NCsoft developers chronicle the incredibly deep and expansive classes and customization options in the world of their MMORPG Aion.
"If you run past anyone who looks like you... you just went with the default options, because there's just no way". Dag yo. Prep your wings, Aion flies on the PC September 22.
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Gruffy
This game looks sick nasty, i cant wait to play it.
deathner
k to all those ppl that are loyal to WoW good for you that mean's you are happy with the big changes that have help a lot of ppl that are alway's QQing about thing's being too hard for them to do, well i got new for those QQers out there you guy's ruined that game for us core raiders, i been playing WoW for 3 years and it was all fun raiding and stuff but Blizzard decided that they would do something to make everyone happy even ppl with out the capacity to enjoy a challenging game, and for Aion, this game is so freaking rocking there is actual challenge and i hope they make it good game to were we don't have little kid's playing unless they have the talent to do so, not to disrespect little kids but WoW has a lot of those kids, AION KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK, i look forward to playing the game i'm so excited.
sirjackinthebox
I have just played the closed beta #4 after buying the pre-pay deal at BestBuy thinking ill be out five bucks if the game didnt prove worthy of my past MMo experiences and i was greatly pleased i had the counter ring me in for the collectors addition on the game once its released, the game is closed beta at this time and yes i have experienced some issues but i'm thinking its all closed beta we are playing so that they can fine tune thies problems so if what i have experienced is all as far as problems im sealed on the game already, anythang more is gonna be simply amazing so i guess ill see this next weekend with closed beta 5, hope to see you all ther..
Sulda
I first started MMO's with Star Wars Galaxies. I left just before the NGE completely destroyed it and became an SWG-Refugee like my other hundreds of thousands of friends. Since that I stumbled around until I found WoW. I played WoW for about 3.5 years. Then one day, my fiance and I just stopped playing. Why? Because it was so redundant. We both had piles of gold, had the best gear/chants/sockets/etc.. that we could get... had our COFW titles, and my retadin was pulling 4400 dps in 10 man gear in 25 man raids and could tear even death knights to the floor.
We'd seen all we could see.. did all we could do. Had the end-boss (for that time) on farm. It was so bad, that we would roll in, down Malygos and 30 mins from the time we showed up to start on Maly, we were picking up loot off Archavon and asking if anyone wanted to break up for heroics. We did our dailies, did our profs, played the AH.. we'd seen it all and by the time that Ulduar was about to be released... we just didn't care. We left. After all the years of horrible customer service, after years of blizz jacking around with the classes CONSTANTLY and creating more imbalances than they fixed. I mean, should it REALLY take 4 HOURS for a GM to contact you after you fill out a ticket? Oh and don't even get me started on the children in Trade channel. It was sad, but at the same time, it felt refreshing to just walk away and say goodbye to WoW.
Well, we played a few games here and there and one day my fiance was doing some research on upcoming MMOs. She found Aion and about 15 minutes later, I had ordered two copies of the Collector's Editions and we were off for Beta land.
My comp ran the beta on full settings and would average around 90 or so frames per second. I have a screenshot where I peaked at 242 frames per second. In the main city, about 60-70. I was shocked at how optimized the game is because the graphics were far and wide better than WoW. (Don't get me started on WoW's cookie cutter look) Customization for us what huge. I didn't care that it took me about 45 minutes to explore all the options and get my char the way I wanted it, it was instead, quite enjoyable. It took a bit of getting used to, but knowing WoW inside and out (and many other MMOs) made it easy to just step in and do what I've always done. I just got out there and started questing. As I got into my 20's, I started to miss having talents like I had in WoW. As I got further along and my plethora of spells (I have a sorcerer) increased in number, the light bulb came on. Not only did I have my combos, but I could setup my spell rotations in different arrangements for different situations. I started doing ignorant amounts of damage in very short bursts. I learned some things about the class and began to do things in a fashion that suited MY play style. I enjoyed that much better than having to go to elitistjerks.com and read up on the one and only rotation that won't have people complaining about your noobness in a raid.
