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Anyone playing this game?

http://aiononline.com/us/

Already been released in Korea. US version is in beta stage, soon to be released (by NCSoft). Some guy was raving about it on lotro yesterday. Appearantly it was the most awsome MMO he ever played. Flying, pretty effects and he didn't lag despite having a 4 year old computer. After checking out their site, it appears you can indeed fly. It's also claims to be both PvE and PvP oriented. My main concern is that it's just gonna be Lineage with flying. So if anyone else got some first hand experience I would love to hear it.

I might give this a try when it's released in Europe. I heard about it a year or so ago and was struck by its beautiful graphics and animations (I believe it runs on a modified version of the Far Cry engine, oddly enough). If you can find a video of the character customisation process, it's supposed to be very versatile.

Since this is made by a Korean developer and is an experiment in trying to reach both Eastern and Western audiences, it could be great or it could fail spectacularly. I think I'll wait for the reviews to be sure.

I'm a little curious myself, but normally Korean MMO's were always way too focused on level grinding and PvP for my tastes.

It's pretty, I'll give it that.

But it's not the first MMO where you could fly, have aerial combat, etc (Shadowbane, City of Heroes, etc did this way before).

You guys didn't hear about it before?! You must not know anyone that plays Lineage 2 then...

I think this game was on a Top Ten list for "Best Looking Upcoming MMO's" or something, over at That Guy with the Glasses. Hopefully they handle it better than City of Heroes, where everybody and their mother has a power to immediately drop you out of flight.

I usually don't like Korean MMOs but I'll give it a try if I don't have to pay anything. I still wanna try Chronicles of Spellborn though.

Aion is interesting.

First off, the game is not as much of a grindfest as Lineage. It actually has a lot of quests that you can do. The combat system is very well done, with combos that are done by certain skills opening up a chain of other skills. It already is doing very well in asia, I think the last total was 3.5 million. I definitly would call the game a success.

In the end, I don't think I will play it though. My main issues are...

Flying is extremely fun, but you are very limited. They never let you fly forever, instead only for a few seconds/minutes based on the level of wings you have. If you are still in the air when the wings "expire" you fall to your death. I find that pretty silly.

The content feels limited. While the creation process blows any other fantasy game out of the water right now, it still only gives you two actual races. A dark skinned one, and a light skinned one. Both have a unique starting area, but because only two races exist, only two starting areas exist. I find that rather limiting.

The game has no option for only PVE or PVP, you have to play on a PVP server and later on your are thrown into zones were quests themselves involve killing other players. I can see this taking a huge chunk out of the western market, as we are much more PVE focused, that is why the majority of servers are normal servers in WoW.

Also, much of the later zones are very group oriented. From 17-20 or so, pretty much every quest is group based. Hopefully they will add more in the upcoming 1.5, but I am not sure if they will. They need to concentrate on the slim pickings of the end game.

I really dislike some of the little things. You can't swim. You can WALK on the bottom of a lake, but it will slowly hurt you. Gathering exists as ONE skill, simply called Gathering, and is used for everything from collecting items to fishing. Ever get excited walking into shallow water and gathering a fish by holding your hand at it? yes, not very exciting.

I think the worst thing though, is the ability to open stores. You can basically leave your character logged in as a "shop" with a pool of items people can buy. You might think this is a neat idea till you zone into a city and see 30 shops all sitting right inside the zone line, the little announcement bubbles telling you to come buy from them over the 29 other people. I watched a review at one time where the guy found four people all with a shop next to eachother, going like this. Person 1 "Iron for Sale!" Person 2 "<--- Iron cheaper then that guy" Person 3 "Iron cheaper then both those guys" and finally person 4 "Free Iron! Don't buy from those guys!"

We will see how it can handle a western audience. It definitely is gathering some buzz, but so did games like WAR and AOC, and we know how those turned out.

Forced PvP is so not for me. Too bad, it looks very pretty. I'll be on the lookout for a free trial though. Perhaps I'll be pleasantly suprised!

Siska said:

Forced PvP is so not for me. Too bad, it looks very pretty. I'll be on the lookout for a free trial though. Perhaps I'll be pleasantly suprised!

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I say give it a go, you never know.

They were giving out free Aion CDs at the big LAN that I went to this weekend but until reading this thread I had no idea what the game was or who made it.

I might give it a try.

Siska said:

Forced PvP is so not for me.

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Same here. I enjoy PvP, but on my own terms, when I feel like it.

Oddbot said:

Siska said:

Forced PvP is so not for me.

