Originally posted by Locklain

Originally posted by stayontarget

No company has come up with a better way to do quest beside's going out and kill/gather X amount of this or that. Face it this part of mmo's is here to stay folks. Unless you prefer games like DF and sandbox that has no content what so ever.

There is no other way to do a quest . . . Even in good ol' real life objectives are; run here get this, complete this, talk to this guy, get paid . . . I mean come on.

non linear single player games work this way as well..... lmao.

So people should not be playing games anymore that's what I'm starting to think. Take up basketball you angry people, FreedomBlade I'm looking at you.

Ok, Im back to add to this dead topic cause I am now trying out AION on one of the Chinese free trial servers atm. This is a observation, some speculation, to contrast against other games I have played before, and nothing more.

I will say this, I am becoming very addicted to the game! Yes, nothing so far "revolutionary" ( w/e that means ), but its the small things that make the game fun, and appealing to the eyes. I do feel Im playing Guild Wars in the starter areas but with a little more freedom. Yes, It is a bit linear in the beginning areas but as Im progressing its starting to open up a bit.

Quests are quests what can I say, but finding a "rolled scroll" which connects a bit more on the personal storyline of AION was a treat imo! Doesnt seem like these drop to often at all! I was fortunate enough to get one off one of the "mobs" close to the "pond" (sorry forgot the mobs name,and exact location, or did I?) This rolled scroll provided a glimpse into a personal struggle for love with a leader of the bandits for the Asmodians. All I can say atm about that. But the story was sorta good and interesting so it made the simple little quest fun. As for some of the other quests, general run of the mill, but some have slight twists. One in particular involved me finding a mushroom that I needed to take to a witch in order for her to release a spell on the Bandit Leaders daughter Rae. I set out to find this shroom. I opened up options and enabled all mob names, thinking I might spot it a bit faster. But no dice, this was something I had to keep a eye out for, and think a bit about. So being a Indiana Moral Mushroom Hunter Extraordinaire, I remembered that shrooms grow close to trees. Not far from the witches place I spotted one right next to a ( guess? thats right ) tree. I picked it, and "PooF" I turned into a frog! The effects wore off quick and was part of the storyline. Once I talked to the witch again, and she found that I had indeed got the shroom, but that I wasnt overcome by its effects long! This was where the storyline for my character, and a gorgeous cut scene (which theres plenty in game, and is a nice touch) began! I wont spoil it, but it was rather neat to see the Abyss at such a low level for the first time! Otherwise, dont get to excited about the quests at lower levels, they are just there to get you through the story, and get you more prepared for whats to come.

Drops,Loots. Pretty basic stuff really. Trash can be turned in for some nice cash, so dont leave them behind! Theres a variety of drops from gears, to useful rune type gems/crystals that when placed in the upper slots of your profile near your weapons, you can turn this feature on/off at whim to gain bonuses to your weapons damage. It does run out quickly so it has to be turned off once the fight is over, or suffer wasting those! I use em, and it does help with bigger mobs that may take a bit longer to get down. Something of a boost, and they come in all sorts of damage sizes as I can tell so far.

The gears in the game, if you stay in the beginning areas long enough, do drop on specific mobs at times, and are worth farming a bit for. I have picked up some really nice low grade green gears, along with some decent quest gear that specifically fits my characters class and stats. The gears and weapons have slots to place rune type stones in to enhance them. Theres also a NPC vendor who sells small tool bags that transform junk gears into upgrade stones for +`ing out any gear,weap you might have. Prices for these seem to be a tad bit steep but understandable.

Theres a lot Im not going to be able to cover, especially the flying as I am not high enough for that part, or the crafting unfortunitely. But so far, the game seems really solid, polished. Im in Indiana playing on a Chinese server getting in 140FPS non crowded towns, to 75FPS crowded, all full tilt graphics cranked on a 8800GT! The lag can cause a bit of problems, but the huge list of servers, and switchable channels makes the game a lot less irritating when finding a sweet spot that isnt crowded. When the player base there is at normal levels to medium, I do not feel the lag whatsoever! I guess that Crytek engine ( though a older version of it ) compliments the game fully! Its a lush beautiful landscape of mobs and animations that will make anyone stop and look twice. Remember, lag isnta big deal to me as I understand Im playing from Indiana to China! I can only imagine this game being lagless in my region, and somewhat lagless when full scale battles happens. Cant elaborate on the full scale battles yet, but I assume when I do play in my region, it should be somewhat comfortable. As for China, I will expect huge lag for full scale battles when, or if I do get to that stage before the trial runs out in a few days!

I started noticing smaller things I wouldnt have before, like mobs chasing other mobs and eating them! I stood in the middle of a pond for a moment and my character began to try and catch fish with his bare hands! A friend of mine said he saw a spider spinning its web in a tree, and mobs chasing fireflies! Its these smaller touches that make the game more life like and less mechanical at times. The only draw back from the animations, to me, is that some are uninterrupted! You have to let them play out at times or you may think your lagging, or its a glitch. I noticed when my character gets tired from low HP, he huffs and puffs. I them hit the sit down button so he can recoup, and the animation takes a couple of seconds for him to fully sit. This doesnt really bother me as it looks, and feels more natural as apposed to the sudden break in animations, or the lack of, Im used to when doing specific things. At first it seems a bit irritating but getting used to it will make you appreciate the detail in animations they have put in.

All in all this was my perspective of the game at beginning levels. Being under the teens at the moment feels a bit linear but its opening up a bit more with each push to a new area I discover. Also they had implemented XP for just about everything in game, so you gain it whether you find a new town, harvest materials, combat, questing and so on. Im sorta hoping the pace stays the same with the NA version coming as the Chinese version seems to be getting away more from the grind aspect they have grown accustomed to. The pace with the new XP gains has been nice so far. I tend to stay a bit longer in areas till I have explored or figured out a few things. What I dont like about other games is the sudden need to keep me in these areas longer than I generally do, and I do stay longer than most players! So far the game feels good on the pace, so Im hoping it stays that way when this game hits NA soon.

Conclusion, the only gripe(s) I have with the game is that some of the landscape textures, though stunning, give off to much of a faux surface. When at a distance you see a small hill, you really see the cuts, and the dips in it. But closer inspection reveals its just a very, very, detailed texture covering a flat surface made to look like a hill! Not all are this way, but some are, and it ruins the illusion for me at times when I venture in those directions wanting a closer look at things. Grass is another pet peeve of mine too! While some areas look gorgeous from a medium, to large distance, the closer you get, the more your reminded your playing a game! But, its not game breaking to me, just slightly disappointing they didnt go the distance with these areas like they did with the mobs, and other props in the environment. Maybe that will change when the game is released here in NA.

I assume the end game PvP will be based closely around Guild Wars formula, which suits me. But thats assumption, as I said the game feels like Guild Wars a lot, but with more freedom, and different aspects. So far, Im enjoying the game, and cant wait for it to hit soon. If the retail box is priced right ( Chinese get this client for free! That would sell me for sure if we got the same thing. Not holding breath! ), and the monthly fee is at, or preferably under $15, Ill be supporting it till something more revolutionary comes out. But that could be a very, very, long time!