Aion
Aion is an upcoming fantasy MMORPG. Open beta was this weekend, so I managed to sneak in and get a little gameplay in between heavy doses of flu medication this weekend. I may have stopped playing WoW, but I’m still a gamer. I’m also not insane, and I’m definitely not posting a review for the omgWoWkiller over on Ego.
Other Games
I’ve tried a few other games since leaving Warcraft, but none of them have really managed to hit my heartstrings the way that Warcraft did. Too many of them had classes only superficially and few if any of them had any form of strategic teamwork – most of them were just “moar ppl = moar pew pew yay!”.
A pretty character generator will occupy me for a long time (a looooong time) but that kind of gameplay just won’t hold me for the long haul.
Aion’s the first game that has peaked my interest in a long while.
Aion, Superficially
Aion is pretty. VERY pretty. The question is whether or not that beauty is only pixel-deep.
Still, before I go into whether or not Aion really loves puppies or donates to charity, let’s go ahead and stay superficial for a minute.
The avatars are pretty, the character creation process is as simple or as complex as you want it to be (use pre-defined toggles or go behind the scenes and tweak features to your heart’s content).
The music is easily 10 out of 10 in this game. Seriously some of the best in-game music ever. Combat music is fun, non-combat music is fun – heck, they even gave the weapon shop its own little tune (a hilarious and yet somehow still appropriate tango).
Mobs are well-designed and fun to kill. You’ve got everything from cute goat-kangaroos and glowing bugs to zombie-ghosts who hit you with someone ELSE’s hand. (So you know they mean business!)
Quests don’t take themselves too seriously. You have to collect “Dead Folks’ Stuff” from the aforementioned zombies for one quest. Either Billy Bob was temping that day, or the good folks at Aion know they’re making a game and that games are supposed to be fun.
Even the sound effects are high-quality. Various inventory items have their own sounds when being sold or used. Generating aggro from a nearby cat pops an easily identifiable warning sound. Collecting cash from a dead mob clatters appealingly.
Aion, Storyline
Behind the scenes, Aion is set up to be a roleplayer’s playground, though I’m not entirely sure Anna would approve. Sick of seeing roleplayers with the backstory of “chosen from birth, destined for greatness, super powerful, cursed, can fly, battling against an evil nature”? Well, fret no more! You see, in Aion, EVERYONE has this backstory.
Still, in a world where every player is an immortal god, Aion still manages to make me care. The political shenanigans between the daeva (that’s the immortal angel/demon folk, which only a small percentage of npc and 100% of players ever ascend to) and the human are well done. Small quests done before you even ascend remind you that the daeva and the humans have issues ranging from the raiders disliking “them uppity winged folk” to the poor lover desperately holding on to the marriage ring that his now-daeva fiancee may or may not ever come back to collect. If the not-so-subtle whispers are to be believed, I’m not even good enough to be a daeva according to the rest of the daevas, who disapprove of my colorful human past.
I want to know what happens to my daeva. Intellectually, I know that every other player in the game has the same *gasp* legendary future…but I still want to know. Kudos to Aion.
Aion, Gameplay
Warcrafters will be very comfortable in the Aion world. Pick up a quest, kill so many of something, collect so many of something else – standard quest fare. Leveling was well balanced at the lower levels – not so fast that I felt like I was dinging left and right without really being able to explore my skills, but not so slow that I felt like I wasn’t progressing. They say it slows down at higher levels, but we all know that They’ll say anything for The Man.
Aion is broken up into only two races – storyline-wise, the world was sundered, leaving half the world bathed in rich sunlight and half the world plunged into darkness and neverending cold. The bright side of the world gets white-winged angelic daevas. The dark side gets claw-footed, black-winged folk with a trail of fur/hair down their back (tail-like) and eyes that glow red when they’re in combat. I played as the dark-winged race, but I don’t think the gameplay differs significantly between the two choices.