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Same here. I enjoy PvP, but on my own terms, when I feel like it.

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Where as I enjoy the ability to claim what I feel should be mine, while simultaneously accepting that I only get it as long as I'm strong enough to keep it. Some people say that they don't like to feel like they are being hunted in their leisure time... I counter that with the simple fact that there would be far fewer gold farmers if we could actually kill them when we see them.

AshburnerX said:

Oddbot said:

Siska said:

Forced PvP is so not for me.

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Same here. I enjoy PvP, but on my own terms, when I feel like it.

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Where as I enjoy the ability to claim what I feel should be mine, while simultaneously accepting that I only get it as long as I'm strong enough to keep it. Some people say that they don't like to feel like they are being hunted in their leisure time... I counter that with the simple fact that there would be far fewer gold farmers if we could actually kill them when we see them.

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There at tons of valid arguements for pvp anywhere anytime.

Guild Wars is a GREAT example.

When GW originally came out, it had a maximum limit of /ignored users (an ignore list) of 20 people. So if someone was annoying you or spamming you, you could only /ignore 20 users. So that 21st person was free to harass you. Sure you could simply turn off all chat channels but why should you be forced to turn off everything public because one person is being an ass? Hunting them down and just ganking them a few times usually shuts them up, especially if you could camp the respawn point.

Great example of where pvp anywhere anytime really helps. Yea the easiest solution in the above example woulda been for ArenaNet to simply take out the /ignore limit but they didnt (one reason why I quit gw after 5 months in 2005). There are dozens of other valid reasons.

If they seperate the US and Koreans by server (US servers only etc) I'll be playing this pretty much whenever I'm not on WoW.

That might sound racist, but after what happened on FFXI, I learned my lesson.

<JP ONLY, ENGLISH, NO THANKS> my ass. rly:

As i recall that's how Lineage 2 servers are (never played it on official servers myself, but know some people that have/are).

Here's the latest screenshot from Korean MMO Aion -

heh... kinda like FlyFF (fly for free) which is another Korean MMO where you can fly but more cartoony than "realism" look.

The Korean version I'm sure Gas.

I just wanted to go ahead and bump this up now that I've had some hands on time with the Beta.

Anyone know if the NDA is lifted since it's practically a public beta now even though it's "closed"? I'd love to post some screenshots and talk about what I've liked so far.

With my current hiatus from WoW Raiding, I can easily see Aion taking ALL of my MMO time for the next couple of months, especially if the PVP zones are as fun as they sound.

Shegokigo said:

Anyone know if the NDA is lifted since it's practically a public beta now even though it's "closed"?

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If you're in the beta, don't they tell you this kind of thing?

Honestly? No. I got the beta-key from pre-ordering the game.

Shegokigo said:

Honestly? No. I got the beta-key from pre-ordering the game.

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Ah I see. But aren't there usually beta forums and whatnot?

Just Googling "Aion NDA" brings up a lot of hits; probably the answer's in there somewhere.

Pretty sure the NDA was lifted awhile ago. I see people posting fan previews of the game all over the place.

So screenshots would be ok?

Shegokigo said:

So screenshots would be ok?

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Yes I am sure they will be fine.

I am actually surprised they even had an NDA, the game has been out and playable in Asia for months now, you could even download an english mod and play already.

GasBandit said:

Here's the latest screenshot from a MMO -

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Hey, someone needs to keep the hamsters running to power the internet...

Hm. Where do I begin then:

For starters, I only made it to level 15 before the beta closed down for the next phase, so I can't really comment on the end-game portions nor the PVP portions.

This is what I can say for sure:

Graphics:
The game is stunning to look at. From the animations, to the sounds, to the fluid motions of the wings during flight. The game is a visual feast. Perhaps not on a LOTRO level, but heads and shoulders above everythingelse out there. The spells are well done, the effects and lighting are just marvelous. The "theme" of the areas I've seen are mostly angelic/dark angelinc (not really demonic), but then again I only saw 4 "zones". The character customization screen puts every other MMO to shame. That includes CoX/CO. Every part of the face has 2-3 sliders. Eye slant, eye depth, eye width, eye angle etc etc etc. I spent 3 full days in the game and not a single character looked like another. Nor the NPCs. There is even height adjustment sliders from 2-3ft 8-9ft tall.So visually? The game is amazing and extremely diverse.