Will it be a WoW killer? No. It won't because this game is just complicated enough and just tough enough that it will scare the kiddies off. So they'll just go right back to WoW and keep it thriving. A friend of mine is a complete and total WoW addict. A complete and true to life elitist jerk. Always in the top guilds, in the main raid group, or farming end-game content. You know the kind. We'll we were going to try to talk him into giving Aion a try and he just laughed and said, "I'm already in the Beta".
WoW was awesome and well ahead of it's time. it would have been an even better game if I didn't have to log in and reset all my talents and relearn how to play my class every few weeks when blizz changed everything because a few kiddies QQ'd on the forums.. "but teh retz has bubblz! QQ! Nerf them!! QQ!"
It will be great to see NCsoft tell those no-talent kids where to shove it when they gripe at them about their game. NCsoft won't be yanked around by whinners. And besides... the first time some noob 13 year old from WoW comes to Aion, gets rooted in place, and smashed in the teeth with a few blazes and burned to ashes before getting within 10 meters of my sorcerer.. they'll cry.. QQ.. get some milk and cookies from mommy, and go back to their WoW huntard and pretend they're actually good at MMOs.
blakjak07
hmmm what shall i say. i have played wow for the last 3 yrs or longer also played when it came out and quit after less then 3 months. i have seen all end game content minus 3.2 patch seein as its what 2 days old.
after BT and sunwell blizz ideas to make wow easyer and new user friendly. rly killed the idea of a fun raid night for hardcore ppl actually having to try and beat the bosses not roll through a raid. now im not sayin wow wasnt fun cuz it was it isnt top notch of the line on graphics in no way. that is sumthing to be desired for sure and having an 80 toon that looks like the person next to u in everyway. what from hair style color face even armor and color. aion diffenetly makes it more unique to look how u want to look. ten lvls in u fly wow remeber in vanilla wow when it took till lvl 40 to get a mount then 60 for an epic or BC for ur reg flyer at 70 then 5000g later for the epic now with the patchs thats changed and ya there r tons of mounts and different ways to get them. but wow appeals to ur more basic children when a 10 yr old can play it without havin to think that puts a set back on the ppl that actually try to be top notch. neways aion looks great runs smooth and its new ofcourse what more can u ask for. yes it seems lacking in sum areas but look at wow over 5 yrs out i think its top becuz they have had alot more time to add to the game more then a yr or two. it takes time to develope and add to games we know this give aion time i bet it will be one of the top notch games out there in no time. just dont think its gonna be easy ur first time around. if ur lookin for sumthin to test ur mind and ur fingers give it a try u wont be disappointed.
krakjuice
Wow i seemed to hit a nerve.
let me clarify what i ment. In no way was i ever bashing WOW actually i was giving it alot of credit and being that i played it for that long means i enjoyed it. Hell i even said that it will not go anywhere with the release of Aion cause it has that much of a following. Maybe i chose my words wrong and offended some people but i was a little frustrated with why everyone compares it to WOW.
Tbuc has alot of good points its addictive and was the first major mmo to go mainstream in the west with rich content and plenty of things to do while not questing. Because WoW offered so much the other attempts to create a successful mmo all have fell short in the players eyes. so because of the track record it does and should hold the number one spot. I'll even go as far to say as far as western mmo's go its probably the benchmark. However for the same reason it will always be reveared as the best even as the future of mmo's progress cause everyone remembers the first of everything.
So maybe people comparing MMO's to WoW is not such a hard concept to grasp and my rant was little uncalled for but until we have a good variety of westernized mmo's that could at least compete with each other we truly cant say which is the best.
Aion has so much to offer and is so innovative it may be the first mmo to be able to even compete with WoW but hey you never know may end up like all the rest .IT is absolutely worth a shot though.Aion will be a great game and WoW will continue to be!
Personal opinion will always be a hot topic and that's fine.As for me i'm not hiding in a closet (it gets to dark ) LOL j/k but calling people ignorant for not agreeing that WoW is the best dose not do you justice as a veteran gamer.
komradkyle
NC Soft! I had no idea ! this looks like what I wanted from Guildwars Crap now I have to buy this game......
