Aion (Open Beta, Launch Day Info too!)

[Lantyssa]

Theoretically I shouldn't find boxes for Auto Assault or other games, either...  Half-price and other resellers often still have copies though.  Usually I tell a clerk the games have shut down though.  Saves them the hassle of an upset customer.

[Koyasha]

I tried that once with Asheron's Call 2.  Earlier this year.  Yep, I found an AC2 box on shelves this year, 4 years after the game shut down in '05.  Told the clerk the game had shut down ages ago.  They told me they had to leave the box up until the computer said to take it down. 

I hope someone bought it and gave them a really hard time over it when they returned it.

[UnSub]

Earlier this year I found a store with a shelf full - 6 copies - of Fury. At full price. Which is especially rude since the title went f2p for a good while before collapsing.

[Tale]

If I can find an old TR box and enter the key, can I get the compensation package?

The compensation package was given to people who already had an open, paid TR account at the time of the closure announcement.

[BitWarrior]

Thanks for that, it doesn't seem to offer a whole lot of options sadly.

Well, getting 5 additional skills picked from ~15 available (some more were added since that guide was posted as level cap was raised to 50) does allow for some decent customization. Although obviously some skills will be deemed must-haves but that's par for the course.

There's more flexibility being worked into the system - NCSoft's attempt to make the game appealing to the west includes an understanding that we love customization (just consider the flexibility this game offers in character creation), so there's no doubt we'll be seeing more of this.

In a recent update, they have announced a) More Stigmas b) They're "High Grade" and require "High Grade" stigma slots c) There will be 3 High Grade Stimga slots d) Some require the use of other Stigmas to "activate" d) You can still socket "regular" stigmas in said slots if you wish.

Source

[01101010]

I am very curious as to how they will handle the patching situation since it seems to be centered on the Korean version and ripple out to the rest of the regions. Add in the fact that the patches are created for the Korean version and there needs to be a western filter applied, well how exactly will that work itself out? And no this is not a "sky-is-falling" problem in the least, I am just curious.

[Draegan]

I'm curious as well.  If the US gets version 1.0 instead of 1.2 then NCSoft will shit the bed.

[Numtini]

I am very curious as to how they will handle the patching situation since it seems to be centered on the Korean version and ripple out to the rest of the regions. Add in the fact that the patches are created for the Korean version and there needs to be a western filter applied, well how exactly will that work itself out? And no this is not a "sky-is-falling" problem in the least, I am just curious.

If they're just transculturalizing the quests as well as literally translating them, then it should only be a matter of some competent translators working on it. In a sense, I'm more optimistic if the cultural translation stuff is mostly bs and that it's the basic core game.

If they try to do any changes to the actual codebase other than simple spreadsheet stuff like changing an xp multipllier, my prediction is they revert it within the first year to keep up with the codebase, which as I said above is what I saw happen with Grenado Espada. (Except they never did get translations or voiceovers nearly as good as the ones in the "global" edition out of Singapore.)

I'd be interested in how much influence non-Korean versions have on the overall development or what kind of numbers it will need to do to have that kind of influence. Example, I don't know whether or not they have an auction house, but if they don't, it's something that I think most western players would prefer to personal stores. Does the US division have enough cred to get that done or do we just take what we can get. Westerners don't like that, we're used to ruling the world and having it our way so there's a multiplier.

[Shatter]

My understanding is there is a little more then just translations, they are trying to make parts of the game more Western market friendly/relatable.

[Numtini]

My understanding is there is a little more then just translations, they are trying to make parts of the game more Western market friendly/relatable.

The example they gave was a quest that relies on a Korean folktale which they said was redone so it would be more friendly to players who didn't know the original folktale. It's unclear whether or not they just rewrote the quest prompts a bit rather than a literal translation to make it more obvious what the point of the quest, totally replaced the text rather than translating it, or whether they actually changed how many quest prompts there were or replaced the item graphic with something else more western or what have you. Two of those are just replacing text blurbs which they're going to have to do anyway since the originals are in Korean, the third is a structural change and Gods help the coders.

Certainly most of the importers of Korean games have enough trouble getting a literal translation in correct English right, nevermind anything else. I saw nothing of that in Aion. The quests I read were grammatically correct colloquial American English and made sense. I'm thinking that's all their talking about. My impression is the game is already designed around more of a western sense of customization and pacing--certainly the level of customization I saw was nothing that could have been grafted on at the last minute.

