Aion Impressions

[Tbone]

Jeyk was kind enough to let me play around on his Preorder Beta account. I won't say much now because I want to keep playing and hopefully get a high enough level to get my wings and test out the flight.

I really like the game so far. It's extremely well-polished and beautiful. After playing Darkfall, I really appreciate how immersive the world is. There are creatures, both for looks and combat, everywhere. NPCs in the world are all doing something interesting. This makes for what seems to be a very lively world. After first loading the game and taking a quest to get some baddies off a farm, I first thought that there were many players around killing the same guys I was. There were quite a few, but I looked closer and noticed that they had NPC farmers fighting the mobs, simulating an ongoing struggle between the mobs and the farmers. That's just an example.

I'm liking combat so far. I'm a scout/assassin. Though I am only level 6, I already feel like I'm getting stronger and putting some skill into it. A regular battle starts with me going into sneak (if the mob is hostile), sneaking behind them for my surprise attack, followed by my power attack. Then I wait to see if they have a power attack. If they do, I time my evade ability with their power attack bar (you can see them charging up for it), and then counter with my counter attack. If makes for some pretty good gameplay as opposed to just button mashing the attack button.

The game is fantasy based, but rather than human/ork/elf, it's angels vs. demons, essentially. Obviously, this is something that I think we could RP a bit and get into more than being elves or something else.

A lot of the missions so far have cool cutscenes that show you how shit's breaking down. There are also cutscenes that show you slowly recovering your memory (I've only had one so far), but they are very nice to see for an MMO (reminds me of what SWTOR is planning on doing).

All in all it is very positive so far. Jeyk commented that they have channels you switch from (like Guild Wars, apparently?). Basically you can be in the same place as someone else but on a different "channel" or instance, which is kinda lame. He said so far it seems to him like a cross between WoW and Guild Wars. I haven't played either of those, but it doesn't surprise me that the newbie stuff would start out kinda like that. Once flight and PvP get involved, though, I'm sure it will get more complex.

Here's a video! I don't know why it got choppy...that was the only time the game did that for me. I think it was FRAPS warming up, as you'll notice it was fine after those first few seconds. Enjoy!

[Setun]

Not to be a buzz killer, but the the on-going npc battle thing has been in EQ2 since I don't know how long lol...it is quite a sight to see when questing for sure, as it definitely adds a much deeper sense of immersion while killing a mob that 'farmer X' wants you to kill while he himself (or his aids) are doing just that, as opposed to him just standing there watching.  A friend of mine from Vanguard whos now in the beta as well loves the hell out of that games' pvp.  He says it's the most fun he's had in pvping in an mmo in a long time.

[Fuse]

reminds me a lot of eq2

[Adad]

If for some reason you need the client.

http://www.aionsource.com/forum/general-discussion/15826-alternate-download-locations.html

[Tbone]

One more video for you guys:



Note that I think I missed a part in the character editor where you can choose your character's natural pose. Apparently the default is a very feminine hand-on-hips...so be warned about that!

I haven't played EQ2, Guild Wars, or WoW, so I don't know what to tell you. The game seems fun. The cut scenes keep the missions interesting (at one point I was wandering around asking in area where this guy's pet was when suddenly I walked close to something and a cut scene starting showing that the pet had been barbecued by the baddies! haha), the polished graphics are very nice, combat flows well and seems very interactive with your choice of abilities and counter-abilities, flight adds a new dynamic (thought I just hit lvl 10 so was only able to play with that briefly), and the character story was interesting.

What's good about this game is that it's new, so we can experience it along with a fresh community, unlike those other games you guys mentioned that are similar. Playing SWG, while extremely dated, was fun, but I can only imagine how much more interesting it was when there was a thriving community.

Anyway, there are still some elements I want to figure out like group combat, PvP, guild mechanics, this weird channel thing.. But I think it's definitely worth the $5 to play for a couple of weekends and find out for yourself.

I also don't know how bad the grind gets, but it HAS to be better than Darkfall! I'm hoping this is something we can get into for at least a few months, as I haven't really seen a better option for Aug/Sept time. But try it out for yourself if you get a chance.

[Guac]

from the videos I see it as an Anime more dynamic version of WOW which isn't necessarily the worst thing, but definitely not the PVP oriented type of game.

[Strod]

I have to admit, I am completely blown away by what you have shown so far Tbone.

I'm 100% sold.


*Request: Can you tell us about the different classes that you get to choose from at the start?

