I didn't expect Aion to be a groundbreaking game in a sense, but more of a improvement over existing MMORPGs, and I got what I wished for.

Grapically Aion is stellar using the CryEngine (Farcry).  The soundtrack is also great and adds to the atmosphere of the world and the situation you are in  (battle/normal music for ex.).   Quests are your standard courier/kill X quests but they make up a majority of your exp, though I can not say how long this will last as you progress in levels.

The quest grinding was to be expected or grinding, but I am playing this game for the PvP.

P.S.  Depending on your class, soloing can become more difficult as you reach higher levels.  For example my Sorcerer at level 14 has a difficult time defeating some level 15 mobs.  It takes him quite a bit of effort and I often have to cast nearly 7 -8 skills just to kill one monster, and I suffer probably half or a third of my health in damage.  Some quests I cannot even complete by myself so my guess is that parties will be essential later on for leveling.

One thing I can never understand is how leveling is the same each level in games today.  I mean leveling from lvl 1-2 is just as hard as leveling 33-34....to me this is assanine.  As you progress a game should become harder not have one linear path up to max level in terms of difficulty.  Aion seems to be the same ole same ole in this regard.  Iam sick of giving money to these companies and not be challenge in any manner.  I hear alot of people saying this is the spiritual successor to FFIX, but for my 10 levels this is clearly not true...this is a WoW clone with a FFIX cover.   Before i played i was all over this game, but the beta def had a negative effect on my opinion of the game , mainly because i was expecting more of a FFIX experience in terms of grouping and group dynamics.  I still might try it during US release but Champions Online or SWTOR will prolly be my next MMO.   

 I'm so jealous I'm reading so many good posts about this game and I want to play it so badly erg!

Originally posted by 4Renziks

One thing I can never understand is how leveling is the same each level in games today.  I mean leveling from lvl 1-2 is just as hard as leveling 33-34....to me this is assanine.  As you progress a game should become harder not have one linear path up to max level in terms of difficulty.  Aion seems to be the same ole same ole in this regard.  Iam sick of giving money to these companies and not be challenge in any manner.  I hear alot of people saying this is the spiritual successor to FFIX, but for my 10 levels this is clearly not true...this is a WoW clone with a FFIX cover.   Before i played i was all over this game, but the beta def had a negative effect on my opinion of the game , mainly because i was expecting more of a FFIX experience in terms of grouping and group dynamics.  I still might try it during US release but Champions Online or SWTOR will prolly be my next MMO.   

I kind of agree with your comment on leveling difficulty. Plus I have to say I do not understand where this FFXI and Aion comparison comes in. I never had the expectation it was going to be anything close to FFXI and I always assumed it was going to be a task/quest based system. I'll support your statement in that fact that this game has absolutely no real similarities between FFXI and itself. However, I do not fully agree with the WoW clone comment.

Just because a game has kill, fetch, or courier quests does not mean it is a WoW clone. That would be as stupid as labeling all MMO's that have mob grinding as EQ clones or all skill grinding MMO's UO clones.

I was gonna put in the reason why i used the term WoW clone , but didnt so here....WoW clone is like calling an mp3 player an Ipod, tissue klenex, etc....The term WoW clone , to me anyways, is just a generalization of what is happening in the mmo community,  it has nothing to specifically with WoW its merely a reference to the plethera of games that have been coming out since early 2000's that have been the same game with different skins, the 2 main exceptions is FFIX and Eve.  now of course this is an over generalization and you can find your obsecure f2p game such as atlantic online that is not.

I managed to get hold of a chinese beta account for 1 day before it closed and I was pleasantly surprised.  It all feels polished and it's extremely beautiful and yet I still managed to get 140fps in most places.  I don't think it dropped below 40fps in any area.  It has the usual basic EQ / WoW formula (with extras like combos) but... well it's a much newer engine.  I know it's not ground-breakingly different to other MMORPGs out there but I'm going to buy this because...

1) It's very, very, very pretty.
2) You can fly and I love the whole angels / demons idea.
3) It feels finished before release (unlike SWG, Vanguard, Darkfall and others).
4) I just really enjoyed playing it and I'm actually frustrated that I can't play it right now.
 

I have been playing in the beta a week and have a lvl 19 cleric.  The world is beautiful, the quests can get repetitive but there is a decent amount of variety, killing and questing both give decent xp but leveling is slower than a lot of other games I have played (which I dont mind).  I like the cleric a lot.  You get to wear chain, the healing spells are decent overall and I like the ability to chain spells.  I will definitely play Aion when it releases in NA.  I have to say that sanctum is stunning.  The armor sets are unique and beautiful.  I was in sanctum on the ship with a gladiator and I basically stared at his armor the whole ride.  Watching combat in a group is fun.  The gladiator jumping in the air swirling his sword is an awesome graphic.  My only critique is of myself.  I wish I could understand Chinese. 

I got cut off last night because I exceeded my time limit.  How long does it take for that to reset?

