So one of the latest games in the MMO headliens is Aion. Its now in some sort of closed/open beta. Anyone tried it yet? A friend of mine say it’s something like Lineage 2 with pretty graphics. I’m the type who looks for interesting mechanics, PvE, small group instances and etc.
Anyone have the low-down on this game?
I pre-ordered it, and got into the beta.
I played a good-side Warrior, and the sound effects for each attack were very annoying. My character practically yelled after every attack. The only thing new in the combat was these chains of attacks where some of your powers open up the possibilities to use others, but basically it wasn’t really revolutionary.
It seemed to be one of those games where you have to grind in between quests to keep up, which isn’t really my thing. My quests got really hard for my level, even at level 3, until I went back and killing a bunch of random guys here and there.
The cutscenes, when they do use them, are amazing, but the normal quests are pretty yawnworthy. You are a mercenary, go kill a bunch of frogs to help out the local townspeople, things like that.
I imagine it would be fun for a bit to go through the whole “ascension” thing at level 10, but I got bored and annoyed of the game by level 5. I had been hoping that this game would be something new and interesting, but now I guess I’ll have to wait till the KOTOR mmo comes out to try a new one.
Aion is WoW minus fun, I think. Who would ever think that making a character scream after every attack was a good idea? I was trying to find a way to just turn off the yelling but I couldn’t find one.
For me at least, Aion is two thumbs down.
In addition to the scream after every attack, I play a caster, and they say nonsense words to cast the spells. I dont need to hear myself cast spells …
It is an alternate to WOW and EQ and the other fantasy MMORPGs.
It seems like it is trying to get people to group for quests without being blatant about it.
I am not thrilled about the training aspect for casters, it gets sort of confusing. There are not skill trainers in all the zones, and the travel by hiring a flight function was a bit kludgy for me.
On the plus side, it is a game I can play with my german buddy on the same server other than EVE [he doesnt like WOW, and I want a game where I have a body again] for hanging out and socializing with him [sort of a chat room with graphics and killing]
You might try Runes of Magic, it is free, if you are looking for a non cutesey MMORPG with fantasy base [I cant abide the little girly my lil poniness of some of the mmorpgs out there, they are like being in a my lil pony japamation cartoon.]
Aion started out uninteresting for me, but got more intriguing when I hit a quest that gave a preview of the later game and flight mechanic; I guess the storyline is more than just being a mercenary/raider after ascending. It started growing on me a bit, and we’re trying the live game when it releases (although it remains to be seen if we’ll pay for a subscription after the free month). I agree the quests are pretty generic and there isn’t much new about it other than the pretty, sparkly world environment, at least in the early levels. The world is interesting though, split in half and living on the inside of the crust at what would have been the poles, with clashes - I think - occurring in the blasted core. If you’re looking for something new and innovative, this isn’t it, but it could be an interesting diversion, especially if you’re in a lull with WoW or another MMO.
I’ll also echo aruvqan on Runes of Magic as a free fantasy MMO option; they just released a new chapter with an elvish race and two new classes. It has a similar feel to Aion, although it isn’t quite as polished looking and the localization is a little more awkward. RoM is fun, but it does require grouping to finish questlines fairly early on, and the tradeskill system is mostly a money/timesink with little reward. In terms of gameplay though, RoM’s multiclass system is interesting and adds a twist on the otherwise standard MMO formula.
On a side note, the caster chanting in Aion was annoying me as well, but I understand those sound effects can be turned off.
Just caught this on a re-read and wanted to say, I didn’t run into this as a Warrior on the Asmodian side, up to level 8. The only thing that had been a problem for me was the “downtime”, but then I found the “rest” button, which helped a lot, heh.
Those on the VN Board for Champions Online who complain about characters in that game not saying anything.
I played in the last closed beta and through open beta. A couple of notes
This is a Korean-developed game, that has been out in Korea/China for something like a year now. I suspect a lot of the yelling and such is a matter of Western vs Eastern game styles, as is much of the grinding. At least they Westernized the voices for OB, in closed, I warrior sounded like Bruce Lee every fight.
I played priests and warriors on the Asmo side and a mage on the Elyos side through ascension (took the priest to 20 as a chanter in OB), I never had problems in the starting area with running out of quests or things being too hard, so I would disagree with that. There were a couple of points from 10-20 where grinding mobs was necessary for me. My friends and I did find that grouping up to do otherwise soloable quests was probably much of the cause–splitting the kill XP on all of the “Kill 10 x” quests means you have to make it up later.
On the other hand, gathering crafting materials and crafting does give you XP, although vrafting is a huge grind and money sink as well (which may be a good thing for crafters–it seems tough enough that not everyone will have max crafters, thus making crafted items more likely sellable).
At it’s heart, this game is a RvR game more akin to DAOC than it is to WoW. The Abyss and its fights between the two player factions and the NPC faction (and from what I’ve read, the NPCs do not just stand in place and wait for the two player sides to work it out for themselves) are pretty much the core concept of the game, and even the “PvE” areas aren’t completely safe once you get past level 20 or so.
And, of course, the ability to fight while flying is one of the main draws to the game. You can’t do it at all until level 10, and there was little opportunity from 10-20, so I can’t speak too much to it, but what I did accomplish was pretty fun.
Come to think of it, this is probably why I didn’t ever have to grind - I picked herbs when I saw them, and usually would finish out the node (2-6 taps at 60 exp each).
same here, i tend to do tradeskills in any game i play that has them.
So you can fight in mid-air. How is it like, a space simulation? Or Dragon Ball style where you throw bolts of fire at each other?
Unless there are people here who have played the Korean/Chinese versions, I don’t think anyone is going to be able to answer that well. Open Beta was one week and limited to level 30, which few people reached. At low levels you only have 60 seconds of flight time, with few opportunities to get gear or potions to extend it, and low-level PvE areas only have a couple areas where flight is allowed, and they are more a matter of easing you into it than anything else.
I love Aion yeah just like some had said the flying they advertised and things I wont say was a lie. Because there is flying but very very limited I only been a member for 4 months now. But I still absolutly love the game very good community the graphics are amazing and things. And yes lvling seems like it is taking for ever but I love a challange. But for thoughs that said its a versian of wow but boreing or whatever…No! both completely diffrent games wow done on hero engin Aion done by the cry engin which is why there not even close in graphics. I been playing wows triel versian and that game is to boreing for me. It has to many glitches to count I kno i will tick alot of wow fans off but its my oppion the community was horrid I was talking to an npc and I fall through a railing to my death. When u die u tun into a spirit and have to find your body. To cartoony the charecters are hiteous I was told to try the blood elf got to see the blood elf still uglier then ever. The quests are boreing…But even tho i love Aion that doesnt mean I ignore things that are wrong it’s not perfect but I have a feeling everyone will start playing Guild wars 2 instead of Aion tho. but thats all I can say but really u get a free trial or u can see if one is avalible just try it or wow and decide for yourself everyone has there own oppion.
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