Leebo
Oh, and E) isn't really important to my whole rant. it was just some rant about stupid laggy cities and patch days that last for two or three days. Way to go Blizz!
Leebo
Big WoW player here, and I have to agree that it has passed it's time. With Blizz giving in to every complaining child out there because they don't have the skill to raid, and thus can't get gear above your average Heroic instance or base lvl pvp gear, I decided to start looking elsewhere to get my gaming fix. Always a big console player as well, I almost skipped over the MMO Genre because of lacking interest in any of the games I saw coming out, but I remembered an old guildie saying something about Aion before WoTLK ever launched and figured it might be worth some research. I looked at a couple of screen shots and thought that it was comparable to FF anything release on ps2 or psp (boils down to visually stunning in console speak) and figured why not? After a few days of downloading the game (if you do want into beta, make sure to download it before the Beta event is actually here), I finally got to play it on July 31, last day of Beta event five.
My honest opinion is that this is going to be a very good game and a good investment if you like A)Leveling a character and actually having some depth and some type of connection to your specific character and not some generic face/armor/weapon clone like the other MMO's (warcraft take notes on Character Customization) B) Fun quests that help to move the story along C) Flying D) Mature looking character models that move and interact smoothly; and F) Wailing on poor, pitiful looking little mole men (known in general as Mumu or even more generally as the Skurv model character) while they scream and skitter about to avoid your Polearm.
After only playing the beta I am truely saddened by the fact that my next chance to play isn't going to be until August 14th.
So, in summery, THIS IS A VERY FUN GAME AND ONE THAT I HONESTLY THINK YOU SHOULD BUY IF YOU ARE TIRED OF THE SAME OLD DAY TO DAY IN YOUR OLD MMO'S OR ARE JUST LOOKING FOR SOMETHING FUN TO PLAY. BUY IT!
BLaze484
I played Aion for the first time this weekend, and in all honesty I thought is was amazing. I've been a big gamer for Everquest 1 and 2, as well as Final Fantasy XI. I've played WoW for awhile, and it felt kind of Looney Toonish with little to no challenge, excellent for the light hearted and required almost no thought to play, but that's another story XD. With Aion, graphics are remarkable; everyone can agree on that. I don't believe many emphasize on the content it provides. The quests are a lot of fun, making it really easy to get drawn into the game. Learning the history between the two factions is also really intruiging, and early on it's easy to get a connection to your character and your faction. The storyline is great as well, and the neighboring NPCs seem realistic enough that you would like to help them. Earning your wings is fun and is easily soloable. Flying is incredible; I thought I would have a hard time getting it down but it's as easy as learning how to swim as far as other MMOs. As for previous comments you have probably read about the squeaky voices on the players and NPCs, most failed to mention that it was announced before and during CB5 that NPCs now are able to speak to the players and this was a new feature. It was pretty apparent to everyone that this needed to be corrected lol, and it likely will be for beta 6. Come on, these are what betas are for.
tbuczek
It is funny, cause everyone compares every single MMO to Wow... then goes on to say WoW Sucks. I mean get out of the closet or whatever you are in. WoW rocked. Its time has past but the pedistal it sits on is deserved. It has brought the mainstream to the MMO market. No longer is this corner for us self proclaimed geeks. It is the day to live and thrive (just dont get pissed when them Non-Geeks beat your ass in Pvp cause yes, they are as good as you are regardless of how long you have been playing).
AION is definately the next best thing, but it is not the best by any measure. Anyone who states otherwise is a fool, and I pity your ignorance.
krakjuice
Ok first things first,
Every mmo that comes out is going to have the same basic principles grind,quest,pvp,leveling,skill s, dungeons or instances but with a different twist. Unless someone redefines what an mmo should be people should not expect dramatic differences.
