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Aion: Update
MMORPG.com Writer Carolyn Koh took the time to drop by this year's E3 in California. Today, she brings us a report on NCsoft's Aion.
"No photos pleas," we were told, then reminded again as we sat down. This was NCSoft's 20 minute Aion presentation. Pronounced "Ion" not "A-on" we had Brian Knox, QA Lead speaking and Yong-Taek Bae, International Business Liaison running the demo. Aion is an original MMORPG developed in conjunction by both the Korea US studios of NCSoft. We got a glimpse of it at E3 2006 and the graphics were impressive - stunning even, but it was not far along enough to qualify for a vote as we were not sure if the movie shown was in-game footage or generated for marketing. What I saw was indeed beautiful.
;)
The world of Aion resembles a globe that has been torn in half. The lower half is the world of the Elyos, a lush green world as it receives the benefit of sunlight. The upper half is the world of the Asmodians. Dark, cold and arid. In Eons past, the two halves were joined vertically by the Tower of Eternity and the Elyos and Asmodians were one people, but when the tower was destroyed in the 1000 year war, the factions turned on each other and blamed the other for its destruction. The PvP happens between the Dark (Asmodians) and the Light (Elyos). That is not to say Evil against Good, but we humans are simplistic creatures and that's what it will devolve to in most player's minds.
The world-map of Aion is not on a horizontal plane, like a traditional fantasy world but vertical, with a lot of space in between. Some parts of both worlds - floating castles and islands in the sky - can only be accessed from the air. Characters can gain wings and fly. But in this space - known as the Abyss, also lurk the Balur. The Balur are AI controlled dragon-like creatures which will bring another aspect of combat into gameplay.
In Aion, there are three factions, but only two playable races, which is why it is being billed as a PvPvE game. It is player vs. player plus the unpredictable Balur who may choose to assist one or the other, or attack both. That must be some spectacular AI, I opined, and Brian was pleased to elaborate. "Oh yes," he said, "we're very proud of it. The Balur will make their own decisions. There's a different percentage chance that one action will be decided upon depending on what's happening and who's winning at the time. They can decide to be your enemy or your ally, or even turn on you after assisting you defeat your enemy." An interesting concept, and perhaps a way to balance the PvP should players choose to play more of one race than the other.
;)
"All humans want to be Daeva," said Brian, as we continued on the demonstration, "that is the higher life form. The enlightened form, as it were, and the reason they want to be Daeva is that Daeva can fly." Flight, however, is a process, not a right, even for the enlightened Daeva.
We went through the quest sequence for an Elyos to obtain her wings. As we reached crucial stages, the game went into a cut scene involving the character. Aion is still in development, so we only saw the text and Korean voice over, but this is a new concept in MMOGs that NCSoft hopes will distinguish their game from the pack. It did create a cinematic feel in which your character participated, adding quite a different flavor to the game. Once we received our wings, we of course... had to try them out. You only have your wings for so long and some combat moves are aerial-only moves so there will be some strategy involved here. Brian asked Yong-Taek to show us some features, extending his flight to the extent that he lost his wings. If you're still in the air when your wings leave you, you fall, and hitting the ground does hurt.
Some skills in Aion will have longer re-use timers than others (such as flight as a Daeva). Brian also imparts that it will be important to combo the skills, although there was little time to demonstrate it, apart from the fact that all those are balancing issues which they have not completed yet.
;)
Players will select a race to start, and select a profession at level 10. Currently, there are four professions to choose from - the classic ones in any fantasy game: the Warrior, the Scout, the Healer and the Mage. The customization available is interesting in that if you like the look of one piece of gear better than another, you can apply that look to your current piece. That is to say, you can make your uber +10 sword of slaying look like your newbie weapon. The same can be done to your armor - which might be important to some if you really can't stand mis-matched armor or what your +10 divine breastplate of might looks like.
The small slice of the world that was shown does give us a spectacular view of the art. Included in the environment are creatures that are only there for atmosphere as well as creatures that are there for combat. We ran out of time rapidly, but I was able to determine that open beta would be in 2008, although closed beta would be "pretty soon".
I am really looking forward to this game. I hope i can get into closed BETA "crosses fingers"
I'm getting more pumped up with this new Aion update, it sure does look like a great game! The way we can customize our armour to what we like is really exciting and so are the unpredictable Balur. I can't wait at all! Thanks for the update.
