how I see Aion too - very pretty graphics, mind-numbingly boring gameplay. It's very grindtastic, killing anything takes ages, and the crafting system is even slower. The classes are generic and uninspired - if you played any other MMO, you know what abilities to expect from your character the moment you pick it up. If you like stories in MMOs, you're in for a very rough ride - it's obvious that the storyline (and the "kill X enemies" quests, while we're at it) was tacked on for the western release, and it's both generic and cliche-laden and completely not making sense at once. Maybe the RvR aspect is better, I didn't really try it, and maybe the game gets better at higher levels - but at low levels, PvE is very bad, and the graphics don't make up for that.This is an interesting take on things. I clearly had a very different experience than you did in the beta or I wouldn't have purchased it. How long it takes to kill things depends largely on what class you took. For example, even at level 1 with a mage, Alarra was two shotting most everything we needed to kill. The tank class, however, takes a while. But, since it's designed to take damage instead of deal it, that comes with the territory and this is the same in every MMO I've played. As for knowing what abilities to expect, I'm not sure what else you would want. Archers get bow abilities, assassins get abilities dependant on stealth, tanks get defensive abilities. If it were anything else, I think I might have been very very lost playing it. Maybe I'm just not understanding what you mean here. As for the story line, I admit I don't read quests, I just accept and then look at what I'm supposed to do. But the fact that a fair few of the quests have an associated video clip leads me to believe that more thought was put into it than you suggest. Then again, maybe I'm just not the connoisseur that others are. *shrugs*


Its pretty eh? What sort of rig do you have to run it.Until I got my new computer, I ran it on a single core P4 with 3GB of DDR2 and a 256MB AGP graphics card. I had to run it on the lowest video settings but it was very playable (and also below the system requirements listed, but I don't have those numbers readily at hand to say by how much right at the moment.)

[karnokoto]

My moldy laptop will run it. My boyfriend has it at work right now (playing Aion on it, haw haw) so I couldn't tell you the specs, but if your computer can handle newer games it should be fine on the low settings.
The game is run off the Crytek engine (Crysis) so it IS a resource hog.

I haven't run into any grinds yet at 26, I just know that as a templar (tank class) I haaaaaate rangers. GIANT repertoire of traps, stuns, slows and dots. We hates them.
Not because they can kill me (hoho, no way! I fought off 2 of em) but because I cant even touch them! They kited me around for 20 minutes (YES 20 minutes, it was nuts), got bored and left. Damn rangers >:(

[Alarra]

I'm liking the storyline well enough.

Zeb'll be glad to hear that about the rangers. He was feeling rather meh on the class because my cleric can outdamage him, and heal and has better armor....but I'm getting the impression that everyone feels that way next to the cleric

As for the no PvE after 25...while I'm not there yet, I'm certain that isn't true. I recall looking at a list of dungeons and there were quite a few of them that require you to be some high lvl to go in... *makes note to look into this at some point*

[karnokoto]

I confess I haven't read many of the quests- I do enjoy the cinematics though.

At 25 I DID find a group for the Nochsana Training Camp and successfully tanked it. Its just like an instance in WoW. So there IS PvE past 25 :D
At lv 30 I know theres another instance called the Fire Temple, although supposedly it takes hours and hours to clear it. We'll see though :D

[Karoht]

Okay, I've been playing for a while now. Karoht on Yustiel, 22 Cleric.

Here's what I've learned, what I like, what I dislike.

Like:
-Certain game functions, such as the fact when you click a melee ability and are not in melee range, you run up to the mob and use the ability, is both good and bad. The fact when you click an NPC, or a gather point, you run right up and either start talking or start gathering is nice. To the point where I go play WoW, and I actively miss the function. Pro-Handy function. Con-Makes me lazy.
-Cinematics are a welcome addition, but they aren't breathtaking. You could skip most of them and not notice any real differences, but they are welcome. I like how they will SHOW YOU a quest objective. They do a great job of adding flavor, but develop little else. Pro-Pretty. Con-Completely Superficial.
-Locate function. It's handy, saves me going to a website to check out where object X is, or using an addon.
-XP for gathering and crafting. And not just a pitance either. The fact that you can go as far as you can just by crafting is nothing short of amazing.
-The story is about you. The whole thing centers around you and your rise to awesomeness. See Dislike further down for more.
-Combo system is fun. See Dislike further down for more.
-Graphics are pretty.
-PvP is relevant. That is refreshing. The PvPvE focus as they call it sounds like lots of fun. I'm hoping PvP is worth my time. I hear though that PvP is pretty much all there is to do at Endgame right now, which kind of bothers me, but I'll worry about getting to 50 first.