For the people that say WOW is the best mmo out there they are wrong.Yes WOW is very successful and that is because that it appeals to not only the casual gamer but hardcore gamers as well and that is why it has so many subscribers. The graphics style also plays a part as it appeals to the younger gamers which in the past were a very small population. Lets face it the MOST parents are ok with letting them play cause its not really crude. I mean look at some of the differences for instance dark elfs in Lineage 2 as compared to night elves in WOW look like whores.So bang with parents generally being ok with it we have a very large new mmo population. To be honest the graphics are good but i personally got a little tired of the cartoony look after 2 years and like with any mmo got tired of doing the same stuff.
So everyone that puts WOW on pedestal really needs put themselves in check being successful doesn't mean it is the best.
As for the people flipping about the ruin or defense of WOW they really need to calm down. WOW is not gonna crash and burn cause Aion is coming. To tell you the truth WOW will be fine because even if they lose people to Aion there are always new players coming in.
Now Aion once again is an mmo with the sames basic principles(so for all you people that say oh its a rip off no crap every mmo rips off others) but what makes this one different is they try to implicate multiple and new ideas into the game. I.E flying combat, PvPvE, directional stat bonus, customizable armor etc.... NcSoft watched the market and what was in the successful mmo's and extracted many of the good points of the games and stuffed them into this game. After playing the BETA I'm actually really excited about the live launch. This games gives a new feel to mmo's with how envolved you are with your char. The videos you see actually don't do the game justice and the graphics are amazing.
What could have been added? An actual dwarf or orc would be nice, yea you can make one but it adds more time to an already very long customization period. Also now i haven't read or heard anything about this so please correct me but (clan,legion) what ever u want to call them wars. i mean come on haven't you ever had a bunch of jack offs in your faction you want to whoop but cant cause of faction restrictions (yes in WOW too), well clan wars allow you to wage war against a specific clan within your own faction. Anyway games will always have highs and lows! So no matter what we play we will always want more and that's what Aion is trying to do give us more.
LETS MAKE ONE THING CLEAR!
AION IS NOT A WOW KILLER!.
It was never meant to be i mean just look do you see advertisements other then within the already gaming community nope. Which personally i feel was a bad call i mean the potential for this game is amazing.
To wrap things up Aion is going to be fantastic game and will be worthy to be up there in the top spots WITH WOW. What i fear for the game is that all the intricate details like how customizable your char can be, motion stat bonus and all the other features may be confusing to new gamers and make veteran gamers uneasy or intimidated which may cause them to hesitate in picking up this game.That would totally be an unfortunate mistake and make them miss a wild ride.
As for me I have played many mmo's like Lineage,Lineage 2, WOW, Warhammer Online, Rapplez, many F2P games like shaiya and last chaos along with betas from 3rd party developers and i have to say Aion still gets me excited.
Whiteaura1
haha.. Personally ive been waiting for this game .. for forever..
right now in beta im lvl 27.. yay :D
the abyss (the place in game were you experience the extreme pvpve with the factions) is amazing.. and HUGE, capturing and taking fortresses under siege .. Mmmmm sexy :D
The game is amazing .. even for only being being v 1.2, i cant WAIT to play on 1.5, and the best part about the game.. combat..
I dont think there is any other MMO that can give me a more satisfying combat system then Aion.. You are encouraged to move around in combat, (if you keep a strafing circle around an enemy you get dodging and evading bonuses) if you run towards an enemy you get small boosts in damage, and if you are backing away from an enemy you get defensive bonuses.. not only do the attacks rattle the screen with epicawesomeness.. (watching the ground below enemies feet crumble and fissure because your character jammed their sword through their body and swung them above your head like a ragdoll and just pile drived them into the ground* UUGHHGHGHGHGH freaking awesome haha
I myself never got into wow either, i wont sit here and say one game is better.. WoW obviously has done well, and Aion hasn't been released yet.. so we shall find out..
:)
rentonsmiley45
This game did an Amazing Job and it did pull the postives from many other games and gave more to those ideas:)! This game has a huge shot at being more popular then WoW and personally i think it will since it already has 16.7 million subscribers in China and Korea. And only being able to play up to level 30 and if you can make a judgement if this game will be better then WoW not being able to fully play it through is not really persuading since i know you probably havent made it past 25 Tbuczek, and if you played Aion 1-30 and if you played WoW 1-30 and you told me WoW was better i would feel sorry for you LOL!!! You cant say that it "ISNT" as good as WoW unless you actually play the game fully through, and we are playing the 1.2 version of the game in beta and the official launch will be in the 1.5 version and it will even have more in it and be better;)!