Mechanics:
Wow, where do I begin. Never have I seen such a great system ruined by one feature. The spell system is great. Instead of just casting the same spell over and over, you can create spell "chains". A level 2 spell can't be cast right off the bat, it requires that you cast a level 1 spell and then chain in the level 2 spell. It really makes spell casting interactive and avoids monotony. Again, I didn't test much beyond the Spiritmaster class, but it in itself was very well done. Pets were as interactive as the spell casting, having to use their abilities at certain times intead of just having it on /afk autocast.

The flying was probably the best part of the game mechanics. It was obvious they spent ALOT of time working on the system for it too. Flight (where possible) came at the click of a button (it would make your wings appear) and you'd lift straight up into the sky and use a decend/accend key system. In areas you could not fly, there was a glide system where you could leap from hills/towers and glide to your chosen destination. The flight was not infinite however, as the wings (when under leveled) have a time limit indicated by a bar. The combat system for flight was fully implemented in the beta as well, and it was like fighting on the ground, yet still in the air. Hard to explain but well done none-the-less.

The gearing system also was very unique and something completely new to MMOs. If you were wearing a very "nice" looking set of armor, matching and in style, but a new "upgrade" piece of armor that dropped for you is an eyesore, NO PROBLEM! Just "melt down" the upgrade, take the melted down stats and replace the stats on your "good looking" piece of armor with the new one. This insures that you have the look YOU want and not the one the developer of a new zone wants you to have. It really adds to the already huge diversity between players. To top it off, there is an armor dye system so that even if two players have the same gear set, the color scheme could be completely different.

----- More to come.

Shegokigo said:

The character customization screen puts every other MMO to shame. That includes CoX/CO. Every part of the face has 2-3 sliders. Eye slant, eye depth, eye width, eye angle etc etc etc. I spent 3 full days in the game and not a single character looked like another. Nor the NPCs. There is even height adjustment sliders from 2-3ft 8-9ft tall.So visually? The game is amazing and extremely diverse.

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This is how it is in Champions Online.

Shegokigo said:

Mechanics:
Wow, where do I begin. Never have I seen such a great system ruined by one feature. The spell system is great. Instead of just casting the same spell over and over, you can create spell "chains". A level 2 spell can't be cast right off the bat, it requires that you cast a level 1 spell and then chain in the level 2 spell. It really makes spell casting interactive and avoids monotony. Again, I didn't test much beyond the Spiritmaster class, but it in itself was very well done. Pets were as interactive as the spell casting, having to use their abilities at certain times intead of just having it on /afk autocast.

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This is how the Bard Song system and parts of the Guardian skill system worked in LOTRO.

Shegokigo said:

The gearing system also was very unique and something completely new to MMOs. If you were wearing a very "nice" looking set of armor, matching and in style, but a new "upgrade" piece of armor that dropped for you is an eyesore, NO PROBLEM! Just "melt down" the upgrade, take the melted down stats and replace the stats on your "good looking" piece of armor with the new one. This insures that you have the look YOU want and not the one the developer of a new zone wants you to have. It really adds to the already huge diversity between players. To top it off, there is an armor dye system so that even if two players have the same gear set, the color scheme could be completely different.

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LOTRO has a similar system, in where you can place your favorite pieces of equipment in a cosmetic slot and it would always look like you were wearing that piece of armor/clothing until you ether toggled off cosmetic mode or you switched it out. You could also dye any piece of armor in the game.

So basically what your telling me is that Aion Online basically stole the best parts of the other games and put them into an original IP? This isn't a complaint, mind you.

From what I've seen, Aion's looking pretty promising, but I'm interested to know what the "one feature" that ruins the game mechanics is.

I echo the sentiment about wondering what the one feature is? I've been in the betas, and by FAR the biggest issue IMO so far for Spiritmasters is simple: Pets don't fly. For a game where it's stated that flight is so integral, and especially in PvP in the Abyss, making them not fly just screams out to me "gank the SMs when they're travelling!" The second point on that would be the non-scaling of the pets at high levels due to gear. A similar problem with most other MMOs too, but still, something that I wish that somebody would get right (EQ1 did, years ago, yet none seem to have followed: shared stats).

On the crafting front, I don't know why they don't just do the EQ1 way: fail or success IMMEDIATELY. Right now you're just waiting a long time for the Random Number Generator to tell you if you succeeded or failed. That's an instant check really, they're just dressing it up. If you're going to make success random, then at least do it fast. If there's skill involved, then it can be a drawn-out process, but since you have NO influence on it after you click "go" and you CAN fail (unlike WoW where while it takes time, it's guaranteed success), just tell us the damned result!

