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Aion: A Fan's In-Depth Look
In light of Community Manager Richard Cox's Aion article posted today, I thought I'd throw my love for the game in your direction also. I've been following Aion for over 2 years now via AionSource and other info sites and my excitement for it's release has never been higher.
Now, I understand many of you haven't heard about Aion, have made assumptions about it already *cough* Korean Grinder *cough*, or maybe just want to know more about it.
So, without further blabbing about myself, let me get onto my write-up.
First off let's debunk that Korean Grinder rumor.
Aion takes the leveling structure (or ease as some people may think to say) of games such as WoW and combines them with the art and beauty of an Asian style MMO.
Now, I understand where the stereotype comes from and Aion's developers do as well. But this is going to be a very different product from what we've seen out of the East in the past.
The client is being localized in Austin, TX by NCI (NC Soft's US base of operations) and there is a lot more going on there than simple translation. I had the chance to speak with one of the translators at this year's Penny Arcade Expo and some of the things I heard both surprised and delighted me. One, not everything translates directly to English from any given language, but this won't be one of those horribly translated games (or forum posts >.<) we've all came across where it literally hurts your brain to try and decipher what is going on. The quests are being translated and re-written to make complete sense. Also, there are certain cultural things that don't translate. Just as people in Korea probably don't know all of our mythical references, we don't know theirs and if the translation team comes across one of these things that doesn't make sense to our culture, it is being changed to something that does.
It is a very complex and in depth change and it's being done right. Finally.
The next thing I want to talk about is the comparisons to WoW. Many reviews have gone this far and in some ways, rightfully so. Aion is unique in its story and setting, true, but instead of trying to create an entirely new game mechanic, they've taken what has worked in the past- the best of the best from the MMO world- and improved it. It's character creation is one of the most in-depth ever made but customization doesn't stop there.
WoW is notorious for its gear but everyone has had it happen to them, at least once, where they've had to sacrifice a look they like better for the better armor rating or stats of a lesser ( and sometimes downright friggin ugly ) piece of armor or weaponry. Aion hears your cries of despair and has answered them with a system that allows you to combine two items. Your new chest piece sure has some nice stats, but you love how ripped your current one makes your abs look? Take them both to a special NPC who will combine them, leaving you with the look you love and the stats of the better item. Awesome? Awesome.
There is also the Stigma system, which allows you to modify your class. While the 8 main classes are fairly standard for an MMO, Stigma allows you to modify it to help individualize your chosen profession. For example, you can modify proficiencies. Your Mage, with the proper Stigma stone, can now wear full plate mail. Now, I hear some of your cries out there of OMG DPS HAX! There will be benefits and downfalls to decisions such as these. For instance, Plate Armor gives you zero bonus to your MP and lowers your evasion, so you might be able to get a few heavy shots off while the Gladiator fumbles with his can opener, but when you're tapped out, its game over. The Stigma system is also said to allow you to equip certain skills from other classes to your own. Sad you can't be a Paladin in Aion? Roll a Templar, add a heal and harm undead skill to your Stigma slots from the Cleric tree, and you're on your way!
Now onto content. Each faction has its own secluded content up to level 50, meaning you may never have to PvP if you do not wish to, but there is also a good portion of the end-game (and by end-game I mean levels 25-50 and beyond) content takes place in the Abyss, mentioned in the linked article above, which is not only the main PvP battleground of the game, but also holds a large amount of PvE content as well (you're just at constant risk of attack by the enemy factions during, but your XP/loot rewards will be greater). Here, there are fortresses that your legion and/or race can fight for control of (which will give your legion and race benefits) as well as powerful artifacts on the battlefield that can change the course of the fight. Some may grant a buff to your defenders, while others may go as far as to polymorph the enemy into something cute and harmless for a short amount of time while you take pleasure in axing them (and maybe a /pet or two just for fun).
