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Elite Member
Joined: 10/18/06
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A group of Aion's beta testers have replied to every single question at Aionsource.com, here we'll be able to see their thoughts about the game's status, and how it's delivering.
What was the biggest "ooo, wow!" of the game for each of you?
Irisviel: Graphic and music definitely. Also, the fact that you can actually fly with your own wings instead of riding a flying mount or something similar.
Zyuu: I love the graphics and the music, not to mention how amazing many of the areas are in the game, and I've yet to see many. Looking forward to explore the world further!
New_Satan: I feel the graphic and music flow nicely together and it's incredibly immersing. Everytime I visit a new town or area, the music switch and it make me so excited. Also, in harder areas the music is fast-paced!
Favourite journey, situation?
Irisviel: I enjoy to group in Aion.
Zyuu: My favorite situation and "journey" thus far have only been in the newbie lands of the Elyos. Traveling to the first forest past the first village and discover how lush and incredibly detailed they've made the forest, was definately a nice experience. Seeing Squirrels, Wolfs and more made me smile. Also, I did a quest that lead to a cave filled with Wolfs and a named Wolf "boss". I grouped with two others and killed it. Also, heading deeper into the world to a desert-like area to find a cauldron, which was part of a quest - was a lot of fun as well. The scenery just have to be experienced to fully appreciate it.
New_Satan: Party quests in Aion is amazing, they are challenging and provide your group with a lot of fun. I prefer to group over soloing in Aion due to this reason.
What major complaints and problems were there with CB2? Overall impressions? I know after CB1 people were very frustrated with Aion, so hopefully this one went smoother.
Irisviel: CBT2 went a lot better then what the first beta did. In CBT2 people weren't happy with mob respawn timers or number of mobs available for players. Class balance was another concern. Overall players enjoyed CBT2 and are very excited to experience CBT3 - where NCSoft have made several promises on what to add and fix.
New_Satan: Respawn timers are too slow. Being able to buy new skills/spells in the capital cities is another complaint.
Zyuu: Just remember, there's no need to even remotely worry about class balance this 'early' in a beta. Class balance is something that will be ongoing forever past release anyway. I know this for a fact from other MMO's and how NCSoft seem to operate and it's actually a low priority. Sure sweeping changes will be made in every phase now, but, the actual polishing will take longer when it come to balance. When it come to things like that you're currently only able to buy skills and spells in the capital cities, that is very very likely to get changed in a later build. It's low priority now for sure. But, maybe they will change that in CBT3 already 
What about the prices for Dyes, how do you obtain them etc?
Irisviel: You can buy dyes from vendors at fixed prices.
The Abyss, there's a lot of things we'd like to know about this place. Care to share?
We can't, The Abyss was not in CBT2. It will be added in CBT3.
Can you trade Dyes? Like if you make a Unique color that someone wants and you can be like 1k Qina or just trade it to them?
New_Satan: I'm not sure about that right now.
What was the overall level of your satisfaction with gameplay?
Irisviel: Well for me, i'd say 6 out of 10. that's just cbt2 satisfaction though.
Zyuu: It's really hard to judge when the game is in such an early stage and I haven't played it that much so far. Although, based on what I've seen and experienced + if there's enough content to keep me busy throughout all the levels and after I would easily give it a 9 out of 10. It's too early to judge though. I might even give it a 10, time will tell. Thus far it's doing great and the complaints I've seen are all pretty minor for such an early build of the game - Aion will do very very well.
Will there be end game progression instances?
Zyuu: There's already videos showing very challenging bosses that are raid-based. The answer to your question is yes. When they'll be in the game is something we do not know yet though. Apparently there's a few in the game already.
lyankyj: Of course, many.
Will Gladiators have a charge like move because atm they look like they can be kited easy.
lyankyj: Sure, they will have different skills to work with against kiters, some of them not yet been tested, but there will be definitely some useful skills against them.
Did the developers publish what changes are going to be made according to the complaints of CB2? and if so which ones.
Zyuu: Go here: http://www.aionsource.com/articles/t...from-week-1-9/
Do the clouds in the sky move? Or is it a gigantic texture pasted on the ceiling of the world we know as Aion. Does the moon that looks like Vash from Trigun shot a hole through it move aswell? I really enjoy the skies in the game... I just want to know if it's animated. I couldn't find any good proof of this.
omokiron: If you looked at any of the videos on youtube about weather or anything of the like, you'll see clouds moving quite fast while others move slow (varying based on their altitudes and where the wind is coming from I assume) just like in a real life storm, and everything seems animated, at least to some degree, the world looks very beautiful and to get a glimpse of the sky and the world all you need to do is look for said videos and you'll find plenty that don't quite do the crytek engine justice due to being bad youtube quality. However you'll still get a very good idea of how things are, and I'm sure they'll be polished more and more as time goes on.
