Aion (Open Beta, Launch Day Info too!)

[tmp]

I really think the whole point of the game is you CAN'T see enemy players levels. You can only see their rank, which I think is a cool thing.

Unless the game punishes you for attacking people who are "too low level" while at the same time making it impossible for you to see what level they actually are. Because then it's

[Draegan]

Falc beat me to /anon, nm.

[Draegan]

I really think the whole point of the game is you CAN'T see enemy players levels. You can only see their rank, which I think is a cool thing.

Unless the game punishes you for attacking people who are "too low level" while at the same time making it impossible for you to see what level they actually are. Because then it's

There is a "penalty" when you're fighting the other side via rifting.  Not in the Abyss.  At least I think that's right.

[Threash]

You can upgrade to the collectors edition at the ncsoft store for 10 bucks until oct 22, after deciding im going to be playing this for quite a while i went ahead and got it for the lvl 30 wings.

[Draegan]

The 10 bucks is worth it.  Basically you're buying 1 million kinah.

[Ashamanchill]

Suckers. I was grinding last night and I got an orange drop that sold for a million kinah. Solid gold armor, here I come!

[Xanthippe]

What level does orange start to drop?  How about blue?

[Shatter]

What level does orange start to drop?  How about blue?

Im level 29 and only got a 1 Blue which was a level 25 chain gloves off a level 26 mob so even blue drops are very rare but nice since it has 3 manastone slots

[Shatter]

The 10 bucks is worth it.  Basically you're buying 1 million kinah.

The CE wings are hella nice, the ability to fly for an additional 40 seconds is huge, as is not having to pay a huge chunk of change for them

[Nebu]

I have a dumb question for those of you playing this game: Can you get the best gear available at the endgame playing exclusively solo (including drops, purchasing, or crafting)?  

If the answer is "Yes", I'd be willing to put up with the grind.  



Note: I'm not going to get into any type of semantics argument about whether this should be the case or not.  I'm just asking the question. 

[IainC]

I have a dumb question for those of you playing this game: Can you get the best gear available at the endgame playing exclusively solo (including drops, purchasing, or crafting)?  

If the answer is "Yes", I'd be willing to put up with the grind.  



Note: I'm not going to get into any type of semantics argument about whether this should be the case or not.  I'm just asking the question. 

Apparently the best stuff in the game is all crafted. I haven't seen how that works yet though so take that with a pinch of salt.

[Falconeer]

Nebu, I don't know the answer to your question but I doubt anyone around here can answer that yet, not without quoting vague and not necessarily reliable sources. Would you put up with the grind based on unverified informations?

[Nebu]

Nebu, I don't know the answer to your question but I doubt anyone around here can answer that yet, not without quoting vague and not necessarily reliable sources. Would you put up with the grind based on unverified informations?

I assumed that there was a subset of players that have seen or are nearing the endcap and would have the answer.  If the game's focus is indeed pvp, then it would make sense that the best gear would be available to all player styles.

I'll just wait in the wings until a reliable source comes up with an answer.  If I can get even within 5% of the best gear in game solo, then I may start playing Aion again.   

[Nonentity]

As far as avenues for gear, I know that there is:

1. Being of a high enough pvp rank that you get gear that way, combined with being in a level 3 guild
2. Going on 5 man dungeons
3. Killing bosses in Abyss with raid group
4. Random drops
5. Crafting

No idea what their order of quality is, but the 5 man drops I've seen look pretty impressive.

[Falconeer]

Well, hit 25, watched a few cool cutscenes, learned a lot about the lore (which is surprisingly engaging) and the ongoing war and finally entered the Abyss. I love how the game suddenly tells you: "Ok, the tutorial is over. Go out there and kill people, this is a fucking pvp game!"

Seriously, hitting 25 is epic in a way and the game rewards you for that in so many ways. It really feels like everything before that was to weed out people (which is ridiculous, I know) and the real deal is just starting. Finally, flying is really, really cool in this game and whoever deemed it like "nothing so special or new" clearly didn't know what he/she was talking about.

[Koyasha]

Abyss gear is near-best and you can get it entirely alone if you really want to.  Crafted gear is occasionally superior to abyss gear, but is tradeable, so if you have the money you can also get that.  There's probably a few nodrop items, but for the most part those seem to be in the distinct minority and don't appear to be far and away superior to the rest of the stuff.

[Nebu]

Abyss gear is near-best and you can get it entirely alone if you really want to.  Crafted gear is occasionally superior to abyss gear, but is tradeable, so if you have the money you can also get that.  There's probably a few nodrop items, but for the most part those seem to be in the distinct minority and don't appear to be far and away superior to the rest of the stuff.