[patience]

Earlier this year I found a store with a shelf full - 6 copies - of Fury. At full price. Which is especially rude since the title went f2p for a good while before collapsing.

I found three stores with FUry and Hellgate London. It was pretty sad when the third store I went to was pulling this shit or they completely forgot about their PC section.

[BitWarrior]

Earlier this year I found a store with a shelf full - 6 copies - of Fury. At full price. Which is especially rude since the title went f2p for a good while before collapsing.

I found three stores with FUry and Hellgate London. It was pretty sad when the third store I went two was pulling this shit or they completely forgot about their PC section.

Well, I hope you guys did the right thing and informed the floor manager that these games can no longer be used. I live in Canada and did this very thing when I noticed Tabula Rasa in a Future Shop. A couple days later when I revisited the store I found they had indeed taken it off the shelves.

These stores are generally stocked by people who have zero interest in the gaming world, and of course don't pay attention to news like game X closing, just as I'm sure most of us here don't pay terrible amounts of attention to the fashion industry. Once alerted though, it only takes them a quick internet search to verify your claim, and generally they'll take it off the shelves. It's not like the employees have any personal fiscal loss associated with throwing the games out.

And to remain on topic: Aion.

[01101010]

The example they gave was a quest that relies on a Korean folktale which they said was redone so it would be more friendly to players who didn't know the original folktale. It's unclear whether or not they just rewrote the quest prompts a bit rather than a literal translation to make it more obvious what the point of the quest, totally replaced the text rather than translating it, or whether they actually changed how many quest prompts there were or replaced the item graphic with something else more western or what have you. Two of those are just replacing text blurbs which they're going to have to do anyway since the originals are in Korean, the third is a structural change and Gods help the coders.

Certainly most of the importers of Korean games have enough trouble getting a literal translation in correct English right, nevermind anything else. I saw nothing of that in Aion. The quests I read were grammatically correct colloquial American English and made sense. I'm thinking that's all their talking about. My impression is the game is already designed around more of a western sense of customization and pacing--certainly the level of customization I saw was nothing that could have been grafted on at the last minute.

Well for that example you gave, all they did was attach a quest item in the form of a book to read which explained the folk story. That's the easiest way I am assuming. However, that takes time. I am sure the patches could drop quickly if they are just gameplay modifications. It will get hairy when they put in stuff that needs a quest to proceed.

[Malakili]

Well, I hope you guys did the right thing and informed the floor manager that these games can no longer be used. I live in Canada and did this very thing when I noticed Tabula Rasa in a Future Shop. A couple days later when I revisited the store I found they had indeed taken it off the shelves.

Well, I guess you could theoretically still pay Hellgate: London single player in its out of the box state. 

[Draegan]

Beta even this weekend, July 2-6.  Both sides and levels 1-20.

I've got a legion with a friend of mine running (or plan to get it running) if anyone is interested and want to join something for the beta period.

http://geistguild.com/

[01101010]

Beta even this weekend, July 2-6.  Both sides and levels 1-20.

I've got a legion with a friend of mine running (or plan to get it running) if anyone is interested and want to join something for the beta period.

http://geistguild.com/

Elyos? I missed round 1 and had no clue you could roll elyos last round so all i saw was asmodian side. Probably play Elyos Thursday night and see the differences.

[Draegan]

I think Asmodian.

[Ratman_tf]

Well, I hope you guys did the right thing and informed the floor manager that these games can no longer be used. I live in Canada and did this very thing when I noticed Tabula Rasa in a Future Shop. A couple days later when I revisited the store I found they had indeed taken it off the shelves.

Well, I guess you could theoretically still pay Hellgate: London single player in its out of the box state. 

You can snag the patches from fileplanet.

[Numtini]

FWIW someone is buying it, I tried to upgrade my order to a CE and they're out of stock at Gamestop.

[waffel]

Got a beta key with my (FREE) fileplanet account before they ran out yesterday. Have it installed and ready to go. Should be interesting.

[Fabricated]

Everyone get back to me when this turns out to be another piece of shit Korean MMO.

[Triforcer]

I hope it has quests where you have to trust either a white daeva or an asian one, and the white one betrays you and gives you worse loot, to teach the traditional lesson that white people can't be trusted. 