SC13NC3
ALSO:
We have yet to see the release version of the game, 1.5, but from reading translated versions of 1.5 from Korean test servers it will be even more amazing!!
SC13NC3
A few things here.
Aion is different from other MMOs, if you understand combat direction boost you will know what I am talking about, only thing similar is AoC with the keystrokes to perform combos.
The flight is simply unrivaled. Period.
Gliding is probably the coolest thing about this game. There is nothing as cool as coordinating 5 of your friends and all pulling off a spectacular glide to land right outside the edge of agro to a couple elite mobs.
Masterdo
This game is the pay to play version of what's already out in terms of korean games. I think they did a pretty good job overall, but when in a podcast like that they insist on the fact they "developped a new gameplay for mmos", that's just not true. Not even close.
The game has a good grinding portion, you have to kill lots of things, if only to keep up with having enough Kinahs (the cash) to pay for your expenses. Quests are very basic in implementation, but they are often complemented with cinematics, mostly eye candy. Flying is pretty good, but sadly it's not up everywhere. Traveling options are very very limited, and coslty, or very time-consuming (Like that freaking boat in Sanctum, if you played the beta).
I like to grind, I like to play the economy a lot, to pvp... but many sub games have all that already, and maybe Aion is not the fresh material to rip the players away from those games, that offer basically the same thing under a different name. I hope it does well, it's pretty solid solo experience.
blacknight5
i played the closed beta and the game is amazing this game is fast paced and that fact that you can have ariel combat puts this game on a whole new level of intense and the enviroment is amazing when you pick this game up you wont want to put it down.
tbuczek
Been playing since the old days of MUDs (nothing beats a good text based bar room brawl). Played every major MMO since then, and a quite few non-so popular ones. That is not to say I am any good at these games, just to say I like the genre. Anyway....
Fell in love with WoW after 2 days in beta and never looked back. WoW is in my opinion, without a doubt the best MMO to come out. Period. You can argue all you want, but until I see something better, you will not change my mind. It is an off and on again love affair for me. Having played the game out, I still enjoy the occasional bg, arena and if my old friends let me join in a quick Naxx run or two (they wont let me in the big boy raids anymore cause I dont play enough).
That being said, I have been on the prowl for a while for a good MMO. I managed to get into this beta (woot for being able to buy your way in... I remeber the days of signing up and checking your email every day for a month just to find out you got passed up... )
First off, I have to say the game isn't as good as WoW (sorry, it isn't).... but it is definately the best thing to come out since WoW.
That being said, This game is very well polished as most NCSoft games are when they are released. It has everything you want from a good MMO. Customizations out the wazoo (whatever a wazoo is) both in Physical appearance and class development (well kinda, Stigma gives you some decent abilities or augmentation... it lacks the depth of say talent trees, but opens the door to a large variety of character), Decent Quest Progression (though there is some issue with having to grind if you follow the main Questline only... but there are side quests so who cares..), An auction house, warehouse (shared between all your characters), a decent pvp enviroment , and you can fly. The flight mechanics are limited so you have to think when you want to fly. It makes it more of another option in combat than a default, which is kind of a good way to implement it imo.
I could go on, but to sum it up. AION = Awesome Game. Not as good as WoW, but for those of us burnt out on WoW, so far this game is a close second. I highly doubt this will take the hill from the big cheese... but it will definately get higher than any other MMO that has tried.
PrinceLuzaf
I did last weekends beta test also, and I highly agree with wompyre. The game is absolutely amazing. I never got into wow, and at first I thought it did take a lot from it. After further examination though, and a weekend of play, the game 'may' have taken some things from WoW but it's kind of hard NOT to take at least a little from successful games. Aion pulled so many positives from game, and turned them into something new and exciting. I believe that this game will soar above all the MMOs by far.
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