That's a big help.  Thank you. 

If I can purchase gear, get gear that is crafted, through pvp, or as random drops that is competitive, then I may have to give this game another try. 

[tmp]

What level does orange start to drop?  How about blue?

I've seen a few blue armour items for l.20 in the trader house, this seems to be the earliest as far as the drops go. There's also some blue craftable gear (earrings, rings) which are available for l.18 and are result of critted attempt of crafting a trinket which uses another critted crafted trinket as component, so these are pretty rare. Blue crafted armour starts a few levels later, this is some guy sitting mostly in blue crafted gear, as example.

[Falconeer]

There's plenty of orange Abyss equipment for level 30 (cool, as it has increased damage or protection against other players). The Abyss Points (AP) requirement isn't too steep but you need a few silver contribution medals too, which are earned by taking part in artifact and fortress battles, so nothing you can get by playing solo regardless your total AP.

Finally, sets and their bonuses are cool since Diablo. Itemization is not bad in this game, and I was expecting much worse from a Korean one.

[Threash]

Well, hit 25, watched a few cool cutscenes, learned a lot about the lore (which is surprisingly engaging) and the ongoing war and finally entered the Abyss. I love how the game suddenly tells you: "Ok, the tutorial is over. Go out there and kill people, this is a fucking pvp game!"

Seriously, hitting 25 is epic in a way and the game rewards you for that in so many ways. It really feels like everything before that was to weed out people (which is ridiculous, I know) and the real deal is just starting. Finally, flying is really, really cool in this game and whoever deemed it like "nothing so special or new" clearly didn't know what he/she was talking about.

Small abyss tip: turn on enemy combat messages in whatever chat you hang out, it doesn't apply to npcs so it serves as a warning system for when the other side is near as you can see their casting before you see them.

[Koyasha]

I don't think I've ever seen a blue below 20, but oranges exist all the way down to lowbie levels (not that they're common at all, or really worthwhile at that point other than for a shiny factor).  I've seen a reasonable number of them dropping in Morheim (and by seen them dropping I mean seen the zone announcement - whenever someone loots an orange item, it's announced to the entire zone) but Abyss and crafted gear is where you'll really get orange items for the most part.  Fire temple is the first place I know of where you can get a dropped orange item that isn't just entirely random - the final boss of the fire temple has a low (5% or less I understand) chance to drop an orange weapon.  I've actually seen one of these drop in person.

[tmp]

There's plenty of orange Abyss equipment for level 30 (cool, as it has increased damage or protection against other players). The Abyss Points (AP) requirement isn't too steep but you need a few silver contribution medals too, which are earned by taking part in artifact and fortress battles, so nothing you can get by playing solo regardless your total AP.

According to Abyss summary page here the contribution medals can be traded (also through the broker). There's also no detailed info on how exactly the medals are handed out, it seems to take into account contribution on individual level so it may be possible for a solo player who takes part in a ffa zerg assault on a fortress to get some of these.

[gryeyes]

If they doubled or tripled the exp from most questsm it would be so much of a better game.

[Shatter]

If they doubled or tripled the exp from most questsm it would be so much of a better game.

Id like to say that to just about every MMO Ive played

[Koyasha]

If they doubled or tripled the exp from most questsm it would be so much of a better game.

I wouldn't mind more exp from killing mobs, and I doubt you'll find many people who wouldn't want to level faster, but I really wouldn't like the quest exp to be increased tremendously without mob exp also being increased to keep the balance.  One of the things I find refreshing and enjoy in Aion is that I can do quests if I feel like it, but I don't feel like I HAVE to do them.  If I get tired of killing things in one spot, I can go off and do some quests that have me running around and such; it's not quite as efficient, but it's close enough to be ok.

[Draegan]

I have a dumb question for those of you playing this game: Can you get the best gear available at the endgame playing exclusively solo (including drops, purchasing, or crafting)?  

If the answer is "Yes", I'd be willing to put up with the grind.  



Note: I'm not going to get into any type of semantics argument about whether this should be the case or not.  I'm just asking the question.  

I havn't read any of the responses after this, and I hit quote.  

My 2 kinah:


You can solo your way to Abyss gear via grinding mobs for Abyss points, and also solo PVPing.  That is some of the best gear in the game.  It will probably just take a long itme.

You can craft gear, I'm not sure if some materials come from single group instances or not.  I have not looked deeply into crafting.