The third (NPC) faction that was discussed not only acts as something for you to kill while in the Abyss, they are also an advanced AI that will be virtually unpredictable. They act as a sort of chaotic balance, if such a thing exists. For instance, if the Elyos race is attacking an Asmodian controlled fortress in the Abyss, and the Elyos players outnumber the Asmodians 2:1, the Balaur may show up and start fighting the Elyos from behind, assisting the Asmodians and sparing them from a horrible loss. But if you thought you'd guessed their motives for the battle, it may cost you dearly. With the Elyos wiped out, the Balaur may go on their way, satisfied with the carnage, or they may keep going and wipe out the remaining Asmodians and re-claim the fortress for themselves. They can show up at any time and be your ally one moment and enemy the next. Or simply show up to wipe everyone out with no regard to "sides."
The world is also rich in lore with an original story and amazing soundtrack to top off its spectacular graphics (which look great even on low settings. I know, I tested the lowest settings at PAX.) For those who want to know the story, but hate reading quests, there are cinematic cutscenes after some story quests to show you what you need to know instead of making you read it.
Item linking in chat, dressing rooms, armor dying (and not just the main part), weapon/gear customization, large PvP seiges, seige weapons, PvE raids that can affect PvP battles, PvP ranking with benefits (such as upgraded wings and a hero system that would essentially make a select few players as tough as a raid boss!) free flight, aerial combat, class diversity, hundreds of thousands of possible character designs (20+ sliders JUST for the face!), a combo system in combat to make you THINK about what your hitting instead of spamming 1,1,1,1,1,1,2,2,4,4,3,1,1,1,1 in the same pattern, every fight, every time, for your entire game career, plenty of emotes, an in-depth crafting system, and now there's even talk coming out of Korea about Player Housing and Guild Halls being destructable, so your city can feel the full affect of the gears of war.
All this and much more to come. If you made it this far, hopefully you've grown (even more) excited about Aion and it has compelled you to follow it a bit more closely. If you haven't already, I recommend you check out the HD videos at Aion's European site and get involved with the community at AionSource.
Aion will be entering Open Beta in Korea soon with an anticipated US/EU release following some play-at-home preview events Q1 or Q2 of next year. Any questions, please post them and I'll asnwer as best as I can. I hope you enjoyed this write-up (or at least suffered through it so you're not ignorant when you flame me or the game) and take care!
Knite - Administrator, AionSource.com
Comments
Shining bump for almighty cosmic justice!
Also, AionSource.com kinda rocks.
ArcheAgeSource.com
Hi Brian um.. OP
Did you receive the check yet?
NCSoft
Nice heads up, i'm also looking forward to Aion and a loyal reader of AionSource.com .
But... because of my experience with MMO's in the last few years, and the depressing forums, i kinda hope this game will be a sleeper hit. I don't want it to be over-hyped, I don't want it to be promoted as "the" WoW killer. Because seriously, I don't care if WoW gets killed or if it doesn't.
From all the information I have gathered from this game, I'm quite confident that this will be my next big MMO. But dissapointment is always lurking behind the corner, it doesn't matter if it's an eastern or a western production, a blizzard, mythic, funcom or ncsoft game, the chance of failure is always there. Still, i have high hopes for this one. It's good that people like the OP are lightening up the facts and clearing the rumours, but everytime i'm afraid there will be just another influx of rants and troll posts only to show how inmatture this MMO community has become.
For me the community means allot when playing a so called "social" game like an MMO, and at this moment I love to hang around at AionSource.com . But I'll be even more happy when this whole "beat WoW thing" is over so that the overall community might be enjoyable again. I have hopes that "WAR" will be the solution to this problem, and that Aion players will be able to enjoy there game, all in a world without flaming at each other's game. But that last might be just a dream
. (Oh and I played WAR 6 months in beta, and while i like the depth of the game, I feel it's not my kind of game, not like I expect Aion will be, but that's just a personal oppinion everyone has to make for his own)
So, conclusion, I believe in Aion and I hope by the time the game releases it will still have a great community. For me it doesn't have to be the biggest MMO out there, as long as it's a good game and the community is fun!
Aion sounds very good from your report. You explained about a lot of things in your post. I am curious about the crafting system, though. Do you have anymore information on that? And, how about looting and weapon/armor degradation, will this be a factor?