Well, I will definitely be playing the game as soon as the US version is released (played the Chinese beta for a week, hoping I can still play tonight when I get home, was playing until 1:30am Central Time this morning). For some reason or another, the mobs in this game had a feel of EQ about it. Trains aggroing people, mobs will run directly towards other mobs to cause aggro, ect. But I do have to agree, the game is seems extremely linear. Even once you visit the capital cities for each side (Pandamoneium and Sanctum), the quests and game really pushes you into one specific zone instead of letting you use to travel to the other zones. Now that isn't to say that you can't (the teleportation merchants lets you travel to all the continents on each half of the world) travel there but I suspect that these locations require you to be higher level.

The game runs extremely smooth for the type of graphics (this is a testament to how asian companies build their graphics in their games) it supports. The class system isn't anything spatacular or innovative. Typical mage, fighter, rogue, and priest with 2 sub-classes per class for slightly different gameplay. But they do have the Stigma system which allows classes to equip up to 5 (I think) different class abilities but I have yet to try so I can not comment on the subject. Currently, I have played an Eylos Templar and Asmodean Spiritmaster. Spiritmaster plays akin to the Magician in EQ. DoTs, nukes which lowers elemental resistances, and effect spells like slow and stuns. The Templar plays a bit different from most tank classes in other fantasy games because their abilities require triggers (so far, all from having a shield block) which basically lets you counter-bash. Also, it seems akin to the tanks in Warhammer where tanks have a lot of melee effects, lots of short duration stuns so far from what I have seen.

Crafting in the game seems very typical. You pay a fee to learn the skill, then do work orders to increase your skill, like in EQ2. Then from doing quests (really from killing mobs that gives drops and/or harvesting nodes) you use the mats to actually make useful items. Most work orders require a few mats (all so far is just mats you can buy from a merchant right in the same room). One thing that is nice is that you gain XP while doing crafting/harvesting. Its a small amount but the number will add up over the course of the lifetime of the character.

Divine powers is kinda like a limit breaker that fills up and you use the points to use powerful abilities. The DP points only increase when killing mobs and you lose all DP points when you log off for longer than a few minutes (this is long enough to allow people to disconnect and still log back on and have the points, I think) but you do lose them after logging off for a while. The Templar one I have yet to use but the Spiritmaster one makes your pet extremely powerful.

Overall, there is enough in this game to be different from WoW (even though there is a lot of similarities) but still feel like the older MMOs.

Great pve and pvp all in one mmo. Aion took alot of good game features from other mmo and turn it into one awesome game.

Epic pve like Lineage 2. Many cool looking weapons and armors. Items upgrade system.

And pvp, you got the Abyss to engage in faction pvp for items, rescources and conquer castles. And when you want some adventure pvping, you can take rifts scattered around the normal world to teleport to the opposite faction world for more pvp. Rifts are only one way meaning after you entered thru a rift, you need to find an exit rift to return. 

Beautiful world, great artwork and animations.

Great Combat system. Chain skills and unleash very powerful and gorgeous looking attacks  when you fill up yr divine power

And of course WINGS! fk wow kiddy mounts, you got wings in Aion to fly starting from level 10! Fly, soar and glide thru the sky. Engage in flight combat.

Who says you cant have the best of both worlds. Aion did it with both good pve and pvp.

i'm playing china retail now. The game is huge. There are so many things to learn. I would be ready for us release! :)

So far it seems that about 90% of people that have played this will be getting the US/EU release. I was expecting that turnover imho after seeing some of the early korean beta gameplay. For the rest, it sounds like most of you are just tired of mmorpgs as they are today.

Modern mmorpgs seem to just use the tried and true formula that seems to work. I know that I miss the days of EQ where it more or less required for you to grp to level past 10, some cases earlier then that. Games just arent going that route anymore because lets face it..gamers now are of all ages and I know I dont have the 10 hour days I can put into grinding with a group anymore.

I hope the localization process goes smoothley and not too much gets changed in the game. One of the biggest benefits I have to say is the late release to the US/EU. I cant say how happy I am that when I finish installing/downloading Aion. I will be able to enjoy the game without many bugs (if any) or class balancing issues.

P.S. I decided on an Elyos Sorcerer as my main, something about killing mobs being difficult while you level seems like I will enjoy it more.

Getting ready to buy the NA-Aion pre-order, and just bought time for the CN-Aion. It might not be revolutionary in any way really, but it's polished and plays really well. It's nice to be able to log into a MMO other than WOW with the same, or close, to the same amount of polish.

I was lucky and played in the beta for a week or so and have a level 10 sorc. The game is alot more than I expected. I tried to describe it to my husband and the best thing I could come up with was how it felt like the best of a bunch of worlds all rolled up in 1. Mind you nothing ground breaking but just a nice overall feel about the game. Cut scenes that have you in them like guild wars, music which reminds me of the final fantasy world, look of the game armour etc. linage 2 feel. I won't say it will be a WoW killer but again I havent seen anything in the last few years that would be but I think this game will have a good solid foundation and can't wait for the NA release.