[BitWarrior]

Very impressive. A very popular question has been, "What version is Aion coming to NA/Europe" with - I'm pretty sure that was even asked here in this thread. Just announced today that they'll actually be launching with version 1.5, the third major update and one that isn't even released yet in Korea/China (though it will be by the time the NA edition is released).

This does seriously calm a vast number of concerns regarding responsiveness for updating and balancing, as quite a bit of work already went into version 1.2 and 1.3. I believe 1.5 starts adding a number of new PvE raid encounters as well.

Source

[01101010]

Very impressive. A very popular question has been, "What version is Aion coming to NA/Europe" with - I'm pretty sure that was even asked here in this thread. Just announced today that they'll actually be launching with version 1.5, the third major update and one that isn't even released yet in Korea/China (though it will be by the time the NA edition is released).

This does seriously calm a vast number of concerns regarding responsiveness for updating and balancing, as quite a bit of work already went into version 1.2 and 1.3. I believe 1.5 starts adding a number of new PvE raid encounters as well.

Source

Answers my question. I don't think you could do it any other way without alienating the other regions. China has been what, two patches behind so far? I doubt that would work in the EU/US regions.

[Draegan]

This is big, big news.

Well big for Aion anyway, shows that NCSoft isn't that stupid and they are going to try to be serious in the US/EU regions.

I figured the US would get 1.2 and have to wait a quarter year after the koreans got 1.3.

[schild]

Can you tell me what you like about this game? Or rather, like enough that you set up a web page for it to recruit for your erhm... guild?

[Nebu]

Aion has only one strength going for it: It will be the least shitty, fantasy-based pvp MMO available for the 200k or so people wanting such a title. 

It's like being your mother's "favorite son" when you're the only child. 

[Draegan]

Well first of all, my crazy friend who has to much time on his hands set it up.  He's a hardcore MMOG player that just discovering the ways of 9-5 work.  So we'll see.  I thought anyone else that wanted to play in the beta could join in and have a good time and if they don't have another guild or bat country didn't go to Aion they could stay if they wanted.

Anyway as you know, I love Diku games.  This is new and shiny and has pvp.  I'm beginning to sound like a broken record here but the quality of the game is top notch.  When I first played WAR back in 2007 or so I knew the game was terrible, it stayed that way until late beta.  Aion's gameplay (playing in China) impressed me.  They got me at least with the "first impressions mean everything" schtick.

Aion has only one strength going for it: It will be the least shitty, fantasy-based pvp MMO available for the 200k or so people wanting such a title. 

It's like being your mother's "favorite son" when you're the only child. 

I think AOC and WAR have proven that more than 200k or so people want a PVP based fantasy MMOG.

[Nebu]

I think AOC and WAR have proven that more than 200k or so people want a PVP based fantasy MMOG.

Looking at the way both of these games are being played early on, I'd argue that the crowd you're describing wants a pve game with pvp in it.  There's probably a market close to 500k for a well built pvp MMO, but Aion isn't it. 

What do you see as "new" about Aion?  From the videos that I've watched it looks like a shiny version of DAoC with better handled pve.  I really don't see much "new" about it. 

[schild]

Your first impression was much different than mine then.

Hell, the first quest few quests were all kill 10 rats. Or harvest 10 things near rats.

[Threash]

Some of us aren't looking for anything new, just something not incredibly fucked.

[Draegan]

Some of us aren't looking for anything new, just something not incredibly fucked.

This.

I'm not immediately turned off by the kill 10 rats at the beginning of the game.  Like I said, I enjoy the current WOW formula but I'm tired of WOW.

[Nebu]

Some of us aren't looking for anything new, just something not incredibly fucked.

I'd be happy with that as well.  Adding a z axis and holding on to antiquated cc doesn't seem like a step in the unfucked direction.  Especially for those of us that enjoy playing melee.  

I'm still going to give it a shot at release.  I'm just not optimistic that the pvp will be better than DAoC.  Only the PvE. 

[Draegan]

I've heard people saying that CC is as crazy as WAR or DOAC was.  I've seen videos that weren't terrible, but actually fun.

Apparently there are potions that break CC and stuff you can buy. 

All 3rd hand knowledge though.

[Morfiend]

Dreagan,

Myself and a few guys will probably be playing this. Having a guild would be cool.