Aion (Open Beta, Launch Day Info too!)

[01101010]

If battleground/scenario PvP kills world PvP then the developers did a shitty job of designing/balancing world PvP.

Don't blame the players for doing what they find most entertaining/rewarding.

In general, my biggest complaint about Aion is that it doesn't feel like an actual world. You can't walk to the main city and you can't get to enemy territory without rifts.

the cities I'll give you, but its not like there is a land bridge between the two pairings.

[Draegan]

A guy in my legion pointed out that the game will be released with the 1.5 update on DVD so there won't be any major patches to go through.

[ghost]

the cities I'll give you

If there's no Thunder Bluff it is a steaming pile of shit.  In fact, all MMOs should have a Thunder Bluff.  It's that cool.

[Koyasha]

Both of Aion's capital cities are sky-cities anyway, they're not on land at all so you couldn't walk to them.  And from what I understand the flying thing depends on ambient aetheric energy (at least, I think that's the excuse for why you can't fly ALL the time) so you can't fly to them because of that.

That said, I don't care about having things be mostly a seamless world.  Frankly I prefer distinct zones with zone lines in a way, because usually there's distinct zones anyway (like in WoW) just that they use "natural" barriers to section them off and set up the passes that make for zone lines.  But that really doesn't give me any more sense of worldiness than distinct zones, because having mountains or some other for some reason impassable barrier springing up to neatly define different regions of the world is just as silly as invisible walls that clearly tell you this is the zone line.

[01101010]

If there's no Thunder Bluff it is a steaming pile of shit.  In fact, all MMOs should have a Thunder Bluff.  It's that cool.

 

[Ceryse]

If there's no Thunder Bluff it is a steaming pile of shit.  In fact, all MMOs should have a Thunder Bluff.  It's that cool.

Aion fulfills the only city requirement that is truly needed in an MMO; a city where the careless and idiotic can routinely fall to their deaths.

I have seen dozens of people die in Sanctum over two beta weekends and it serves as great entertainment. I almost died once, myself, but managed to glide onto a airship that was passing by just at that moment.

[raydeen]

If there's no Thunder Bluff it is a steaming pile of shit.  In fact, all MMOs should have a Thunder Bluff.  It's that cool.

Aion fulfills the only city requirement that is truly needed in an MMO; a city where the careless and idiotic can routinely fall to their deaths.

I have seen dozens of people die in Sanctum over two beta weekends and it serves as great entertainment. I almost died once, myself, but managed to glide onto a airship that was passing by just at that moment.

So Kelethin 2.0? (or is it like 3.0 or 4.0 by now?) 

[Ceryse]

So Kelethin 2.0? (or is it like 3.0 or 4.0 by now?) 

Possibly worse as, at least in Sanctum, there are places that look to be "secret" or hard to get to if you don't jump off the skyways/elevators and glide to them; except you fall right through them when you get there.

That accounted for almost a quarter of the deaths I saw. Roughly the same amount from people trying to jump and glide to either catch an elevator that left or a boat but didn't realize they couldn't possibly have the height to do anything other than smack into the side and fall to their doom.

Lastly, and most enjoyably, there's an elevator that takes you to where you can get Stigmas attached, higher level trainers and a few other NPCs. A lot of people would jump down the shaft instead of waiting for the elevator to come back up.. and most won't hit glide soon enough and splat into the ground.. or they catch the elevator on its way back up and go splat.

Then there's just the nasty things you can do with Personal Shops (as when you click to shop at one, you move directly on top of the person's shop.. but if its been carefully placed, you'll drop to your death). There's a good video of this and the others around; some even have good musical accompaniment.

[01101010]

Then there's just the nasty things you can do with Personal Shops (as when you click to shop at one, you move directly on top of the person's shop.. but if its been carefully placed, you'll drop to your death). There's a good video of this and the others around; some even have good musical accompaniment.

See...this... this is why I hate people. Why the hell couldn't I come up with that first? I mean that is genius...

[Ceryse]

See...this... this is why I hate people. Why the hell couldn't I come up with that first? I mean that is genius...