Players are broken down into four different classes – tank, healer, caster-dps, and weapon-dps. Standard fare. When you “ascend” to be a daeva, you can further specialize your class into two options for each of the four subclasses.
In a move that will shock no one, I chose to specialize a healer into a Cleric, the best healing class in the game. The fact that the game told me they were the best healer in the game indicates that they want the classes to be different and have different roles.
Even in casual questing gameplay, I found myself alternating between doing damage (have I mentioned how pretty this game is?) and healing/buffing my companions. If I hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t have been able to chain-pull the way we did. I had a distinct support role.
Granted, I only made it to level 10, but I took it as a good sign.
I really wish we’d made it high enough to try a dungeon or two – group size in Aion is 6 players, so we might have had some trouble three-manning dungeons the way we used to back in vanilla warcraft, but it would have been fun to try, anyway.
The other thing of note is that in Aion, PVP is mandatory. If someone of the opposing wing-color spots you and is of mind, they can attack you and you either fight back or die.
I am HUGELY anti-pvp. Aion tried to mitigate some of the obvious healer-as-an-easy-target problem with pvp in this game by allowing clerics to wear higher armor classes and wear shields, but I’m still not looking forward to that particular aspect of gameplay. I didn’t run into it during the open beta, but I’m sure it’s a huge part of gameplay in the Aion world.
Aion, Players
During my short open beta stint, I saw players with inappropriate names (“AntiChrist” was playing on my server – what a coincidence!) , inappropriate guild names (I’m sure you’re a proud and loyal member of “Poopsock”, congratulations), and we had quest items ganked from us while we killed the boss mob guarding them.
In other words – the same people who play Warcraft are playing Aion. I’m not really surprised. This means the forced PVP aspect of the game is going to be even MORE fun, but at least I’m expecting it.
Aion, Other
The number of bugs was actually a lot lower than I expected (though I apparently missed out on the fun “crash your system every ten minutes” bug). Crafting is part of the game but was NOT part of the beta – I could collect fruit, herbs, and tin from wild nodes, but saw no trainers willing to teach me how to use these items. Quest items (treasure chests, maps, etc) despawned when a single group member collected them rather than attributing to the entire group (thus encouraging gankery). Armor could be enhanced using rune stones (socketing). Quests were easy to track and follow. Travel was easy using flight, teleportation, or spectral bird travel. Money was easy to earn and buying armor was expensive. Players could set up their own auction houses wherever they stood, or they could use an in-game auction house system.
Aion, Summary
Gorgeous, well-thought-out, fun game with distinct class roles. I think it shows a lot of promise, and I’m looking forward to the release date.
Aion, Afterwards
No, it is not a wow-killer. However, those looking for a break from WoW might just find themselves happily immersed in the world of Aion.
I’ve been keeping an eye on Aion, just because it is so darned pretty (It has sliders, I can play with sliders until… well, I’ve never really hit a point where I can’t play with them anymore)
My primary issues:
Money: Cost is a factor. We can’t afford a second MMO recurring subscription fee, nor do we really have the mental real estate to get our money’s worth from two games. Relatedly…
My old computer: My computer was a pretty standard machine when WoW released, and with the exception of a new video card, it’s the exact same machine. And we just don’t in any way have that kind of spare cash.
I’m still playing WoW: I’ve had my ups and downs, and I’ll fully admit I’m more in a down place right now than I’ve been in a while, but I’m actually looking forward to the next expansion, at least being able to look around.
But the largest factor will always remain: PVP. I hate pvp, I hate pvp-like PVE encounters (I’m looking at you Priestess Delrissa in MGT, as well as half of ToC/ToGC). PVP in general sets off all my anxiety reactions and turns me into a quivering pile of sick, sweaty, shaky goo.
It is, alas, also the reason why Aion may be nifty in theory, but even if all of the other reasons weren’t a factor, it would still be on my “not this game” list.
Jov´s last blog ..Seri sez: This is neither the time nor the place.