I agree, the customization is exactly what I've been asking for, for years!
You can also change your wing type as well.
If this is possible (having one black wing and one white one) i want one. Then again that would lend itself to people having some weird colors like people with rainbow wings lol.
recently saw a movie where a player flew through a group of giant looking dinosaurs that were drinking at a lake, man that looked impressive.
another thing was wen some mantis looking creature flew through the sky, now that's what i call atmosphere in an environment! :)
Well, not to that extent. On another interview (I think it was posted on "Aionsource.com") they indicated you could switch your wing style. However it seems it is a certain "shape" of wing and a certain color.
Well i dont think its farfetched that at some point you could change some minor coloring on the wings (not something like lime green, but perhaps some hint of blues/greens/reds/black/ etc). Something that would fit intot he world concept and not too disruptive. Either case i am eagerly awaiting this game.
Oh, I'm not saying that it's impossible. Just that from what has been shown so far, it has all been pretty uniform.
Another thing that I wanted to comment on that another poster in this thread mentioned was the "wild life' that seems evident in the world. Giant flying animals that just float through the sky. It's this level of detail that really has me excited. That, the flying the customization and the "Dark vs Light" (not evil vs good).
Yea, these are some of the key elements attracting people to the game, that and the flying abilities themselves, including aerial combat for PvE and PvP. I was really excited when they told about two of the flight specific abilties in another article, that allowed you to swoop down and strike an opponent on the ground, and to rocket into the sky to knock down a flying foe. I am really looking forward to this game because of these things.
Although the article is also right when saying a lot of people wont get the Dark vs. Light doesnt exaclty mean Evil vs. Good, I can see a lot of people fighting about their side being better because they are the good guys, etc. Hopefully Aion will attract a more mature community than that.
I hope the game will be like guild wars, and you don't have to pay fees to play...
The most disappointing info from this is that there's a limit on how long flight lasts and that it has a long re-use timer.
I wonder if Carolyn can comment on how much time passed before the wings vanished?
At any rate, I'm still looking forward to Aion more so than other title at this time. I like that there are quests & cut scenes on the path to aquiring the character's wings, and the rest of the info was interesting. :-)
I'll take a wait & see approach with the A.I.
~Mysk
That part about the timer disappointed me too, I think I read in a seperate article on gamespy that the wings stay out approximately 1 minute for now. There was also the hint at area restrictions in that same article, which again shocked and kind of hurt.
As for fees, this will most definitly have them, the platform is more similar to Lineage 2 than it is Guild Wars.
Yeouch, this is starting to sound ridiculously restrictive. A one minute time limit, a long re-use timer, and no-fly zones, and all of this after having to go on a long quest to obtain the wings to begin with.
I was aware of the no-fly zones (something about flight being on set paths ala WoW grifs in those areas). That seemed reasonable at the time because I wasn't aware that they were... apparently... restricting flight so heavily.
It seems irrational to me to add flight to a game and then go to such lengths to prevent it.
hmph.. this isn't pleasant news at all.
~Mysk
Ok guys, you are jumping the gun a bit. First of all it makes sense to have no fly areas, even from a story point of view. As well as a technical point of view. They still want people to walk and experience "ground" content. Also, though the reuse timers will be longer for flight, you don't know how long you can fly. and you don't really know what "longer" means. Longer could mean 1 minute. I feel that is "ok". In additon, remember, this game wasn't going to have any free flight at all. It was based around flight paths. It seems they have opened it up quite a bit. This is not flyff (or whatever). They need to take into account so many technical aspects that having restrictioins on flight not only makes sense it also adds to tactical decisions. And quite frankly, think of the annoying little kiddies who are going to spend their time buzzing around your heads "all the time". You will be wishful of flight restrictions then! In any case, a wait and see attitude needs to be taken. That's the problem with releasing any info on any game. Players get excited but players start becoming "nervous" and then all the bad press starts when there is nothing to be worried about. I'm sure it will be a fine game for us players who are attracted to this type of game.
After the novelty of flight wears off in the first week, then what?
There doesn't seem to be much of an actual Game to go with the tech demo called Aion.
Open beta in 2008. I was hoping for 2007 release. I don't think this game have shown enough content to justify a monthly fee.
Heavy flight restrictions seem like walking papers to me. BUt we'll see how it pans out
I have the Free version of Dark n Light...I like to play the offline Demo now and then and just Fly around....thats it, cuz the rest of the game kinda blows...but man, is flying hella fun.