Since I'm home now and can access youtube.. here's the two videos showing the.. issues that I found most enjoyable; Its not there!, Its a trap.

Given that if you die this way you do get the experience loss.. I can only imagine the kind of whining that'll go on come release. Some of it will actually be warranted, I think. Thus far I find it entertaining enough to be worth it, however.

[ezrast]

Its not there!, Its a trap.

Ahahahahahahaha. Ahaha. Heh. Hardest I've giggled in a couple days.

[Lantyssa]

I'm amused that Pandemonium is safer than Sanctuary.  It'd be pretty hard to fall off most of the Asmodian city.

[Morfiend]

I'm amused that Pandemonium is safer than Sanctuary.  It'd be pretty hard to fall off most of the Asmodian city.

Yeah, I only found like one bridge in Pandemonium that you could jump off of. Also, can we take a second to all think how fucking stupid a name for a city that is?

[Soukyan]

I'm amused that Pandemonium is safer than Sanctuary.  It'd be pretty hard to fall off most of the Asmodian city.

Yeah, I only found like one bridge in Pandemonium that you could jump off of. Also, can we take a second to all think how fucking stupid a name for a city that is?

Qeynos is stupider. ;)

[01101010]

Qeynos is stupider. ;)

Oh here we go. 

[Ard]

Yeah, I only found like one bridge in Pandemonium that you could jump off of. Also, can we take a second to all think how fucking stupid a name for a city that is?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pand%C3%A6monium_(Paradise_Lost)

The capital city of Hell, from Paradise Lost.  I'd say that's a fitting name given the nature of the game world here.

[Simond]

Yeah, I'm not seeing why "Place where all the demons live" is a bad name.

[Morfiend]

Yeah, I'm not seeing why "Place where all the demons live" is a bad name.

Because according to the lore, the Asmodians see themselves as the good guys, not demons.

[Lantyssa]

Demons see themselves as the good guys, too.  Besides, I'd rather my capitol have a cool name like Pandemonium than some sissy one like Sanctuary.

[Hindenburg]

Demons see themselves as the good guys, too.  Besides, I'd rather my capitol have a cool name like Pandemonium than some sissy one like Sanctuary.

Depends on the writer.

[tmp]

Because according to the lore, the Asmodians see themselves as the good guys, not demons.

But they don't see the place they got stuck in after the world fell apart as anything but the worst sort of hellhole, so the name fits.

[Koyasha]

I constantly think of Pandemonium, the plane (from Planescape) when I hear the name.

And lore-wise, the Elyos and Asmodians are both good guys, technically.  Although in my opinion the Asmodians seem to behave better than the Elyos overall, from the stories I read in the libraries and the attitude of most NPC's.

[Ozzu]

I finally got to play this for a few minutes this morning. Wow. What a beautiful game and it runs really well. I've got an itch to fly though and I can't in the n00b area. 

[Ceryse]

My interest in it has held fairly steady, so I doubt I'll come to regret having pre-ordered it. GameGuard can go fuck itself with a chainsaw, though. My mouse is half useless in Aion because of it which is a big pain in the ass for PvP.

[Draegan]

You can get rid of Gameguard pretty easily.  Of course it's against a lot of things you agree too.

[Ceryse]

You can get rid of Gameguard pretty easily.  Of course it's against a lot of things you agree too.

I'm always very wary about doing such things. In WoW I never changed textures, or used anything against the agreement; not that I can recall at least. But, fuck.. with WoW I only knew Warden was there because they told us. I never once ran into it preventing or impacting my play or computer functions in any way whatsoever. It seemed to do its job as well as one could expect and nothing else.

GameGuard doesn't do its job at all and still gets in my face about mundane bullshit.

Just drives me insane the logic behind using GameGuard, or the lack thereof.

Almost as much as if you dare to question why GameGuard shits on the features of the G-series keyboards, lachesis mice, etc., etc., on one of the several forums for Aion and get to see people crawling out of the insane asylum about how its a good thing and evens the playing field. Except these things work perfectly fine; on a different OS. I only have issues because I'm still using a 32-bit OS. From what I hear there aren't problems with a 64-bit OS.