Odd:
-Flying at early levels is nice, however it is very limited use, begging the question, what is the point. The fact that the next patch is including mounts, seems backwards to me. Why build the game with flight accessible early (almost seems like in order to be different from other MMO's) only to have land mounts?
-Voice select. But then again, you only ever hear yourself say the names of a few spells, and grunt oddly here and there. The warning messages (target out of range, out of mana, etc) aren't voiced by your character. Which begs the question, where the voice actors that lazy or the budget so low that they could only record the actor saying 4 words and a bunch of grunts? They couldn't take an extra hour and record other things like 'I can't attack that target' or 'I'm out of mana' or other such commonplace warnings? That seems a touch odd to me.
-The WoW copy factor. As someone who plays WoW, it is very easy to spot the similarities. They are everywhere. Admittedly, it would be hard to make an MMO nowadays and not have similarities from other games. But, in this case, they are glaring and obvious. Spiritmaster is the Shaman and Warlock together. Chanter is Druid without Shapeshifting. Templar is Warrior and Paladin. Hunter is, well Hunter. They didn't even try to hide that copy. This is a positive in som respects, but they could have made efforts to avoid some of the copy factor. They could have had more unique abilities. Priests in Aion get Smite. Priests in WoW get Smite. Both have the same effect. They could have at least tried to not make them so similar.


Dislike:
-Dichotomy. The Asmo's are evil puppy kickers, the Elyos are perfect beings who are 100% in the right. And the Balar are horrible evil abominations who not only kick puppies but eat puppies too, when they aren't terrorizing the world that is. Yeah, that irks me. And yes, I've seen both sets of storylines.
-The Story is about you. You are the chosen savior champion of awesomeness who will save us all and smite our enemies. Sounds great, except the guy standing in line behind you is also the chosen savior champion of awesomeness who will save us all and smite our enemies. So this feeling of awesomeness you get starts to feel flat mighty quick.
-The Story is not about the world. There is very very little exposition on the people in charge of either faction. You hear about them here and there, but they are not active in saving the world like you are. While this serves to center the story on the player, it means that the world around you quickly becomes meaningless. Yes, it's a pretty world, but it's only there for you to be awesome, which blows immersion out of the water. MMO's are about the world you interact in just as much as your interactions with it. Aion's world feels very non-interactive.
-Which brings me to character customization. You can choose your appearance, you can choose the appearance of your gear, you can choose your voice (only to say a very limited number of things), and you can choose 8 Stigma abilities. And that is all you get. You don't have a spec. If you play a Templar, your Templar is identical to every other Templar of the same level. You can't customize how your character plays. You can't spec for a really strong version of ability X, being your favorite ability. Which brings me right to...
-The Chain Combo System. AKA-Rotations are Hard lol. This annoys me. The Dev's pretty much build your rotation for you, rather than the players coming up with combinations of their own, or figuring out what works for them. I suppose it takes a pile of the theorycrafting out of the game, and makes the Dev's job of balancing much easier. But it means that you do your character's job the same way as anyone else with a similar character. With PvP being so much a focus of the game, I see this as a serious detriment. Creative combinations and surprises are a heavy element of PvP. If you know that right after Smite, that Cleric is obligated to follow with (insert chain), then you know better how to adapt and counter. Seeing as all the abilities are, for the most part, locked into the Chains, it means that tactical advantage isn't going to come from surprises. It's a positive in that you won't likely see many players spamming ability X over and over. It's a negative in that serious damage can be avoided just by interupting the chain and forcing the player to start over on the combo or pick a different combo.
Pro-Easier for Dev's to balance. Con-See above.



All of the above should be taken with a grain of salt, the game isn't even a year old yet. Things will change, I'm sure.

Overall opinion of the game: I give them a B- due to the clear plan for future development, and some innovative twists on some old concepts. Would have been a B+ or even an A if it was more of it's own game rather than being such a copy of other games.

