Aion Coverage - It's live folks!

[SunnyD]

Updated op with link to TenTonHammer's beta key giveaway.

 

[vhx]

Damnit I missed the key giveaway.

 

[KeithTalent]

:beer:

KT

 

[Magusigne]

:thumbsup:

Can't wait to try out Chanter and Cleric over the weekend.

Definately looking forward to having a MMO to play to bridge me to SWTOR comes out.

 

[pathos]

I've actually been in the last 3 closed beta weekends (or was it 4?). I've been trying different classes to find out what I like, and as a result, I have 4 characters all at 15, but none higher.

Gladiator is fun, but I think I like the chanter the best. Well, at least I die the least with my chanter. Spiritmaster is fairly easy as well, but I still die more often with the SM than Gladiator or Chanter.

The last one I've played is an assasin. Kill fast, and die often. Fairly fun, but to much down time (solo play, that is). And through 15, there isn't much you really need to group to do, although grouping would make stuff easier.

As far as the 2 races are concerned (neither of which I can remember the names off offhand), imo, the light side (angels, heh) have slightly harder areas (those strip mines can be a real pain), but the, erm, "devils" have more bottlenecks. I swear I spent more time waiting on mobs to spawn, items to spawn, etc. This was less of a problem as most people outleveled a slowpoke like me. I can imagine at launch though, it might become a real problem.

I'm still liking the game a good bit though. I'll probably end up dual playing a chanter on one side, and a gladiator on the other (across 2 servers of course)

 

[Genx87]

Ill be trying this out over the weekend. Probably not until Sunday though.

 

[Davidpaul007]

Originally posted by: pathos
I've actually been in the last 3 closed beta weekends (or was it 4?). I've been trying different classes to find out what I like, and as a result, I have 4 characters all at 15, but none higher.

Gladiator is fun, but I think I like the chanter the best. Well, at least I die the least with my chanter. Spiritmaster is fairly easy as well, but I still die more often with the SM than Gladiator or Chanter.

The last one I've played is an assasin. Kill fast, and die often. Fairly fun, but to much down time (solo play, that is). And through 15, there isn't much you really need to group to do, although grouping would make stuff easier.

As far as the 2 races are concerned (neither of which I can remember the names off offhand), imo, the light side (angels, heh) have slightly harder areas (those strip mines can be a real pain), but the, erm, "devils" have more bottlenecks. I swear I spent more time waiting on mobs to spawn, items to spawn, etc. This was less of a problem as most people outleveled a slowpoke like me. I can imagine at launch though, it might become a real problem.

I'm still liking the game a good bit though. I'll probably end up dual playing a chanter on one side, and a gladiator on the other (across 2 servers of course)

You can change your "game channel" by opening the menu -> support -> change channel I believe. Seems like a lot of people don't realize this yet, or just like to play in crowded areas.

 

[VashHT]

I had no idea you could change channels in this game. That is awesome, I hate waiting around for spawns and garbage like that.

 

[damocles]

I am trying the beta now. Lag is pretty bad from China (I can't see a latency bar but I am guessing anything from 700ms to 3 seconds).

Other than that the games seems fine but it is hard to really tell as I have only been to the starting area.

 

[Magusigne]

Perfect game for me. It has the spark that the other games didn't.

Thank goodness. Story line is great. Quest and Grind seem acceptable to me, graphics are superb. I can't speak for end game content, but so far most things are done right.

 

[soccerballtux]

How old are you guys? Just wondering. I've lost interest in MMOs, WoW included. Wondering if it's age, or I just got tired of the game, or what.

 

[zerogear]

Never liked it to begin with. I rather have a masterful game like Deus Ex than MMO crap

 

[Appledrop]

graphics seem bland and the environment sparse
although I only reached level 5, I have no urge to keep playing...
granted, its possibly because I know that characters will be deleted as its closed beta..

hope im wrong but just seems like a stripped down wow...currently feel like ive wasted the money on collectors edition however..

 

[LumbergTech]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
How old are you guys? Just wondering. I've lost interest in MMOs, WoW included. Wondering if it's age, or I just got tired of the game, or what.

my mother plays wow and I don't ..i dont think its an age thing

 

[Genx87]

So I finally got to play this last night. I must be getting old or unimpressed with fantasy MMO's. It was an MMORPG that is for sure. Just like nearly every other fantasy based MMORPG made in the last 10 years. Might be a reason why EVE is finally got my full attention. It isnt fantasy!