Order of the Dark Tower Officer
Nice thread!
Hopefully it will convince many people that Aion won't be a simple hack n slash... MMORPG.com already posted a detailed impression (from a neutral perspective i might add) and this thread compliments well to it. Good work knite16 :P
To the above poster: it seems the crafting system will be kept simple aka. you have a recipe and add "ingredients" as far as i know... Don't know if there is more official information on this topic yet though
ps. Aionsource ownz go check it out
the pvp sounds shit..... next!
A lot about character customization. It's nice to customize your character, but that doesn't mean the game isn't an Asian grinder.
Why exactly do you think this? PvP actually has a purpose? You gain rainking from it, you can control key battle points, its not a potion-fest like L2 or other games, you have to watch your back from all angles (including above and below with flight.), there will be seige weapons for taking fortresses, and you actually benefit your entire race PvP or PvEers, from what you do in the Abyss. Sounds like one of the best PvP systems we've seen yet, in my eyes.
No, but the reviews saying it is not as well as the stated emphasis that the leveling structure will be that of the traditional Western MMO does. First of all, Max level is 50. During the last CBT, which lasted 3 weeks, players got from 0-40 in that time. This was on a restricted play schedule also. They didn't have access to the game 24/7. I'm not saying everyone did, but you try getting 80% to max level in a traditional Korean grinder in 3 weeks on a limited play schedule.
Hopefully that helps debunk (again) the Korean Grinder rumour.
Knite - Administrator, AionSource.com
The more I read on this game, the more interested I am. Normally any game with PVP (other than Guild Wars), I just pass on. Aion has me hooked though.
Thanks for the review. i'm going to check out Aion source now.
Another WoW clone, no thanks.
Also, this game has very little western support.
The more i read about the game the more interested i am about it. Don't really get the few haters that keep posting it seems like a breathe of fresh air on the mmo scene. Good graphics, good game play, new pvp mechanic, toon customs gear/looks, not the same races to choose from war/wow clone of races. Yup a breath of fresh air, can't wait to play it and give my actual thoughts on game play.
Every MMO "clones" others in some way. Even WoW did it. What Aion does is takes the best of the best from all MMOs out there, not just WoW, and improves them and adds to them. Does WoW have mission cutscenes? Amazing graphics? A dynamic combo system? Gear customization? RvR with controllable points that actually mean something? The list goes on and on. No one can deny that WoW has done something right to attract the crowd it has, but stating that Aion is simple another WoW clone (God, I hate that term) is plain ignorant.
And by western support do you mean fans or the company? NC North America is handling English localization and has a team in place to run it as if they developed it. NC Europe is handling other language localization for their area and will be doing the same for support.
As for fans, well AionSource just passed 10,000 registered members
NC won best booth at Leipzig as well as attracted the largest crowd at the convention
The reviews speak for themselves people. I've not read a mundane one yet and these are sites who have covered the mundane, the over hyped, etc.
Knite - Administrator, AionSource.com
Aion looks good and I do want to try it. But when a game gets hyped up like this and it doesn't deliver, then whats after that?
It's been said so many times that I'm surprised this keeps coming up.
Leveling is on par with WoW.
WoW leveling is extremely easy.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
It's been said so many times that I'm surprised this keeps coming up.
Leveling is on par with WoW.
WoW leveling is extremely easy.
And that doesn't mean it will be the same as WoW, WoW is just used to often because many people know it. Its an industry standard now, so its referenced by everyone. Aion, though a Korean developed game, follows the "western" style of leveling, which WoW also follows.
Knite - Administrator, AionSource.com
Even if the game really comes out without grinding (simple kill quests is grinding, too), I could never play this game because of its graphics and its animations.
It's been said so many times that I'm surprised this keeps coming up.
Leveling is on par with WoW.
WoW leveling is extremely easy.
And that doesn't mean it will be the same as WoW, WoW is just used to often because many people know it. Its an industry standard now, so its referenced by everyone. Aion, though a Korean developed game, follows the "western" style of leveling, which WoW also follows.