[GolemsVoice]

If I knew I had the time, this would be the second MMO I'd try, parallel to WoW, but I hardly have time for the first one, so it doesn't look like I will do anything in the near future. However, I like how people here get a reasonable discussion going without spamming "lol this is teh wow kill0r" or "lol, it isnt wow so t it is teh sux". Downright refreshing, and you actually LEARN something about the game that is being discussed.

[Karoht]

If I knew I had the time, this would be the second MMO I'd try, parallel to WoW, but I hardly have time for the first one, so it doesn't look like I will do anything in the near future. However, I like how people here get a reasonable discussion going without spamming "lol this is teh wow kill0r" or "lol, it isnt wow so t it is teh sux". Downright refreshing, and you actually LEARN something about the game that is being discussed.

On the Aion LFG channel, that is the only discussion taking place, beyond the very infrequent group requests. This happens 24/7, I'm dead serious. I'll take Barrens chat over that any day. Sadly, I have yet to figure out how you leave a channel. :smallannoyed:

If people want a description of the game boiled down to a sentence, it is WoW with a City of Heroes interface, on a different planet. Personally, as a player of Aion and WoW, I find it hard to treat the game like that.

Also, there is a major patch coming out in March, as they are completely changing engines. Aion runs on the Cry engine (the FarCry engine namely) and they are switching over to the Cry2 engine at that time, along with adding a load of content.

The game is bug free so far that I've seen. The reason it is so clean is because, as most people forget, the game has been out in Asia for 2 years now, and had a lengthy North American beta. As for it's popularity, the game sports a grand total of 5 million players thus far (keep in mind it has taken them 2 years to get that, it took WoW only a matter of months to hit that mark, so players claiming it to be a faster launch than WoW are ignoring metrics), most of which is from Asia. I think NA/EU players right now total 1.5 million thus far, might me 2 million.

I will admit, I'm somewhat jaded when it comes to anything made by NCsoft. They did a terrible job of managing City of Heroes/Villians/Neutrals (the coming expansion pack). Their idea of balancing the game was first off a global nerf (because they took way to long in getting the nerf bat out), followed by a history of pandering to their playerbase. The Architect Issue sums it up really well. They pretty much gave every player the ability to get super easy loot and experience, along with a plethora of fast leveling/teaming mechanics, to the point where going from 1-50 in a day was not all that unheard of. Combined with serious bloat in their economy, and the fact that you can just buy all the most epic gear in the game, lets just say that most players I know never bothered with any of the endgame content, when they could just buy all the gear. Then again, much of their endgame and 'new content' was just rehashed old content.

I like Aion, I genuinely enjoy playing the game, don't get me wrong. I just have serious fears that NCsoft will go the same way the did with City, because it was in their opinion a working formula. They still don't really acknowledge any wrongdoing with City. And much of the diehard City playerbase sees little to nothing wrong with any of the above. Most of which defeats the purpose of it being a game.

Anyway, back to Aion. They still don't have a free trial out, to my knowledge. If they do ever get one out, give it a go. It is a refreshing change of pace. And the minute my guild kills Arthas on hardmode (probably 2-4 months away), I'm going to be on Aion full time unless I'm raiding in WoW.

[Zeb The Troll]

-The WoW copy factor. As someone who plays WoW, it is very easy to spot the similarities. They are everywhere. Admittedly, it would be hard to make an MMO nowadays and not have similarities from other games. But, in this case, they are glaring and obvious. Spiritmaster is the Shaman and Warlock together. Chanter is Druid without Shapeshifting. Templar is Warrior and Paladin. Hunter is, well Hunter. They didn't even try to hide that copy. This is a positive in som respects, but they could have made efforts to avoid some of the copy factor. They could have had more unique abilities. Priests in Aion get Smite. Priests in WoW get Smite. Both have the same effect. They could have at least tried to not make them so similar.Each and every "copy" criticism you list is something that WoW did not do first, or even second. I played exactly one MMO before playing WoW the first time (Dark Ages of Camelot) and as soon as I looked at the classes I saw "Paladin, a tank class that can heal and uses chants as party buffs, exactly like a DAoC paladin", Hunter - "Ranged DPS, enjoys pets", and on down the list. Hell, Camelot Priests even get the Smite ability. I have no delusion that DAoC was the first in any of these either.