@Jov
The cost thing is definitely a component – the hubby and I both have pretty rocked-out computers from our latest wow upgrade, so we’ve already absorbed the hardware costs for that. The friend we were playing with had to dial down his graphics settings to play, though he said he didn’t notice a huge difference, that kinda thing can still matter.
My hatred of the Delrissa fight is legendary, and for the exact same reason you mention – I hate hate hate pvp in my pve, and anything that smacks of it reduces me to that same quivering pile of sick, sweaty, shaky goo. I had to take myself off of ventrilo for that fight, because I shocked my friends with my language.
I do not know how the pvp in Aion will cause me to react – I didn’t find any of it when I played this weekend. Maybe it’ll be brief stints of asshattery, and maybe it’ll be frustrating enough that I won’t even want to play the game. I’m not sure yet, but I know that it’ll be a tipping point for me even without WoW as another mental/monetary/time drain.
Agh I’m so excited for this game now. I’ve heard people mention how pretty it is, and for the most part, that’s enough to sell me. I still don’t mind the looks of WoW so much because they were able to keep it extremely stylized, so it didn’t get too terribly dated (even though poor Caelynn’s shoulders look like they could crush her head every time she throws her arms up).
Totally customizable characters will COMPLETELY distract me from the game. I get so caught up in tweaking that I can literally spend an hour on the character creation screen on WoW. There are like six features to tweak, but paired with having to come up with a suitable name? Forgeddabouddit. Aion is going to seriously test my “leaving it be” abilities. I just hope that I don’t get to the point where I hate to look at my characters if I make one eensy mistake ;)
Ughhhh I’m with Jov up there about the PvP aspect. On my old server, I would get the shakes just thinking about moving another character through Stranglethorn. I’m not good in hostile situations that aren’t regulated by time-tested mob mechanics. QQ forever. However, I feel like I’m gimping myself by totally avoiding it (like, not fully learning my characters) so I guess forced world PvP is just about the only thing that will break me of my utter terror. When I actually do well in PvP (or at least in those pesky boss encounters that mimic PvP…) I get a really satisfying giddy rush, like I actually accomplished something. I was better than another real person. Makes me sound like a jerk, but maaan does it ever feel cool.
Awesome write-up! I’m 1,000x more excited to see this game now!!!
Two of my friends have been trying to talk me into playing Aion, they were there for the beta testing weekend, sadly i really didn’t feel like trying it out because i had other things to do, i’ll say though after reading a few people giving details about this game (and specially from a WoW perspective, after all that’s what i been playing for the past 2 years) it sounds cool, but the PvP aspect throws me away from it.
PvE is my favorite aspect of any game, and even though i don’t hate PvP (of course when is on a proper setting aka BG/Arena/Wintergrasp) i don’t enjoy being randomly ganked or having someone stealing quest items.
Aion definetly looks awsome (wtb amazing looking wings!) but i’ll probably stick to looking at screenshots/youtube videos of it, and continue to play WoW for a long time, considering i’m looking foward to Cataclysm :)
I was playing open beta as well. It is indeed a VERY pretty game. I found it quite fun and a nice change (although I stilll love WoW).
As for crafting, you could try that in beta, but the trainers were in the capital city, so only accessible after you ascended. I didn’t do much with the crafting since I wanted to explore more, but a few other people I played with last week were crafting weapons and armor.
Syrana´s last blog ..Sometimes Goodbye Is A Second Chance
First off, I need to say something. Ego, I miss you and the times you made work bearable. Ok, I’m good now.
As for the Aion beta, I managed to get in the last weekend that it was available to the masses, and like you, I found it to be a quite beautiful alternative to WoW.
When I checked out the beta I created two characters, one of the happy shiny people and one of the dark shadowy people (my personal preference).
There wasn’t much difference in storyline or progression. Each starting area had a similar theme and the ascension question was pretty much the same (well in principle at least) on either side as well.