I wish I could believe it when they've said they're reconsidering using GameGuard for Aion and its western launch.

[Draegan]

I have no issue with a G15, Lachesis or lag with Gamegaurd on Vista 64.

[tmp]

I have no issue with a G15, Lachesis or lag with Gamegaurd on Vista 64.

Wonder if it could be the case of Gameguard simply failing to work as it's supposed to in 64-bit environment.

[Shatter]

I have no issue with a G15, Lachesis or lag with Gamegaurd on Vista 64.

Same, my G15 and game works fine with Vista 64

[Ozzu]

Aaaaand it's gold:

The wait is almost over for the year's biggest massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, Aion.

Today, NCsoft, the world's premier publisher and developer of MMOs, confirmed that Aion has been released to manufacturing. Aion is the highly anticipated game that has already taken Asia by storm and has quickly become one of the world's largest MMO franchises ahead of its release in North America on September 22nd.

In advance of the game's launch, Aion will be showcased at both GamesCom 2009 in Cologne, Germany, as well as the Penny Arcade Expo 2009 in Seattle, Washington. Both events will feature exclusive hands-on access to the 1.5 version of the game, which has yet to be unveiled to Western audiences. This version of the game introduces numerous enhancements, including continued improvements to Aion's innovative character customization that will now include a host of Western styles, as well as new zones, instances, skills, quests and continued game balancing and improvements.

Aion has already built major momentum among gamers across Europe and North America, with more than three million hours of gameplay logged in the game's closed best testing alone. Additionally, the Limited Collector's Edition version of the game is nearly sold out in retailers, and Aion is currently on the best-seller lists for PC games weeks ahead of the game's launch. Aion is available for pre-order from several participating online and brick-and-mortar retailers, including Aiononline.com, Amazon, Best Buy, EB Games Canada, Fry's Electronics, GameStop, Steam and Target.

Unlike any MMO before it, Aion is a uniquely crafted online experience where flight offers much more than just a way to explore the landscape - it is a strategic and integral part of combat, quests, and exploration. Players will dive into battle and plunge through thousands of unique, story-driven quests, all while trying to save a world literally shattered in half from centuries of brutal conflict. Using one of the most flexible and in-depth character customization systems ever featured in an MMO, players will be able to create genuinely distinct characters and explore a visually stunning world of ethereal beauty brimming with otherworldly inhabitants, mysterious enemies, and ancient secrets.

For more information about Aion go to http://www.aiononline.com.

About NCsoft
NCsoft, headquartered in Seoul, Korea, is the world's premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games, including the critically acclaimed Lineage(R), Guild Wars(R), and City of Heroes(R) franchises. NCsoft West is a division of NCsoft that holds operating responsibilities for North America, Europe, South America, and Australia/New Zealand. More information can be found at http://us.ncsoft.com.

[schild]

MMOGs don't go gold. They just have a date where they start taking your money.

[Modern Angel]

Is there going to be any open beta for this?

[kondratti]

Is there going to be any open beta for this?

There is supposed to be.... we dont have any dates yet.

[Draegan]

I thought I read somewhere that they were showing off a 1.5 english version of the client at some comiccon recently.  Hopefully we get the updated client to try out sometime soon.

[Segoris]

I thought I read somewhere that they were showing off a 1.5 english version of the client at some comiccon recently.  Hopefully we get the updated client to try out sometime soon.

With 5 weeks left, I'd guess it will be about 2 weeks until open beta to try v1.5
Also for the comiccon thing, this was posted 4 posts above your's:

In advance of the game's launch, Aion will be showcased at both GamesCom 2009 in Cologne, Germany, as well as the Penny Arcade Expo 2009 in Seattle, Washington. Both events will feature exclusive hands-on access to the 1.5 version of the game, which has yet to be unveiled to Western audiences. This version of the game introduces numerous enhancements, including continued improvements to Aion's innovative character customization that will now include a host of Western styles, as well as new zones, instances, skills, quests and continued game balancing and improvements.