Ok "similiar".
This is what was stated by one of the cm's (paraphrasing) "The leveling in Aion will be slightly longer than WoW but not by much".
I feel it is safe to say that if someone is familiar with WoW and states that leveling is easier, about the same or longer then people should get an idea as to what they mean.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Really? I think the graphics and art design are exceptional.
But to each his/her own.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Every MMO "clones" others in some way. Even WoW did it. What Aion does is takes the best of the best from all MMOs out there, not just WoW, and improves them and adds to them. Does WoW have mission cutscenes? Amazing graphics? A dynamic combo system? Gear customization? RvR with controllable points that actually mean something? The list goes on and on. No one can deny that WoW has done something right to attract the crowd it has, but stating that Aion is simple another WoW clone (God, I hate that term) is plain ignorant.
And by western support do you mean fans or the company? NC North America is handling English localization and has a team in place to run it as if they developed it. NC Europe is handling other language localization for their area and will be doing the same for support.
As for fans, well AionSource just passed 10,000 registered members
NC won best booth at Leipzig as well as attracted the largest crowd at the convention
The reviews speak for themselves people. I've not read a mundane one yet and these are sites who have covered the mundane, the over hyped, etc.
Out of all those things you listed, only the combo system sounds remotely interesting. Mission cutscenes..... wooow, feels like I'm playing a console. Wait, why don't I just go and do that, seeing as console games like 360 and PS3 not only have cutscenes but an immersive storyline and professional voiceovers, even short movies. I don't like games being labeled WoW clones too easily either but this time they themselves admitted it and on many occasions compared themselves to WoW, like when they were asked about the grind, they said it will be just like WoW (and unlike most korean grinds). Aion has modeled itself using WoW there is no denying this. Not that that's a bad thing, but don't expect some revolution.
RPGs on consoles used to be renown for their story (and cutscenes). But not only that, it was something you had to follow. You'd read the dialogue, read what the townspeople had to say, and you'd know the story. The unfortunate thing with MMO players is many click through quests and story lines and just follow the *Go to point A and kill Mob B* bullet notes. The cutscenes help tell the story for those who don't want to read it. And there will be professional voice-overs. The cutscenes especially will have them as well as some quests, but this is one of the last things NC North America will be hiring for due to the still rapidly changing client.
And on the WoW clone issue, I do agree with you that Aion was influenced by WoW. What isn't these days? It's been stated before that Aion won't be a complete re-invention of the MMO world. It will be very familiar to veteran MMO players from Day 1, but that doesn't mean it can't take those mechanics and make them shine where they once lacked.
Knite - Administrator, AionSource.com
About the WoW clone comments:
Leveling curve being like WoW, character control being like WoW, that's where the "clone" ends.
The endgame is everything but WoW, deep customization, with only 8 classes that can use up to 5 skills from other classes, classes are less cookie cutter than any upcoming mainstream MMORPG thanks to that.
Open world raids, you have to take care about the raid, but also watch your back since the enemy faction might come after you.
Open world pvp with death penalties, the Abyss points system is more than reputation points, it's something you spend on buying stuff, and is something you lose when dying in PvP, say hello to the drama and good bye to the kamikaze attitude.
Fortress sieges, with taxing and player driven economy.
Aion follows a storyline through 50 levels that tells you you are a demigod creature and explains you why the world is like that and what happened with the gods (tl;dr version) but after that there's freedom of choices, community driven content and lots of things to do.
did you really play Hello Kitty Online for over a thousand hours, or is your sig just a pisstake? if not, you are an hero
Very well written overview or explanation of the game so far! For those of you posting not so smart ass one to two liners, please put your reading glasses on and actually look at the words written up here, because all the answers are right there... :P Not that you're going to read this post, because drive by commenting is so much cooler.
This place makes me edgy, *exit*
Oh wait I forgot, Go Aion, awesome job Knite!!!!!!
(,,,)=^__^=(,,,)
Shill?
I approve this message.
Oh and Aion looks awesome!