I managed to check out crafting towards the end of beta (they must have added that later on) and I will say that it is interesting. You can train all of the crafts, if you so chose to, though you can only “master” one. I think mastery of a craft is available at level 30 but you can start crafting as early as level 10. Each craft requires your ability to gather, so all you gather-then-AH folks should have a field day with making money.
As for PvP, from what I had gathered, it doesn’t really start to be something to be concerned with until around level 20 at the very earliest, though most likely around level 25. That is saying a lot since current max level is 50. This means that you get a good amount of time to get a handle on the game, questing, and general leveling before you should encounter the opposite faction in that ominous dark alley.
Now a word about flying. Flying is fun and can add a whole new level to combat. It is also kinda clunky with the default controls. Thank goodness they support Logitech mice (mouses?) for mapping buttons. I think some other brands weren’t supported at the time though I am not sure about the plans to support them.
All in all, I had a blast with the characters I created and I am looking forward to release. My girlfriend and I pre-ordered Aion and will taking advantage of the “head start” program for the pre-order crowd. It’s time for a break from WoW and this is a great way to do it. Well, after brewfest and I finally get that blasted violet proto-drake.
@Courtney
Character creation is like a drug. I played City of Villains for like…four months. Three of them were spent in the character creator. For example, I created The Jolly Zippo, a flame-wielding pirate maniac. Oh yes. She had an “R” on her striped shirt, too. ARRRRRR.
Also, there are plastic surgeons built in to Aion. Oh yes. Small cosmetic decisions can be tweaked and retweaked for ingame cash.
@Celinne
The pvp may be a dealbreaker for me, as well. I’m willing to allow the game to overpower that aspect, but I can’t help but wonder at the decision behind making it enforced. Nobody I’ve talked to finds that to be an actual draw to the game.
@Syrana
Aha! The capital city. I didn’t get around to spending TOO much time in there, though I did putter around a little. It was getting late and I wanted to see the next zone before I called pumpkin time. Thanks for the tip!
@Paul
Wow, great comments on the later part of the game. It’s tough to get a good handle on a game in the first ten levels, and I definitely didn’t do much flying (and not a whit of flying combat). I was able to control my flight using my mouse the same way I used to swim in Warcraft, so that was a relief I imagine it’d get dodgier if I was trying to do something other than just fly, though.
Thanks very much for the heads up, especially the bit about pvp, since me (and all the other commenters) are worried about it. <3
Definitely going to check Aion out. Most important thing for me is if it has some decent dungeon crawling that rewards teamwork.
If its dungeons are another AOE zergfest like WoW I’m not interested, I don’t care how pretty it is.
The PvP is a definite negative side, although I think we may all be a bit scarred by WoW PvP. After exploring all aspects of it, WoW PvP is atrocious. After finally breaking down and playing a rogue on a PvP server, I realized that there really is little to no skill involved.
World PvP in WoW almost always comes down to one person being ganked by somebody in a superior position, either due to level, gear or class.
If Aion actually has more of a balanced PvP with every class being able to defend itself against every other class, it might actually be fun. If it involves spending 14 seconds in lockdown as a rogue goes to town on you from stealth, I’ll pass.
@Plastic Rat
I’m not sure there is a way to make world pvp actually “fair” (which is why I find it odd that Aion decided to make that a standard of gameplay).
I’m curious about your AOE zergfest comment – since we rarely ran with anyone who actually had viable AOE abilities, I never saw them that way. Which dungeons were you talking about?
Tami, you never saw them that way because you were healing and because, while tanking overall became easier, our tank was the bomb.
Think about the retadin in rotation aoe, or enh-shaman in rotation aoes (being chain lightning and the totem that pulsed on everything nearby) or the kitty druid swipe spam of doom.
PR is right in that, because blizz made all classes aoe viable, and threat be less of an issue AND basically removed anything along the lines of a kill order (and thus the true need for an MA) every trash pull became and aoe zerg and every (or every other) boss fight was a cooldown burn (if the tank could handle it and ours could).
Rhotley´s last blog ..The next