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

How do you think it would run on a laptop

centrino core2 Duo T5800@2GHz
4gb ram
Geforce 9600M GT
Vista

It isn't anything too hot but I'm interested in playing another MMO and this seems somewhat interesting. Don't want to build a gaming comp as I usually console except for MMOs and Diablo.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
How do you think it would run on a laptop

centrino core2 Duo T5800@2GHz
4gb ram
Geforce 9600M GT
Vista

It isn't anything too hot but I'm interested in playing another MMO and this seems somewhat interesting. Don't want to build a gaming comp as I usually console except for MMOs and Diablo.

My machine

E8400
8GB ram
4850
Win7

2x AA
level 3 bloom
1600X1200 and everything maxed was getting between 85 and 120 fps.

 

[BenSkywalker]

Finally got in this weekend, still didn't get as much time as I wanted in(about to 13). So far, no grinding at all, I end up abandoning quests because they get to be too low of a level for me. Reasonable story arc going in the early section of the game at least, differing types of quests(Campaign to advance storyline and... er... the other ones that are optional). Game mechanics seem to be pretty solid, I went Templar as IME tanks are always the worst class to level and I was still enjoying myself.

Given, I didn't make it that far in, but from what I saw the game will at least give people an enjoyable experience while leveling. It is far less of a grind then even WoW post leveling nerfs(which is saying a lot), nothing at all like the typical Korean MMO.

I like the combo system used, keeps things more interesting then the rotation/macro type gameplay that is common in most MMOs. I don't like the lack of a 'talent tree' or anything like it. Really reduces how differently you can set up your class. Gear flexibility is nice though, with even common items having sockets and gems all over the place, you can at least get a marginal influence on the finer nuances of how your character plays.

Ran into a few translation issues. I was trying to equip a soul bind item, and I think the game was saying I was in combat, but I couldn't make any sense of the gibberish line it spit out at me. Also, a couple places where the object item number was appearing instead of the name in some quest descriptions.

The ability to change channels in the game- big, big plus. Quest mobs being camped? Select different channel and ten seconds later you are g2g. That is a really nice addition.

Overall I think that at least leveling in this game will be enjoyable, hoping they have some decent end game PvE content which is the only thing WoW ever seemed to always do better then everyone else by a long shot- and that standard has dropped like a meteor lately.

 

[caivoma]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
Finally got in this weekend, still didn't get as much time as I wanted in(about to 13). So far, no grinding at all, I end up abandoning quests because they get to be too low of a level for me. Reasonable story arc going in the early section of the game at least, differing types of quests(Campaign to advance storyline and... er... the other ones that are optional). Game mechanics seem to be pretty solid, I went Templar as IME tanks are always the worst class to level and I was still enjoying myself.

Given, I didn't make it that far in, but from what I saw the game will at least give people an enjoyable experience while leveling. It is far less of a grind then even WoW post leveling nerfs(which is saying a lot), nothing at all like the typical Korean MMO.

I like the combo system used, keeps things more interesting then the rotation/macro type gameplay that is common in most MMOs. I don't like the lack of a 'talent tree' or anything like it. Really reduces how differently you can set up your class. Gear flexibility is nice though, with even common items having sockets and gems all over the place, you can at least get a marginal influence on the finer nuances of how your character plays.

Ran into a few translation issues. I was trying to equip a soul bind item, and I think the game was saying I was in combat, but I couldn't make any sense of the gibberish line it spit out at me. Also, a couple places where the object item number was appearing instead of the name in some quest descriptions.

The ability to change channels in the game- big, big plus. Quest mobs being camped? Select different channel and ten seconds later you are g2g. That is a really nice addition.

Overall I think that at least leveling in this game will be enjoyable, hoping they have some decent end game PvE content which is the only thing WoW ever seemed to always do better then everyone else by a long shot- and that standard has dropped like a meteor lately.

They have a stigma system when you get to a certain level that give 5 regular stigma (could be 3, not sure) and 2 advanced stigma that adds new unique abilities for your class, so i guess it kinda like a small talent tree.

I had the same soul bind error in 1 item so I just ran back to town and it worked fine there.