Zyuu: Like omokiron said, it's all animated and it's breathtaking and the level of detail is quite amazing. Check out these three videos: Me playing Aion | Aion @ Curse.com , New Aion Video, April 8 2008 | Aion @ Curse.com and Day and Night | Aion @ Curse.com
New_Satan: Check out my screenshots, AionSource.com - PhotoPlog - Environment / Sky / detail by New_Satan , AionSource.com - PhotoPlog - Environment / Sky / detail by New_Satan , AionSource.com - PhotoPlog - Environment / Sky / detail by New_Satan , AionSource.com - PhotoPlog - Environment / Sky / detail by New_Satan , AionSource.com - PhotoPlog - Environment / Sky / detail by New_Satan
How is the movement? Is it smooth or does it feel a bit restricting and not quite as smooth as say WoW (if any of you have experience from that).
Zyuu: I feel it's very smooth already. On-par with WoW? Pretty much. Some tweaks could be done and I'm sure it will happen in an upcoming build.
How many color dyes are available and are they planning on expanding the current number.(Armor Dye)
lyankyj: Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow, Pink +2 other, but you can mix them anyway you want. In GW, you could mix them 3times, it gave you more than 156 options, here you can mix them as many times as you want, so its kinda unlimited
Are there any weather graphics (sunny, windy, rainy) at any times or places?
Zyuu: Oh yes. In deserts, there's desert storms/winds and you can see the sand flying around. There's rain as well. Sun, night, etc etc. Not sure about snow yet.
What do you think is the estimated time limit until CBT3?
Mark: When we know this, we will share it.
Do you feel that there is currently an adequate amount of class customization between choice of skill chains, titles and stigmas to create a significant range in how each class is played. If it makes it easier, how do the choices in making two characters the same class (say chanter) different from each other compare to something like World of Warcraft's choice of skill trees? Will every same level chanter be only slightly different than the others?
Zyuu: They are already very different, but not balanced much at all yet. They will certainly be on-par (or better) of the talent tree's in the game you mentioned. You can absolutely tell a big difference depending on what class someone play, as it should be. There's also limited experience with many of the things you asked, so it's hard to give you concrete answers right now. Hope this gave you some idea though. Basically, NCSoft know what they are doing. Aion is their baby.
What was the drop rate (circa) of rare items? What was the lag situation in game during PvP?
Zyuu: The drop rates on rare items is impossible to tell right now. Such vaules are subject to get adjusted many times before Aion goes Gold. As for the lag situations in PVP, lag is latency related. So I assume that is what you're wondering about, the developers recently went out and said: "We've been trying to solve the server crashes as our first priority. We will also look into the system to fix this problem and make it better overall." Basically, there has been numerous server crashes that they are working to resolve. At the same time network code optimizations are done all the time as well. Lag should be fine and your gaming experience in pvp should not be affected. However, you need a decent computer to handle many players on your screen at the same time.
Will Closed Beta 3 be for Koreans only?
Zyuu: Most likely yes.
Will you be able to use your surroundings as an advantage? Like against an Assassin when he's in stealth mode and your're in a snowy place, will he be leaving foot tracks and all that? Or if you're in a lake, will there be water moving determining that something is there?
New_Satan: All I know so far is that if you use fire magic in water, you will deal less damage and you will more often miss. I don't know more then this right now. Need to test more.
How is the leveling speed, is it reasonable?
Zyuu: It's completely acceptable. Feels a bit fast even, but that's okay, especially for those of us that have a lot to do and can't afford to spend crazy hours on MMO's anymore. The leveling curve will be adjusted further I'm sure - plus, you can't reach even close to the intended level cap yet. They open up more levels in each beta phase. So stay tuned for further information about this.
New_Satan: The leveling speed should be the same as WoW pretty much. You get a lot of EXP for quests. Grinding monsters to level up takes time since mob's usually die fairly slow. Learning the quests will make it very easy to level up a new character - same as with other mmo's where quests give a lot of EXP.
Would a player who enjoys the game style and play of Lineage 2 like Aion?
Zyuu: Since Lineage 2 really doesn't offer that much and Aion already seem to offer so much more, I'd like to say yes. I use to play Lineage 2 all the time. We reached level 70+ before C2 was even out. The thing is, L2 only really offer a slow-paced game due to the grind. If they had normal leveling curve, all content would get consumed way fast. With Aion, you have a dynamic pvp/pve system with a lot of cool features on the side. Not to mention more rewarding quests and interesting raids and dungeons. The overall feel of Aion reminds me a bit of Lineage 2. Graphic-wise and some mechanics. However, the crazy grind is not there - instead the Aion Team really seem to think of the fun-factor much much more. A bit early to give an exact answer to this, but I think anyone who have played a lot of L2 would welcome Aion with open arms.
