Questions
by Cody “Micajah” Bye, Managing Editor
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Answers
by: Charles ‘kieron’ Dane, Community Relations
Manager
During last summer’s conference season, the Ten Ton Hammer
team had the opportunity to view Aion:
The Tower of Eternity at a number of shows,
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/9151" target="_blank">including
E3 and the
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/11354" target="_blank">Leipzig
target="_blank">Games Convention. Visually, it
blew our socks off. Literally. However, it’s been nearly a
year since those initial offerings, and we’ve been lusting
for more info to be divulged from NCsoft. With the hiring of their
latest Community Relations Manager, Chares ‘kieron’
Dane, NCsoft has finally broken their silence and are eager to chat
with the general media about the future of Aion. Ten Ton
Hammer’s Cody “Micajah” Bye recently sat
down with Charles and had a nice conversation about Aion, its features,
and what to expect from the title when it’s released!
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The visuals in Aion are absolutely breathtaking.
Ten Ton Hammer:
It’s been quite a while since we’ve heard anything
about Aion: The Tower of Eternity here in North America. Why has it
taken so long to start getting information out? What’s been
holding the NCsoft team back?
Charles
‘kieron’ Dane: Aion has been
undergoing development for a couple years now and the Aion Development
team wants to do the game right. Our intention is to release
a game we feel is what the Aion community deserves; something visually
stunning, polished, full of content for all play styles.
Essentially, we want to appeal to a global market by including in Aion
what are considered the best game play and features of the MMO market.
Now that the Korean closed beta testing has been completed,
we’ve looked at what we have to offer with Aion.
Our expectations have been met; now it is time to exceed them and due
to the state of Aion’s development, we feel now is the right
time to start showcasing the game.
Ten Ton Hammer: Character
creation has always been an important part of the new player experience
in MMOGs, yet Korean-made MMOGs are notorious for not allowing players
many options when they’re first creating their characters.
Will Aion continue along the same path as its Korean brethren? Or will
we see a shift to a more detail oriented character creation system
where players can truly adjust every part of the way they look?
Charles: We
think you will find Aion to be a departure from other titles developed
overseas in many ways and the Aion character creation process is just
one of them. Creation is very detailed; players can change a
wide variety of both facial and body features. There are body
customization sliders allowing for a wide range of height, weight and
build.
Facial customization is even more detailed with options for different
underlying bone structures per gender and more facial
sliders. The creation process also allows a player to preview
their character’s appearance in three different equipment
styles: basic, mid-level and high-end gear.
All in all, it is possible to create a unique looking character with
little effort.
Ten Ton Hammer:
Advancement is another key portion of massively multiplayer games. How
will players progress in Aion? With the PvPvE system, will players be
able to earn experience through PvP battles with the other races?
Charles:
Character advancement is not limited to killing massive amounts of
monsters in the wild; Aion is far from being a grind game.
Completing missions and quests help advance a character’s
level while providing immersion in the rich game lore as does defeating
any NPCs that join in a Player versus Player (PvP) battle as a result
of the Player versus Player versus Environment (PvPvE)
feature. While PvP itself does not provide experience points
for leveling, it does grant access to better gear as well as titles
that give game play bonuses.
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Character advancement in Aion isn't all about killing massive amounts of monsters. It's not a grind game.
Ten Ton
Hammer: Although there are only four introductory character
classes in Aion, players will eventually be able to choose a
specialized class at level 10. Why did the Aion developers decide to go
this route rather than simply allowing players to choose their class
right from the beginning of the game?
Charles:
Rather than force a player to make too many decisions at the beginning
of the game and potentially lock a character into a class at the onset,
the development team decided to give players a chance to experience the
early stages of the game first. Hopefully, this will reduce
the number of times a player has to recreate a character.
Also, level 10 is the first major milestone in a character’s
development; this is the point where the character ascends to divine
status. In addition to traveling to the character’s
faction capital and being able to fly for the first time, picking the
class specialization at this point reinforces the game’s lore.
Ten Ton Hammer: The most
unique feature in Aion is the novel aerial combat system. Will players
be able to adjust to the idea of facing combatants that are attacking
from any angle? How will players on the ground be able to defend
themselves from aerial based PvPers?
Charles: The
flight system isn’t just limited to PvP, there are high end
mobs that will take both tactics, strategic planning and an aerial
assault to defeat. Aion’s players will be able to
adapt, missions are available to help introduce players to flight
mechanics. Later missions will further develop a
player’s flight skills, preparing him for later PvP and
Faction versus Faction combat.
Players will have to use both skills and ranged weapons to be effective
in aerial PvP. A wide variety of attacks and debuffs that can
bring an aerial target to the ground are also available to classes
without a class primary ranged weapon.
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Flight will play a major part of the Aion experience, both in and out of combat.
Ten Ton Hammer: In
general, NCsoft has had a varied approach to official message boards.
While some games – like Lineage II – have had
official forums, others have not. Will we see official forums for Aion?
If so, when might they appear?
Charles: The
decision of whether to have forums hosted on the official site or to
designate a fan portal’s message board as the official forum
presence has not been made yet. In either case, an
announcement should be forthcoming before the end of the year.
Ten Ton Hammer: For the
last few years, the media around Aion has been typically focused on the
amazing graphics in the game. That said, the game play obviously is the
fundamental factor that will make gamers continue playing. What sort of
combat system will we see in Aion? Will it be the typical hot-key
ability type of combat, or will it be a faster paced type of action
that we’re just now beginning to see in other MMOGs?
Charles: The
game plays just as good as it looks. Hot-keys will make up
the majority of target engagement and party assistance; skill chains
provide even more depth and the flight feature will introduce a new
element to the already robust game play. Even this far out
from the projected 2009 release, Aion already looks like a complete and
polished product.
Ten Ton Hammer: Alternate
avenues of advancement are also an important part in MMO gaming.
Players often want different types of activities to enjoy; what sort of
activities will players be engaging in? Will there be crafting?
Sieging? Arena combat? Social-oriented activities?
Charles:
Players will be able to participate in all the activities you
mentioned. Crafting and mercantile interaction will be
available in the early stages of game play; players can participate in
arena combat shortly after their character’s
ascension. Siege combat in the Abyss is limited to characters
in their mid-twenties or higher. Players will have areas
where they can interact with each other and a wide variety of
emotes. Just as NCsoft will host events for the players, we
are sure the Aion community will also hold player generated events and
activities.
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Aion was created for an international audience.
Ten Ton Hammer: In your
opinion, what’s the most intriguing portion of Aion: Tower of
Eternity? How is it going to set itself apart from the rest of the MMOG
crowd?
Charles:
Aion is being developed for a truly international player base with game
play elements that appeal to both Eastern and Western play
styles. The entire package is a unique blending of these
elements and this combination is not only what we believe to be the
most intriguing, but also what will make Aion stand out from the rest.
Ten Ton Hammer: Is there
anything else you’d like to tell the Ten Ton Hammer readers
and Aion fans?
Charles: If
you want a chance to play Aion and sign up for the Exclusive Preview
events to be held in the future, the Penny Arcade Expo will be the
place to be this year.
Ten Ton Hammer:
We’ll be there!
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Aion Game Page.