When someone can do this, and make the rest of the game not suck...they will be getting my money, hand over fist.
There is actually. There is plenty of info released about Aion, please do some research first before posting about a game.
Gawd, I'm just too excited after having read this news!
I'm hyped 200% Aion!
Well actually there will be a monthly fee.
But again, people are jumping the gun. remember, it's not even in closed beta yet. There are going to be all sorts of quests AND primarily, it seems to be a pvp game.
Now who knows where it lies in the spectrum but it does seem to have both. Howeer, I doubt it will be a completely "quest" game such as EQ 2 or LOTRO.
It will most likely be some sort of cousin to Lineage 2 in that it will have pvp and pvp goals but will have more quests, better customization and a lot less grind.
There are several places you can find more info.
www.aionsource.com
http://www.insideaion.vault.ign.com/
and of course:
http://eu.aiononline.com/en/home/
I am not bashing it or anything , I am still quite excited about the game none the less. Just taken a back by this news. I think Its been about 1 year since I started following this game, and yes, since then, all i hadheard was "it will have revolutionary free flight never before seen!" from the devs, so I was really surprised when they came back and it was restricted, the WoW like set flying paths were for the Gstar and E3 demos last year only, they stated it was not intended to be part of the release. Timed flight isnt too bad, i understand that. Its the area restriction that has me wondering. HOW area restricted is what I am wanting to know. I can understand it being restricted in certain enclosed spaces like caves or maybe dense forests/jungles. And for how long you can fly, i got the 1 minute from an interview on gamespy with the game devs from this years E3, where they said at this point you can fly for up to 1 minute before the wings drop.
Again, Im not saying it will suck or be terrible because of this at all, I am excited about the special flight only combat abilities it is supposed to have and the PvPvE. This game is still the main one I am looking forward to and I recommend it to anyone I can
Oh no, not at all. Please don't think that I am insinuating that you are bashing the game. Furthermore, it's more than ok for anyone to "bash the game" if they so please (heck, I'm not a stockholder
I just want all of us (myself included) to have all the correct info so that if the game is being hyped it is hyped for the right reasons and if it needs to be criticized then they are criticisms that are based on actual fact.
Too many overhyped games or rumors flying around the internet
I'd like to mention a few things.
About the flight restriction issue - this may disappoint some, but think about it strategically. A flight restriction means that there is a greater level of timing involved. Spreading your wings too easy may cost you your life at the end of the battle. It's this whole new level of strategy that excites me.
Having a flight restriction also preserves the "unique" feel of having wings. What i mean is, the flight restrictions prevent flying becoming the "new way of walking". Flying would become a "normal" aspect of the game, and there isn't that special feel of flying anymore.
And finally, remember that there is still a long wait for Aion release. The next stage of Korean Closed Beta occurs in the next 2 weeks - so we there will be changes to the game. There's an awesome European community department that's listening to our concerns and the people in Korea are hearing them, so I'm certain that when open beta hits us, our voices will be heard as well.
The problems i see are the same as with all asian mmos. The weird click&point movement, and the boring combat.(and of course the grinding)
To be honest, since i have played mount&blade i cant even play the autoattack, tabtargeting, wasd movement mmos from US/Europe anymore.
It is nowadays possible to improve the combat from a technically view of point, and i think it is time to walk forward. I just hope that the few games which offers better combat/movement will be successful and a "real" improvement, so that it become more of a standard in the future of mmos, with even more improvements. Games like AoC, and others, will at least go in the right direction, even if it is just a little improvement in the case of AoC.
Aion = L2 no advancement at all, if it comes down to combat/movement.. ok, i know, they have an other playerbase, the internet cafe player, which tend to play just with one hand. ;) But, i really need more involvement, especially when combat/movement is 99% of the game. Sometimes i which the character controll would be even improve from a hardware point of view, the wii controlling is at least something new, but however, you can do a lot with mouse+keyboard, too.
So i guess i will pass Aion, maybe i give it a shot in the open beta.
PS: Well.. and i am an anime fan... so i would really like such a theme.
Oh...give me a break! One minute flying limit will take all the fun out of the flying!
I don't know about you guys, but the flying thing is one of the main elements that drew me to this game. The idea of flying to and from the flying cities to the hunting zones, plus the idea of air combat, is something that I was really looking forward to.