[Zortarg]

so...
i played this sunday a few hours and got a mage to lvl 9.

first impressions:
its very similar to wow. at last from the basics. of cource a lot things will change once you get your wings. but basics sike interface, combat style (select enemy and attack). is quite the same. everybody who played wow will have no problems with the handling.
a big diffference. the grafics are realy good. it looks awsome and with a better pc you can look it even more aewsome than i can.
i talked to a friend of mine who has a lvl 25 cleric that a lot changes. pvp will be there but later in the game. i cant say how it will be.
the world is realy unique. with a sphere that was blown ito pieces. a "botton half" a "upper half" and something in the middle. the pvp and end content will basicly be there. and you play on the inside of that sphere.
also the game seams rothly bugfree.

if you play on the chineese server playtime is very cheep, and you dont have to pay for the client. you also pay not for the month, you pay for the time you are in game. but they are chineese pricees. even if you play hardcore, you will never reach the amount you pay in our realms.
only disadvantage: china has a law that childen have a limited time they can play. and to get a adult account you need to enter a valid chineese name and id number. not too easy to get. if you dont do it you stay at child status. that means after 3h you get 50% exp penatly and after 5h you have a 100% penalty. this recovers after a 5h rest periode. (multible accounts work to get at least 6h to 10h per day, but then you have to play 2 chars)

china is big so there are not only servers. first its divided in reagions and below that there are the servers.
if anybody whats to join, i am in north china reagion, server: Azariel

payment is easy. use the link beow. there are also guides how to get the game to english and create a account on a chineese homepage =)
http://www.cn-usa.com/?cmd=buy&loc=170404
you also see how cheep it is. i bought 50 time units units (one unit 2h 5m). thats over 100h for around 9 dollar. will take a while to use that up.


to the question of the classes:
there are 4 base classes which each can specialise in 2 advanced classes.
see here:
http://www.aiononline.com/us/game_guide/what_is_aion/classes.html

[Tbone]

Yeah, I only played up to level 10, which is when I "ascended" and got my wings. Then I had to go to bed and then the beta closed. I've heard good things about the PvP (as Zortarg said, there's an Abyss zone that's PvP(vE) zone where you fight for the good lootz! Flying has its own abilities and leveling, including combat. I haven't played past level 10 content, however, so there's no telling for sure how that is. I've just heard good things.

I guess the good thing about having never played WoW is that I don't have a WoW gag reflex. In other words, nothing reminds me of WoW, so I'm seeing it as something fresh and different. Take it for what it's worth.

Zortarg, did you use the teleport bird? I loved the flyby, but of course I'm on my uber computer, so everything looked amazing.

[Tbone]

Oh, and as for classes, there's Warrior, Scout, Mage, and...uh...something else. Those split into two more specific classes. I concentrated on Scout, which splits into Assassin and Ranger.

Assassin is duel-wielding, quick melee DPS. I went for that. Ranger is bow and arrow with a bit of melee. Assassin combat was fun, at least the scout part of it (you are a scout until level 10, so I was pretty much just a scout). I think there's an ongoing interview on TenTonHammer about the different classes.

[Setun]

most likely for the warrior class it'll go the way of EQ2 and there'll be a guardian class (heavy defense, light - moderate dps) to a berserker / gladiator class (moderate - strong dps, moderate defense).  I'd be interested in playing when it goes live in the US sometime, dunno if i'd want to play on the chinese servers for now...

[Tbone]

The Warrior

Gladiator
Templar

The Scout

Ranger
Assassin

The Mage

Sorcerer
Spiritmaster

The Priest

Cleric
Chanter

[Zortarg]

@T
of cource i used the flight teleporter. even on my computer it looks quite good. i just should not let winamp play at the same time... gg

if you ppl want more vids check out the eu site. somehow its better with more info and more vids than the international/us site:
http://eu.aiononline.com/en/movies

i also just got to lvl 10. but havent seen my wings yet. seams as a few more quest in the capital. as for me it was the same as with T. was too late so sleeping time. but i can go on. just dont know when. stll lot of work. dont know if i will have time in the week. but i think on the weekend again.

does anybody have a release date for us/eu?

[Tbone]

Yeah, the wings was weird. There wasn't an introduction to them or any sort of "to do" about getting them. I just got ascended to a Daeva, then I took a quest to go talk to a guy back on the next continent. After taking the quest and being surprised that I still hadn't been told about my wings, I just started hopping around until suddenly I jumped off of something and my wings extended and I glided. Then I noticed the flight button on the bottom right with a timer on it.

I hit that button and off I went! Shortly after that there was a quest that had me fly up to attack something, so I guess that was supposed to be the flight introduction. I was just surprised there wasn't this huge "OMG you have wings" moment followed by some sort of "try out flying" message...lol.

[NoCry]

zortarg  25th sept for uk players.