After level 20, you can't change the channel any more but it worked out awesome for the low level zone. I had 1 person who stole my quest mob after I cleared the pack of mobs leading up to him so I changed the channel and voila, the quest mob is there. Leveling wise, I only have to quests on my gladiator to level up to 17, i think after that, it may required group quest to get higher level. Although, when the game live, NCsoft said they will add patch 1.5 which there are more added quests so people can solo level.

The only negative I see so far is the no add on policy, Aion's UI doesn't look nice imo.

For patch 1.5, there are additional dungeons and raid zones.

 

[AmberClad]

Soul binding doesn't work when you're in combat. There's a hotkey you can map to "Toggle Combat" to change from combat stance. Otherwise, you have to wait a few seconds for your characters to change back to their normal stance automatically.

 

[Chronoshock]

Yeah, just hit comma (default bind to sit) and then hit it again and then click on the item as you're getting up

As for stigmas, there are 8 slots I believe. 5 basic, 2 advanced, and 1 ultimate
It's definitely not as in depth as a full talent tree, but it still gives some customization

 

[caivoma]

Originally posted by: Chronoshock
Yeah, just hit comma (default bind to sit) and then hit it again and then click on the item as you're getting up

As for stigmas, there are 8 slots I believe. 5 basic, 2 advanced, and 1 ultimate
It's definitely not as in depth as a full talent tree, but it still gives some customization

Doh, I actually fly back to the town to soul bind the weapon lol. It is good to know that it isn't a bug.

 

[JoshGuru7]

Playing a MMO for a short period can be pretty fun and it's still a good deal. The value of subscription games depend on how much time you have to game each month, but in general MMOs are an excellent value even if you only play them for a short while.

A great single player alternative like The Witcher will run you $40 for say 30 hours of gameplay or $1.5 per hour.

OTOH, if you play 2-3 hours per night then reaching max level in recent MMO releases (AoC, WAR specifically) will run you $70 over 3 months and provide 250 hours of gameplay or so. Even if you quit immediately after maxing your character, then that's still $0.28 per hour and only gets comparatively cheaper if you play longer at endgame.

IMO, the reason to pass on an MMO is because you don't feel that the quality of the experience would be as good as an alternative, never because of the subscription fees.

Aion looks like a fun game for at least a couple of months so I'll be giving it a try. You don't need to plan on playing an MMO for years to have fun with them and MMO hopping is still generally cheaper than single player game hopping.

 

[fatpat268]

Originally posted by: caivoma
[snip]

The only negative I see so far is the no add on policy, Aion's UI doesn't look nice imo.

That statement alone has made me lost all interest in Aion. UI customization was arguably the number one reason why I played WoW.

Why? I haven't found a single UI for an MMO that I felt was particularly useful. Most UIs have a particularly clunkiness about them... various useless graphics and just horrible usabilty, or they're not designed with a large resolution in mind.

I played WoW because I could customize my UI. I had bars all over the place with my commonly used items so I hardly had to open my bags, and I never ran out of bar space. I had an actually useful map (which most mmos lack) with an intuitive quest helper. Not only that, but macros streamlined battle hugely for me. I'd have three different spells (sometimes more) bound to one key... different spells were done by a different modifier (shift, ctrl, alt).

I've tried a few other MMOs because I was sick and tired of WoW (still sick of it), most notably LOTRO. LOTRO, while decently fun, seemed like it had a serious lack of direction. The quest helper was hideously horrible and at best unreliable. Quest directions themselves didn't all that helpful on the more difficult quests. The interface was clunky and in my limited playing time, I didn't find any option to create a macro or something similar. I dabbled in Guild Wars a little bit (I know, not an MMO, but same idea), and ultimately I felt pretty much the same things as I did with LOTRO.

I know Warhammer has some customizability like WoW, but none of my friends who have played it could honestly recommend it.

I had some hope Aion would allow some customization, but I should have figured, that it being from NCSoft, that it wouldn't. A shame really, they can make a good game, but their UI is piss poor.

 

[AmberClad]

I don't understand the comment about a lack of UI customization.

You can have up to three hotkey bars visible in the bottom-middle. The upper two hotbars are activated using a number key plus another key (A and B I think). The lowermost bar can have up to ten different configurations (one active at a time).

There's another optional hotkey bar aligned vertically along the right.



As far as quest help, for the majority of quests that involve finding a specific person, the Quest Locator will put an "X" over the map where the person is located. For the quests that involve farming a certain mob, the Locator will mark the general area where you can find those mobs.