[Innis Cabal]

Everquest was in most regards, as far as 3-D games go. WoW has alot of similarities (As did DAoC when I beta'd it). And even then, UO did alot of the idea's first.

[Karoht]

Each and every "copy" criticism you list is something that WoW did not do first, or even second. I played exactly one MMO before playing WoW the first time (Dark Ages of Camelot) and as soon as I looked at the classes I saw "Paladin, a tank class that can heal and uses chants as party buffs, exactly like a DAoC paladin", Hunter - "Ranged DPS, enjoys pets", and on down the list. Hell, Camelot Priests even get the Smite ability. I have no delusion that DAoC was the first in any of these either.

Oh, I'm very much aware that WoW didn't do many things first. It's just when they don't even bother trying to disguise the similarities, down to having almost the same spell descriptions and co-efficients, I call copy. The Spiritmaster and Chanter and Cleric, all have abilities that I would call relatively unique to Shamans. Like Windfury for instance. The Cleric/Chanter ability called Touch of Wind, and has the same proc chance and practically the same damage and scaling, that is as close to a blatant ripoff as you get without violating copyright.

My beef with it is, it's like Aion really didn't try too hard to be original. Yes, it does have some innovations, but they are few and far between from my angle.

[Setra]

I played it for a bit, but the game felt a little dull to me. Though I can't say it's the game's fault, since every MMO I've played since quitting WoW has felt dull. I think I burned myself out on MMOs in general.

If nothing else though, it is VERY pretty.

[Karoht]

Come back to WoW Setra, things are heating up.

Yeah, with all the pretty graphics, Aion is really flat to me. Then again, I will reserve final judgement for when I hit max level, which I have vowed to do before I quit the game. Who knows, maybe by 50 it will grab me.

[Setra]

Come back to WoW Setra, things are heating up.
I'm waiting for Cataclysm.

[Optimystik]

I'm waiting for Cataclysm.

This, as well as new dances.

I'd love to try Aion, but I'll wait until it's a little more popular.

[Karoht]

Dances and other emotes do not trump gameplay and content.

Mind you I just saw the dances in Aion this morning. Man are they goofy. Give me the orc dance any day.

For some reason Aion doesn't have a free trial yet.

[Karoht]

So I was on the forums today, man, do players of Aion actually like the game or not? All I saw was whining. Whining about how there currently is no 'plastic surgery' ticket, or that if such a feature cost real money people would quit the game.

It is true, people complain more than anything these days.

[Zeb The Troll]

I've found this to be a feature of every MMO I've played before, too. No matter how much the fanbase likes the game, no matter how popular or well loved, no matter how finished or polished, there always seems to be a vocal minority who have nothing better to do than frequent forums and bash the game they play.

Incidentally, a plastic surgery ticket? You mean a way to change your character's appearance without deleting and recreating it? Does any game offer this for free? Most don't even offer it for a price, do they?

[Karoht]

I've found this to be a feature of every MMO I've played before, too. No matter how much the fanbase likes the game, no matter how popular or well loved, no matter how finished or polished, there always seems to be a vocal minority who have nothing better to do than frequent forums and bash the game they play.

Incidentally, a plastic surgery ticket? You mean a way to change your character's appearance without deleting and recreating it? Does any game offer this for free? Most don't even offer it for a price, do they?

In WoW you can change your character's appearance, in game, using a very very minor amount of in game currency. You can not change the race or class or sex though. Those things you need to pay for with real money.

CoX you used to get free tickets for the appearance change from time to time.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

CoX you used to get free tickets for the appearance change from time to time.

Still do. Plus, it costs a very small amount of money influence to do it if you don't happen to have a discount token.

City also has the bonus that you can change anything you want. Hair, face, skin, costume, body size, gender, the works.

But a bit more on topic: Are there any rumours re: free trial yet? I'm really curious about Aion, but there's no way I'm shelling out the cash for a game I don't know is awesome.

[Zeb The Troll]

In WoW you can change your character's appearance, in game, using a very very minor amount of in game currency. You can not change the race or class or sex though. Those things you need to pay for with real money.

CoX you used to get free tickets for the appearance change from time to time.Huh. I was lead to believe you could only change your hair. Learn something every day, I guess. :smallcool:

Still, I wouldn't say that it's common enough for people to get all demanding about it for cryin' out loud.