Can you swim?
Zyuu: Apparently swimming will be introduced to Aion at a later time and it should be ready before Aion goes gold.
Did you find combat slow? Or was it more fast paced with a nice level of interaction?
New_Satan: Combat is the most fun part in Aion. Everything about combat here is the skills you use and combine. The closest way I can describe it is; Guild Wars meet Lineage 2. Chain skills bring forth a whole new dimension of fun!
Zyuu: I find combat in Aion to be much more fun then in any previous MMO's I've played. It's absolutely "fast" and it's there's a lot of interaction. No Diablo-like combat here.
Did they fix that annoying 90 degree angle turning graphic, where if you move left or right while running your character did it very robotronic style?
New_Satan: I have not experienced or seen anything like this. What you are describing might be due to the user having the graphic options turned down very low. Not sure.
Zyuu: Seen nothing like this. The animations are superb.
Rezzing- (resurrect) can it only be done out of combat? Like in WoW or can you rez anytime sorta like in FFXI and EverQuest?
Inventory- From the screen shots posted I see that there are only 54 slots will this be expanded as you level up, or do you have to buy bags from crafters/vendors?
New_Satan: Yes, you're able to resurrect whenever you want to if you have a rez stone or if your party got a priest with resurrection. You get a penalty for being resurrected, you move slow. To remove this penality you have to visit a Priest in a town that removes it. Also, it's not free of charge to have it removed.
Regarding Inventory space, you can expand it from Shugo if you have enough money. The current prices are: 1,000 then 10,000+50,000+200,000.
How do you gain skill points and how do they work?
lyankyj: there are no skill points. Skills increase manually in strength and effectiveness with leveling + some of them have new ranks which also can be bought from vendors/acquired from mobs. You need to buy/acquire every skill by yourself.
Is the runic casting bar still in the game? (casting bar with those runic writings during spells)
Mark: Yes it is. Just look REAL close at Zyuu's screenshots. It's now INSIDE the bar.
Some of the helmet I've seen in this game doesn't really match the rest of the player's armor. So my question is, do they have hide helmet option?
Irisviel: Helm is considered as "accessory" in Aion. Basically, anybody can wear a plate helm if they want to, but then again, wearing a plate helm as a caster would be a stupid idea since plate helms only offers armor and little magic defense, while caster hats got bonus mana, concentration, etc. whatever the casters need.
Does Aion have Soulshots? If yes, how do they work?
New_Satan & Zyuu: There's soulshots in Aion and they are optional and very expensive to buy. They increase the damage you deal to monsters and other players. You "apply" them to your weapon and it use up a set amount of shots each time you hit.
AionSource.com - PhotoPlog - Animation when applying soulshot
To explain a bit more, this is how soulshots worked in Lineage 2 (text by Fleiva):
Soulshots in L2 were divided by grades, like weapons, No grade soulshots were available in grocery stores, the price was 9 adena each, and No grade weapons used 1-2 soulshots per hit, meaning you would spend roughly 10-20 soulshots per mob, the damage was increased 2x, so it was really good to level quickly, but you would spend a lot of money that would slow you down gear wise. From D grade (level 20+gear) up to S grade (level 76 gear) dwarves were the only way to get soulshots, due to their craft skill, they could charge you whatever they wanted unless they had a fierce market competence. Then we would have blessed spiritshots, for mages, which would increase their magic damage and, at the same time, speed up their nukes, those were way more expensive though, but again, necessary to level decently. The economy actually saw a profit from those, it was one of the few money sinks at higher levels and took a lot of money away from the market, people might be annoyed at them cause, at lower levels, SS were hard to get, until they added quests to get them, at least.
Do you create one character that can change jobs, or do you create a character for each job you want to level?
Zyuu: One per class you want to play.
Can assassins re-stealth during combat?
Zyuu: No.
Now, my impression as an outsider, since I would like this thread to be like the one I created for the first closed beta.
So far, it seems that this CBT brought a lot of content PvP wise, and improved most of the parallel activities to make the grind even more bearable. We can see there are obvious proofs that NCsoft isn't following the typical Asian MMO path and it's looking more for us here in the west.
Something that really seemed appealing to me, was the daily activities, with that I mean things that would make my day great if I log into Aion, with the direct portals introduction, Aion has earned that addictive and time-consuming activity that was missing, and I love to see how RvR is the main focus of the game, even more, seeing how there are so many activities to do while you're not into conflicts.
I think that NC has time still, and if they fix the few things adressed, adding some new interesting features, we can be in front of a trully awesome game. |