I really hope they change this thing, because frankly, I'll be pissed if this flying thing is just a scam to look good in trailers.
WE WANT FLYING!!!
An elaborate post. I fear, however, that you didn't do any research. Aion is built around WASD/keyboard movement. Combat is highly interactive and encourages teamwork with chainworking skills between characters, helping out in maintaining group efforts. Furthermore, you can fight in the sky. ;) (Combat also looks really nice over-all)
Another note on flying - Really look at the limitation as something good. If everyone were just flying around it would be the new "walking". It would loose the special feeling really fast. Besides, I'm 100% sure it won't be limited to the point where all fun is removed. Flying is an integral part of Aion - which is why it's important to make it interesting, all the time - not just for the first few days. I believe certain limitations can accomplish that. About the 1 minute limit - I wouldn't really take that as a fact. And maybe the timer gets longer the higher level you reach? :)
My point is - a feature is fully developed and implemented. The developers are not going to limit parts of it just because they can - They will do it for a reason. This time it's my conviction that the reason is to make it remain special, as said in interviews. Give it a chance. :)
I think people are forgetting that being able to fly anywhere as much as you want will not only make the game boring within the first 10 minutes, but dumb it down alot? Why kill those mobs to get to where you need to when you can just fly right over them? See what I'm aiming at?
I agree that there's a necessity for no flying zones. It would be freaking weird if everyone could just fly all the time anywhere.
But aside from these no-fly zones, on places such as the outdoors and the floating cities , flying should give you a sense of freedom unlike any other MMO out there. Freedom is what flying is all about, and to place a short time limitation, will ruin the whole experience IMO.
I highly doubt you will be flying through "open sky". There should be mobs and npc's flying around up there and it could be more hazardous to fly than to walk in some areas. The people assuming you'll be able to fly over hunting grounds I fear are most probably wrong. What I got from all the interviews I've read so far is the game map is not only 2 demensional (North, east, west, south), but rather includes up and down. I welcome "1 minute" flights. I'm sure the cooldown on flying isn't that bad and I'm sure the higher level you become the more efficient your flying becomes as a whole (speed, length of flight, skills while in flight).
That all said, there is nothing really wrong about Aion. It seems to take what is ideally best from Asian games and whats best from Western games as well as adding new and innovative designs. I look forward to hopefully being accepted for the Aion CB and definently the Open Beta and hopefully a whole new MMO experience. It's definently looking to be #1 on my most anticipated list.
I agree on the fly limit and the no fly zone.
Aside from tactical reasons, there will also be mounts in the game. Those mounts will be useless if you can fly all the time.
I'm sure as you are leveling the flying time will be longer - but it won't be unlimited... (no, I didn't see any information about it, but it seems really logical to me.)
Flight time will probably increase with levels and might increase depending on certain equipment.
I honestly can not wait til this game goes beta. I'll be first in line to sign up for the closed beta.
Maybe I can get in.
Hopefully I can.
so does anyone know how the basic gameplay of a PvPvE game is going to work? I know there are levels and classes, but we're getting to the point where it's hard to forgive a static class skill tree grind fest. IE All Black Mages get fireball 3 at 45 fire spec, and nobody specs beyond 45 because fireball 4 is gimped etc...
Also, I'd like for this game to be mission or kill based to encourage more RvR than PvP. Guild Wars was fun, and Fury looks to be shaping up nicely but 8v8 in an arena, to me at least, isn't as much fun as a 200 v 200 warzone ala DAoC or Planetside. AKA Angels gain XP for killing Devils or Dragons but also for holding very important strategic spots in the warzone.
There just wasn't enough in the interview to really put my mind at ease whether or not this game will be a cookie cutter grindfest.
edit: I don't want to seem cynical and I really really hope this game turns out great, but I think we've all been burned in the past and I can't get my hopes up from 10 paragraphs.
It does look nice, but it looks so much like many others.
When the game release?I wanna play
In Europe!!!
To above poster:
From the report:
"We ran out of time rapidly, but I was able to determine that open beta would be in 2008, although closed beta would be "pretty soon"."
Guess it means it will be release some time in 2008 and hope that includes Europe too.
Why in europe open so hard?
Adressing the flight comments, from what i've read and heard, flight time actually can increase or decrease depening on which zone you are currently in, the basic time being 1 minute. From my understanding , the Abyss-the giant pvp zone you've all heard about- will have an unlimited flight timer, although i could be wrong about this.