Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Last week, the Ten Ton Hammer staff had the fantastic opportunity to sit down with fiifty MMO fans and Ten Ton Hammer readers in a Vooncast focused specifically on NCsoft’s upcoming MMO, Aion: The Tower of Eternity. Since Aion has been such a popular topic, the Ten Ton Hammer staff quickly transcribed the entirety of the Aion audio recording and we now have the text version up for you to enjoy. But, if you really want to listen to the subtle nuances hinted at in the Vooncast, make sure you click here!

*Please Note: The text has been modified for easier reading. It may not be word-for-word. All game references remain the same.*

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Ten Ton Hammer: Can you give us a quick status update on Aion and how it’s progressing?

Brian Knox: We’re testing the game with our friends and family right now, and we’re have a lot of fun. There are a lot of people that are probably playing the game more than they should, but that’s a good thing.

We’re moving towards a fall release, and the localization team is working hard on the content. And we do have a lot of content. Not only are we working with what was released back in November, but we’re looking at all the other content that’s been released since then as well.

It’s quite an undertaking. We want players to be wholly immersed in this game, and we want them to feel like it’s been culturally made for them. We don’t want players to feel like they’re taking part in this odd, foreign world. It still has to make sense, even when you can fly or when you see three eyed goats. There still has to be a cultural footprint.

Lani Blazier: And you’re right. We do get asked quite a bit about the localization process and why it’s taking so long when the game’s already launched in Korea.

The truth of the matter is that it’s not just a direct translation. We’re not going through all of the written words and just translating it into English. There are a lot of inside jokes that are culturally relevant to specific countries, so what we’re doing is more – and this is what we call it internally – a culturalization process. We’re taking everything that’s written and making it relevant to our Western market.

We’ve hired a team of published fantasy writers that are now working on this all the time. It’s a big task; definitely no small effort.

Ten Ton Hammer: And these are writers, and not just translators?

Brian: Exactly. We do go ahead and get it translated, but then we “rewrite” it. These writers have worked on previous titles before for other Western developed games. We really want the quality to be high; we don’t just want to correct the grammar of the translators. That’ll get you nowhere.

Ten Ton Hammer: The idea of crafting in Aion has been a little bit misconstrued in the community. Can you talk a little bit about crafting in Aion? Is it like a traditional MMO? Or a little different?

Brian: We give a lot of option in our crafting system. You’ll actually be able to pick up every profession: weaponsmith, armorsmith, alchemist… You can take all of those – I think – up a few hundred points. At that time, you’ll need to choose one of those to take up to an expert level. We try to give everyone a little bit of everything, it’s kinda similar to our class system as well.

Crafting really goes through and fills in the gaps in the game. A great example of this is that you can get store bought gear, drop gear, quest gear, and crafted gear. You’ll get quest and drop gear at random intervals throughout your leveling progression, but store bought gear you’ll only get at levels 10, 15, or 20 thereabouts. Crafting gear you’ll be able to access between the store bought intervals, like at level 13, 17, and higher.

It will always be worth it for crafters to make their gear. If you’ve got two sets of armor at level 20, we don’t necessarily want the weaker set to be the crafter gear. On top of that, you’ll have the chance to create special items as a crafter. These are items that are much more valuable.

Then, of course, there’s all the consumable professions as well.

Ten Ton Hammer: It’s funny that you mention that crafting will “fill in the gaps” because one of the concerns is that particular classes – for instance the Gladiator – have to rely wholly on store bought gear. Is that just a problem until the crafters really begin to get into the game?

Brian: Yes and no. I’m pretty much relying exclusively on questing gear right now, and I’ve filled in a couple pieces. But I’m also playing on an employee populated server where there isn’t this huge bustling economy. That said, crafting is one thing I generally let my wife do, and she helps me gear up so I can go kill people.

Everyone has their thing. Some people love crafting, and they do it all day. But for others, not so much.

Ten Ton Hammer: Could you talk a little bit about melee combat, since we have these class interviews that are featuring these hefty, melee style classes? Maybe touch on the philosophy of combat in Aion and how flight changes the dynamic of the game.

Lani: Sure. Flight definitely adds a huge dynamic to combat. That’s so true. There are other things now that you have to think about.

For example, anytime that you’re actually in the air, your defenses decrease so you’re actually a bit more vulnerable. So you can’t just get everybody to fly above a monster or an opponent and start hammering down on him.

You also have to take into account your flight time and speed. There are certain buffs and effects you can give to yourself to increase the time and the speed you can fly.

Brian: And it goes both ways. You can have a character that’s focused on flight, but you can also be “ground-heavy.”