Aion

[Parak]

So I'm liek... in the chinese beta (^_^) and the game is totally, liek... :D

The fact that Korea + China essentially had/has beta tested the game for a full year before we get to play it in EU/US release is verey niec for us :p

[Domathoine]

Umm. No.

Chinese Beta ended in April. The game is now live.

The game definitely has its ups, but a few downs as well. The questing system is well done and the wings are GORGEOUS, but some of the skills need some tuning. The macro system needs some work, seeing as they don't always work, and it definitely takes some time to do well with whatever class you choose as you progress through the levels.

The strong PvP orientation might make this be less of a USA-pleasing game, but by all means, give it a try. The only other downside is that the endgame is pretty basic right now, but better than AoC's was (ha!).

[Allara]

Do we know when this is coming to US? All I see is Q3 2009. Interested in checking this out.

[Parak]

Ah, didn't know the beta ended; I guess it's just the trial period now. I prefer the pvp-centricity coming from warhammer, and I'm hoping Aion can one-up it in terms of high level pvp. Hard to tell though when you need to be at least level 25 to participate :(

[Lonskils]

Umm. No.

Chinese Beta ended in April. The game is now live.

The game definitely has its ups, but a few downs as well. The questing system is well done and the wings are GORGEOUS, but some of the skills need some tuning. The macro system needs some work, seeing as they don't always work, and it definitely takes some time to do well with whatever class you choose as you progress through the levels.

The strong PvP orientation might make this be less of a USA-pleasing game, but by all means, give it a try. The only other downside is that the endgame is pretty basic right now, but better than AoC's was (ha!).

ummm

http://www.aiononline.com/us/


Friday, May 29, 2009 — It's almost time to spread your wings and take flight in Aion™!
Soon, NCsoft will formally invite select players and members of the press to play in the first Aion beta event. Players will take their first fledgling steps in a world of unparalleled splendor and intrigue. Choosing between two powerful races and among eight character classes and thousands upon thousands of avatar customization options, players will embark on a journey where they must choose sides in a celestial civil war that threatens to destroy the once-peaceful world of Atreia.
The first Aion beta event, which begins after E3 2009, opens June 5, 2009 and runs through June 7, 2009. In this first event, beta testers will play Aion as the Elyos, who occupy the bottom half of Atreia, known as Elysea. Shortly afterward, more players will be invited to join in these beta events, with each event giving players a different taste of the game.

[aed]

That would be the first beta (or preview one could say) for the NA / EU region.

Korea had their beta test in 2008, China had it April 2009 as Domathoine wrote.

We even had a post about it while it was going on: http://www.hossguild.org/forums/showthread.php?t=25614

/aed

[Parak]

Something that I've noticed while playing is that the population of botters is already relatively large. I have to wonder if NCsoft will also turn an apparently mostly blind eye to this in the US/EU release..

[Parak]

US test weekend keys (going fast):

http://www.mmorpg.com/giveaways.cfm/offer/71/Aion-Closed-Beta-Test-Giveaway-NORTH-AMERICA.html

[Lonskils]

I'm in

[Domathoine]

I'll wait past the weekend crap.

Bring on closed//open.

[Allara]

First impressions: Beautiful graphics and music. Distinctive Asian style. Localization is a bit off but not too bad -- I enjoy the blunt nature of all the NPCs. Seems like some voice acting on the campaign quests might be missing. The game definitely exhibits the normal NCsoft issues -- odd environment clipping, animations don't flow together perfectly, etc. UI design reminds me of an even more polished Guild Wars. Buggy and a little bit sloppy in some places. These are all the things that WoW always does better than anyone else. Still, it's a pretty good start, and it's fun and definitely a beautiful environment so far.


You have played for 1 hours. Please take a break for your health.

Ahahaha.

I like that you can pre-train your skills if you have the money, before you ding. The power shards, bandage skill at level 1, and stat increasing foods at level 1 are all nice. Might be a bit much for people brand new to MMOs.

[Domathoine]

Will there be an official Hoss prescence in this game?

I'm looking to return to my Hoss roots, but I just don't see that happening in WoW.

[Aerothas]

Last time I heard of a Hoss presence was for Vanguard. But the shit kinda hit the fan with that whole game. :\

[aed]

Me and Vegu will have our own little Hoss presence on EU servers!

/aed

[vegu]

Indeed

[Parak]

So although at first I had rather good impressions about the game, I'm now rather hesitant to play it at launch. There are some fairly severe issues that I've observed and read about:

1. The game protection system that they use (gameguard) is useless. Bots are all over the place on Korea/China servers, and there are reports of more serious hacks being used. The bot reporting system is a joke in that it's automated and might only give the botter some disadvantages - no one is going to bother to show up and check for botting and then ban the account. Judging from the past NCSoft mmos, for the most part they turn a blind eye towards botting.

2. Quests become repetitive extremely fast. They for the most part tend to fall into "collect x of item y from mob/static z" or "kill x of mob y". This turns leveling into an epic grindfest for the most part.

3. Fairly ludicrous death penalties, for both PvE and PvP. XP buyback gets very expensive at high levels, and PvP death is very detrimental the higher rank you are.

4. PvP is brokenish. For example, if you kill a player that has fought an npc recently, you only get a small fraction of the PvP points you would otherwise. While this is probably a well intentioned means of reducing ganking, "recently" is apparently measured in minutes. Since the main PvP area is full of PvE content, this makes PvP advancement rather challenging. More worryingly, a lot of people have been using PvP kill trading as an alternate means of advancement. The game mechanics favor large zerg packs in PvP as opposed to small unit tactics. PvP is highly gear dependent, and has little relevance on skill.

5. PvE is Zzzzz. PvE bosses on the higher end of things are mainly tank and spank affairs that last half an hour or more, with little challenge.

6. No UI customization :(

Overall: Meh. I'll wait a while and see how it goes after the release. Dragon Age is coming out around then too, which will be a nice time sink for me. Mmmm....Dragon Age... *drool*

[Stosh]

6. No UI customization :(


This is what is killing things for me. I've played all the beta weekends, and I have a 20.99 Chanter and Spiritmaster. For those who don't know, a Chanter is a melee healing class with group buffs. Sort of like an EQ2 dirge that can melee and heal. But the default UI doesn't seem to have an offensive and defensive target, so having to constantly retarget for dps and heals meant I felt like I was doing neither very well. I gave up trying to dps at all, and just healed while doing the group quests. So far, I only have two real healing spells, both single target, a Hot and a direct heal. Thankfully when soloing, casting a heal while targeting a mob in combat defaults the heal to yourself, so soloing is not much of an issue as healing in a group is.

The worst part is the asian voice that you say each time you cast. Each time I cast my direct heal, it sounds like my character is saying "Shit in peace."

Getting to level 20 was relatively easy, both solo and grouped. From 20 to 20.99 things started to slow down a bit, but it was nothing like trying to level an Orge/Troll SK through level 59 in EQ.

[Allara]

The horrible implementation of the Ranger really turned me off. I was going to try a mage next, but ultimately I don't think the game is for me. Flying is retarded, and although I just love the graphics, the gameplay isn't there.

[Kallaill]

Me and Vegu will have our own little Hoss presence on EU servers!

/aed

I have no idea what this game is but I want to be your leader so I can boss you and vegu around~! :food:

[aed]

I have no idea what this game is but I want to be your leader so I can boss you and vegu around~! :food:

Yay! You can be our little pet american! :D

/aed

[Ktul]

I bet Aed has WMD.

[aed]

I bet Aed has WMD.

A man's gotta have the right to protect himself, no?

/aed