There are a LOT of Bind on Equip items that you can buy from people.  So grind money and you can get great gear.

If you want to go above solo and do single group instances, there is a lot of great gear that drops as well.

There is no raiding for gear in this game that I know of.

Edit:
I should of read the rest of the thread!

[Shatter]

The best gear in the game comes from Abyss points basically although crafted and other gear sources are also very decent.  In other words there are multiple ways to get gear and if you prefer to do solo PvP you can although Ive found most enemies I encounter are not alone or are close enough to other people that by the time you get them almost dead they find help. 

[gryeyes]

but I really wouldn't like the quest exp to be increased tremendously without mob exp also being increased to keep the balance.  One of the things I find refreshing and enjoy in Aion is that I can do quests if I feel like it, but I don't feel like I HAVE to do them. 

Thats the problem the quests are exceptionally craptastic in structure and reward comparatively. Not only do they give a pittance of exp, but for a nice chunk of them you will be needlessly backtracking the map 2-3-4 times in a single chain, killing nothing. For an amount of exp that you can acquire in in a dozen kills or so. Questing is a detriment to your leveling rate by a huge margin (generally). And even if you did all of the quests its not even remotely close to what you need to level/max. You have no choice, you will be grinding a corner for hours. This is not a refreshing take on Korean MMO game design. Its something that is going to be a detriment to many players with a moderately easy remedy.  I can grind a corner for however long is needed, but the quests go out of their way to kick your nuts and pay dick.

There should be some amount of parity between the two "options", and as of now there is none. Grind this corner an hour or do quests for 2 hours and STILL have to grind 30 minutes to achieve the same exp. Im only level 20 so my direct experience is limited, but I learned early that questing by and large isn't worth the time. Basically ive accepted that the price for reading the lore is losing a level per session.

[Ashamanchill]

Yeah that's pretty much dead on. I'm level 27 now and have hit a fucking wall as far as leveling is concerned. I accidentally took a look at my exp bar while grinding, calculated how many foozles I was going to have to kill to ding, and said fuck that. PvP is still fun, the only problem is I am already getting out paced.

Oh yeah, waylander, ran into your guild last night. You bastards wiped our raid on that Balaur Fotress General 

[Threash]

I think the  problem with quests is that they give wildly varying rewards, at level 26 i have quests that don't really have much difference from each other giving anywhere from 30k to 200k exp.  

[March]

I think the  problem with quests is that they give wildly varying rewards, at level 26 i have quests that don't really have much difference from each other giving anywhere from 30k to 200k exp.  

I'm currently suffering some sort of Pavlovian syndrome with the chain quests; what gets me is that sometimes I advance the quest chain and get nothing... it seems to happen most when the objective is to find something (the ubiquitous lost locket) and return it to the man of lost lockets.  When I click on the ADD summary bar, it just advances the quest with no reward.  There I stand, saliva drooling down my chin - completely unfulfilled.

Heck, in WoW, I get a few thousand XP and some gold just to swivel 30 degrees and talk to a different NPC... sheesh, we even get XP to talk to the same NPC who told you to talk to them.  So, yeah, advancing long chain quests without a chain of kibble is making me itch.

[Venkman]

Anyone else catch the Private Stores questionnaire that popped up last night? They asked if the recent patch "solved" the problem of AFKing, whether we used them at all and what we thought of them in general.

Reason I ask is because I'm curious about two things:

• Why are they so popular in Eastern games?
• Why would you have private stores and a faction-wide auction house?
  
  

To me, if you can do an AH, why have a Private Store? Private Stores only make a kind of sense if the wares being sold in those stores also appear in the Auction House search results, and there's some reason to list something in your Store rather than posting it on the AH, ala SWG or EQ2.

The 10 bucks is worth it.  Basically you're buying 1 million kinah.

Wait, what? 1 million kinah? For selling CE items or something?

[Threash]

No, thats just what the lvl 30 wings would cost you otherwise.

[Venkman]

Oh, ok, that makes sense.

[tmp]

Why are they so popular in Eastern games?

If i understand it right plenty of these games sell playing time on per-hour basis rather than per-month. As such, they have more incentive to have player stick around even if the player is afk, while the players have more incentive not to stick around afk.

Why would you have private stores and a faction-wide auction house?

Probably due to the above, but being able to sell things out in the wilderness allows some shrewd people to capitalize on it. Like that one guy i saw who was selling items needed for gathering quest right next to the npc with said quest, and just in the right chunks for the turn in.