Other than that, it's visually beautiful, and kinda fun, at least for a change. Long-term? I dunno, but for now fun.

I remember that from EQ1, Mage pets were nasty when the Mage was raid-geared.

Also WoW does stat-share to a degree with Hunter and Death Knight pets. They get a percentage of your stats.

Sorry for the late reply in my update:

Mechanics:

Now for the negative. Again this is from a very "young" start point but I can already see the effects of this problem echoing into the game for years. There is a "instance" system for every zone. Now let me get a bit more detailed:

I am in "The Hills" where there is 2 towns, 3 monster camps and 1 dungeon. In town I get a quest to kill 10npcs. I run to the camp, and there are a ton of people already there. So through the menu I pick "The Hills 2". Now I'm in a different "instance" of "The Hills" zone, which has less people in it. Now I can kill the 10npcs I need and go turn in my quest.

Sounds awesome huh? Well I thought so too at first, till I realized there are about 5-7 instances of every zone I'd been in. How is this a problem? Economy. In each "instance" of an area, it has monster spawns as well as "gathering material" spawns. Need 10 iron ore? Too many people camping "instance" 1-3? Go to "instance" 4 and get the ore you need. Problem is, ore becomes worthless. Herbs are worthless. Rare npc that drops a good weapon? Keep switching "instances" till you find an empty one and kill it. Rare weapons/gear are worthless.

Again why is this a problem? Because INgame vendors sell items for millions of gold. How will be the only way to get all that gold? Straight farming of npcs for hours on end. Professions will be worthless as well as any kind of "auction house" money brokering. This leaves the game WIDE OPEN for bots and macro farmers. I give it's economy less than 6 months before it crashes under it's own weight. Especially with all the heavy money sinks in the game (vendor high prices, paying for death xp, repairs).

STORY:

Mechanics are not my only "issue" with Aion. As hard as it is for me to get past that "bad mechanic" the thing that completely shut me off to Aion is the storyline. Now before anyone says "You didn't get to experience it enough" or "The American localization team is adding alot more quests" I sit and wonder if those "more quests" are just 1500 more "kill x npcs for y reward". The big "accesion" quest left a really bad taste in my mouth. It's supposed to be your BIG EPIC journey and reward but, it was the most bland and lifeless "ceremony" ever. I think the issue comes from no major "heroes" or "protagonists" to be known of. Perhaps there are more in the later game or even with the American Localization team, but for now? I wasn't the least bit "drawn in" by ANYTHING any of the quests offered.

Now am I done with it for good? Nah, I still have my beta code and there is 1-2 more beta events coming out. Do I think anything is going to be different? According to sources, no. The "American localization" will not be implemented during the beta (why the fuck not??) and will only be available on US release.

Here's hoping they REALLY flesh out the story and maybe restrict the "instances" per zone to 2 at the most. (Seriously, multiple instaced zones with MANY different servers to choose from in the first place? *sigh*)

Hate to sound like a miser, but does this game need a monthly payment to play, or is it free?

Scydron said:

Hate to sound like a miser, but does this game need a monthly payment to play, or is it free?

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Monthly payments as any MMO that grows and releases content would, with very few exceptions.

I believe that the time that you pay for doesn't deplete unless you're actually playing, though. In that way it's slightly different to the traditional MMO payment model.

So... Hows it going... In the game? Still playing? Any major changes? And what kind of subscription plan have they decided on?

I'm actually considering trying this game (at least till the new lotro expansion). After the failure that was Warhammer, I've been wanting to play an RvR games that's actually good. Is there any sort of friend codes or anything that could let me give it a little whirl so I don't end up paying for a game i might not like (again, Warhammer )?

I'd really try and get back into this, if they fixed the very weak storyline/no protagonist thing. The other issues I brought up could be addressed otherwise.

Bump. Anyone been playing this since release? WoW has once more gotten a bit stale, and I just am not enjoying DDO like I thought I would. just wanted to see if anyone has any feelings towards this since it was released last week, and not just the beta. Seems like it might be interesting enough to balance as the "other game" against my wow-time.

If I had a copy, I'd play it in my WoW downtime without a question.

I'll play WoW for the major plots/well known lore/characters. I'll play Aion for the gameplay/graphics and pvp.

Shegokigo said:

If I had a copy, I'd play it in my WoW downtime without a question.

I'll play WoW for the major plots/well known lore/characters. I'll play Aion for the gameplay/graphics and pvp.

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Thats what i was thinking, wanted to see if anyone was currently playing and what they thought.