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The second Aion closed beta event just concluded, and I'll add my impressions to the fray. In short, I was expecting a humdrum, culturally discordant port with a few nifty features like flight and instead discovered a whole new play experience born of small but significant tweaks and an art style that wasn't as grating as I'd feared. I'll dodge all the usual caricatures of Aion (really - isn't flight just swimming upside down?) and deliver my opinions from the second Aion CBT event in Loading... Aion Beta Event Impressions.
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I'll level with you. Ever since we first heard of Aion at E3 2007 (the Santa Monica E3, the E3 that wasn't), I couldn't take it seriously. You see, I've played Final Fantasy XI and had some kicks, but something about the Soy Sauce in its art style soured me - emaciated platemail clad Asian cheerleaders, gender ambivalent male character models, overly cuteified talking animals, and way too many pastel colors in the palette. Aion shares a lot of that style, making it a game that forces me to consider who I'm talking to before I confide this heartfelt opinion: I'm really enjoying Aion so far.
And I didn't plan to like Aion. The first few Elyos levels were exactly what I was expecting: rote kill, fetch, and deliver quests, the stompily over-the-top heroic music I can't help but associate with Soul Caliber; all in a world that could have been inspired by a Samuel Coleridge pipe dream. But it's the little things that surprise you and somehow reel you in. For me it was an idle moment in front of a vendor. I was scrawling some notes to myself when I looked up and my character, clearly bothered by the rain squall that just moved in, devised himself an umbrella from a banana leaf. It was a nice touch; exactly the sort of mild identity-establishing thing needed for avatars in a post-Sims market. And a wake-up call that Aion was perhaps just different enough from earlier efforts to warrant a much closer look.
From that point, the levels flew by, pun not intended. I liked that when choosing an out-of-range action or spell, my character closed within range and performed the action rather than the game displaying a mildly flustering "You are out-of-range" message. i liked the NWN-style spell evocations from my sorceror, using words instead of just plain particle effects. The manastone system makes socketing items and weapons commonplace (manastones regularly drop from mobs) and relatively unpunishing through low remove prices should you make a mistake. The old skill-based harvesting career paths - mining, herbalism, woodcutting, etc. - all fall under the "gathering" track in Aion, anyone can gather anything so long as you've raised your gathering stat high enough.
I liked that learning languages is back, that new players have plenty of inventory space, and was happy to see that resting again allows you to regain hitpoints and mana points faster - something lacking in the last generation of MMOs. Even the art style started to grow on me, perhaps because the incredibly long drawing distance allows you to see far-away objects in incredible detail. Tell me your first visit to Sanctum didn't have you mouth agape like Coleridge before his Xanadu and I won't believe you. What little I experienced of flight was fun, but let's be honest - it's swimming upside-down with a few nice powerups and abilities. Maybe my impression of flight will change as I get into higher levels and can really see flying combat in action.
I'm not so sure about the "private stores" - Aion's answer to the auction house where players hawk their wares by turning themselves into NPC vendors in highly trafficked areas while afk. It adds its own kind of quirky atmosphere to the game. But auctionhouses allow you to take care of business at a remove and create some mild daily excitement through bidding wars, and I'm not sure that private stores aren't a step backward, smacking of badly done Asian imports.
I could further detail how great the graphics, gameplay, tilt, or [insert buzzword review category here] all are for the first ten levels to the beta event cap, but the most glowing thing I can tell you is that I really want to keep playing. It's a surprise to me too. NCSoft did a wise thing, spacing their beta events as they did, and now the excitement and pre-orders will ramp up until the next event on July 3rd.
Because we're able to see only ten levels and nothing of PvP, group dynamics, or how the classes really shake out, I'm guardedly optimistic about the game's potential. I could believe the Asian server players (whose excitement level makes me envision bugged-out eyes and praises ecstatically screamed through meth-ruined teeth) who swear on message boards that it's the best thing since broadband. I'll wait my turn to find out in person. But the truth is, so far, I've found very little not to like about Aion, and I'm already planning out how to spend my July 4th holiday weekend in Aion.
Did you enjoy or not enjoy playing Aion this weekend? Have your say in the Loading... forum or feel free to email me.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day
From our Tavern of the Ten Ton Hammer Forum
TTH blown away by mmorpg.com
You be the judge...
Don't
you love a good forum troll on a Monday? Yeah, so do I. Unfortunately,
Shocklord, Ten Ton Hammer's troll du jour (or troll du
a-few-weeks-ago), is not a good troll. He did try to stir something up
by comparing Ten Ton Hammer unfavorably to MMORPG.com, but he loses
points for style due to his iffy spelling and nonsensical use of the
term "non-factor." And, with all due respect to MMORPG.com, we'll point to today's installment in our exclusive Aion class interview series and note that there's plenty of NCSoft lovin' to go around.
The thread's a few weeks old, but it's still
rolling along despite the fact that ol' Shocklord (quite shockingly!)
seems to be long gone. Check it out for yourself. Oh, and...don't feed the trolls.
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread
"I've
been to MMORPG's forums a few times and the people there left much to
be desired. Then I came here and never went back again.
Long live TTH!"
- Darke
==============================
Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!
2 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 89 in June! 726 in 2009!
New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today
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Aion Class Interview - The Assassin
Continuing our series on the classes of Aion, Ten Ton Hammer has another great interview for our readers. Check out the burst damage scout known as the Assassin! This lethal attacker combines stealth and speed to deliver deadly blows in a short span of time. The Assassin class must carefully balance the damage it deals with skills that divert the enemy's attention or the entire group can be in jeopardy. -
WoW Guide: Less Rabi Achievement
Less Rabi is arguably the most difficult achievement pre-raiding. It requires perfect group composition and extreme precision and organization.This guide will offer a list of abilities that are effective interrupts on Moorabi and a few different strategies on how to execute your interrupts to perfection.
Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to:
- Aion Class Interview - The Assassin
- Jumpgate Evolution Exclusive Interview - Lore and History
- EverQuest 2 Monument and Might GU#52 Overview
- EVE Online: Sins of a Solar Spymaster #15: A History of the Second Great War, Part Two
- Champions Online Power Interview #3 - Fire, Ice and Electricity
- WoW Guide: Less Rabi Achievement
- WoW - Boss Guide: Malygos
- E3 2009 Portal
- Paul Barnett Sums Up E3 2009 (video)
- Atlantica Online State of the Game - June 2009 Q&A
Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!
-Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer team
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Aion Game Page.