[Karoht]

Still do. Plus, it costs a very small amount of money influence to do it if you don't happen to have a discount token.

City also has the bonus that you can change anything you want. Hair, face, skin, costume, body size, gender, the works.

But a bit more on topic: Are there any rumours re: free trial yet? I'm really curious about Aion, but there's no way I'm shelling out the cash for a game I don't know is awesome.

If you played CoX, you will likely enjoy it. Seems most of the player base are CoX fans or Alliance players from WoW. Or former Guild Wars players who constantly spout in trade that GW was the greatest MMO of all time.

[theMycon]

I have it, and so far, am enjoying it. It may be more "grind" than "moments of badass", but it's an addictive grind that is really, really beautiful. And the gameplay is much more customizable than above has mentioned; you have enough skill-sets that your own combos are more important than the built-in chains; and you can equip a broad enough array of balanced equipment that multiple strategies will work. (I.E. "switch to magic set in groups with tanks; default chain armor and buff in small groups.")

I do truly enjoy the flying and gliding- there's something about how most bosses are posed on the top of a hill or cliff that just screams "kill me, then glide out over my follower looking straight down." I've twice (as a chanter- basically battle-cleric) just sat & healed a stream of players while they each down the boss, just to watch them fly away- about 1-in-5 does a terrible job of it, aggros every monster he flies over, and they chase him out of the dungeon half way back to town, clearing the path for anyone going out and anyone coming in who bothers to get out of the way. Granted, if someone is coming in and somehow doesn't see the group of a dozen baddies chasing someone they'll get trampled.

You have two "badass buttons" which are fun when you remember to use them. Minor badass button: You get "power shards" which (at the price of 1 per hit, and nearly every enemy drops 1) add 10-40 to your attack as appropriate easily turned on & off with the 'B' button.
Major badass button: "Divine power" generates as you kill enemies (more for higher level foes) which makes you glow and pulsate with generic looking energy as it builds. Once it reaches a threshold, you can use it for your one biggest attack- in my BF's Assassin's case a "kill nearly anything with a half-dozen strong hits"; in mine a "30 seconds of double power on everything."

I dislike that crafting takes forever (and a whole lot of money). It generates experience, and I often just hit "craft all" and read a book, play with my dog, or make a snack; so it doesn't take away from your life; however, most of my cash has gone into levelling my crafting skills and I calculated that I've spent about 20% of my game time sitting at a loom, forge, or arts & crafts center.
It is (just barely) worth it, however, as I am utterly in love with my hat & staff; and spent almost an hour just looking at them and smiling as my puppy-kicking evil guy sews some cloth wearing a bowler. He looks like if Alex from A Clockwork Orange mated with the Nav'ii from Avatar, became a furry angel, and decided to devote his life to fashion.

(Oh, and Asmo, Yusitel west)

[SlyGuyMcFly]

If you played CoX, you will likely enjoy it. Seems most of the player base are CoX fans or Alliance players from WoW. Or former Guild Wars players who constantly spout in trade that GW was the greatest MMO of all time.

That part actually describes my MMO habits to a T. Huh :smallconfused:

[Drakyn]

Why "Alliance players"? Pretty factor?

[Kish]

Or former Guild Wars players who constantly spout in trade that GW was the greatest MMO of all time.
Former? Has Guild Wars been discontinued or something? If not, something doesn't add up here:
1) People who still play an MMORPG.
2) That MMORPG is not Guild Wars and is, in fact, more expensive than Guild Wars.
3) In that MMORPG, they express the viewpoint that Guild Wars (was?) the greatest MMORPG of all time.

[Zeb The Troll]

I have been contemplated playing this game ; I love the fact that you have to be 18 + to play ! :smallcool:Where would you get this idea? I was never once asked how old I am, let alone invited to prove it.

[Acanous]

Yustiel, Elyos side. I've been lv 35 for 3 months. Been grinding out armor and gathering mats that are far lower than what gives me XP. Still waiting for my friends to catch up to me so I can have a lan party.

[Karoht]

Yustiel, Elyos side. I've been lv 35 for 3 months. Been grinding out armor and gathering mats that are far lower than what gives me XP. Still waiting for my friends to catch up to me so I can have a lan party.

We'll get there sooner or later. If the Double XP weekend wasn't on valentines weekend, I'd get there much quicker.