My girl and I have decided to definately get this one when it comes out.  She actually stopped playing beta after only 2 days because she didn't want to get too hooked then have to wait until fall.  I continued on until yesterday when The server went P2P, I was leveling a glad(13) and a Chanter (19)  and Its really well put together.  

I'm really suprised no one has mentioned the Crafting/gathering in Aion. I actually spent a good amount of time on it and 2 things about it stand out.  1) the fact that you can get all professions, but only master 3 is interesting.  2) you get XP from gathering and crafting. Its not a huge amount, but its there. I even dinged a couple times while gathering.

It is a solo friendly game but there will be some that you cannot do unless you are in a group.  Those start at around lvl 16.  

It is a great game, I think AIon will succeed if it has good end game.

It sure is a beautiful game but it;s still just a beautiful korean grindfest....  That was myimpression from the beta anyways.

I didnt get into it too far. But I certainly don't have anything bad to say from what i did experience. The graphics are really nice, early quests were done fairly well imo, cut scenes are also a nice touch and the landscape is pretty amazing. Not getting too far in to experience any pvp or mid to end game content ... I'm not sure what to expect though. As with other games I didnt see anything very new making me want to jump right in and play for countless hours. So I guess when It comes out in the states, I may try It If i need a break from my current game.

Originally posted by Cryptor

It sure is a beautiful game but it;s still just a beautiful korean grindfest....  That was myimpression from the beta anyways.

I will never understand those who call this a grindfest.  If you actually had played any Korean grindfest you would know the difference.   L2 just leveling from lvl 6-7 took killing hunderds of mobs, (anyone remember those damn mushrooms in the DE area?)  If you  do grind in Aion it can be the same.  But if you bother to do the quests the XP reward is HUGE compared to grinding it. 

For instance I remember a quest where the mob gave 500xp and it was about 50k to lvl, big grind right?  No, kill the 6 you need and turn in the quest for 55k xp reward.  It actually seems to be set for those who like both ways.  The Xp from the quests arent' always that huge, more range in the 20k zone, some fedex type are only about 7k.  but if you want to Grind, go ahead, but the main thing you'll get from grinding is loot, not so much lvls.

Overall, i love the game so far.

I have gotten my Gladiator to 25 now, and had alot of fun. My new gear looks amazing, my combat skills are starting to impress me and i'm really starting to feel like im getting somewhere. That's a big factor to me, i lose intrest pretty fast and without a feeling of progression after a week of two of hardcore playing, i usually quit.

The graphics do remind me of Warhammer, but better. And the characters and gear look 1000x better in my option. The music is good, and the world design is also, The art style is great and the game is very well polished at this point. I'd say on par with Blizzards mmo and above all of the other mmo's released in the past few years. It's far from perfect, but NCSoft has the money and time to work on it, just as Blizz did, and will probably make this game very successful.

Questing is a little boring after level 20, but somewhere between 20 and 25 the solo quests have begun to give way too little exp to level up without feeling the grind, leaving me looking for groups and doing the group/alliance stuff more and more often. In the mid twenties you find yourself traveling between zones, doing repeatable quests and such if you stay solo and begin to level very slowly. With the slow solo leveling and the fact you can usually walk up to a group quest area entrance and find a pick up group, grouping has been fairly easy even with the majority of the players not speaking english.

Another cool thing is that harvesting and crafting also give you exp used to level your combat level, making it alot easier to take a break and catch up on crafting stuff before you move on to areas with resources you can't gather yet, without feeling like it's slowing down your level progression too much.

My only two complaints are the lag which just started happening to me the past few days so may be a product of release and could go away soon, and the payment options.

Originally posted by beauxaj

Originally posted by Cryptor

It sure is a beautiful game but it;s still just a beautiful korean grindfest....  That was myimpression from the beta anyways.

 

I will never understand those who call this a grindfest.  If you actually had played any Korean grindfest you would know the difference.   L2 just leveling from lvl 6-7 took killing hunderds of mobs, (anyone remember those damn mushrooms in the DE area?)  If you  do grind in Aion it can be the same.  But if you bother to do the quests the XP reward is HUGE compared to grinding it. 

For instance I remember a quest where the mob gave 500xp and it was about 50k to lvl, big grind right?  No, kill the 6 you need and turn in the quest for 55k xp reward.  It actually seems to be set for those who like both ways.  The Xp from the quests arent' always that huge, more range in the 20k zone, some fedex type are only about 7k.  but if you want to Grind, go ahead, but the main thing you'll get from grinding is loot, not so much lvls.

 

I think if WOW was there first and only mmo then I can see someone saying this is a grinder. To them I would say "NO you can't get max lvl in 3 weeks, maybe 2-3 months but not 3 weeks".

Originally posted by Synthetick

Getting ready to buy the NA-Aion pre-order, and just bought time for the CN-Aion. It might not be revolutionary in any way really, but it's polished and plays really well. It's nice to be able to log into a MMO other than WOW with the same, or close, to the same amount of polish.

ERRR that would be nice can't wait for the NA release