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 by bilingue, Level 39
Last updated at September 26, 2009, 3:27 pm
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Aion has been the topic of hate and love, everybody is rushing to reach the highest level and that is exactly why I am witting this post. As much as I would like to be "hardcore" again and join in the competition, there is no way a "casual" like me can do that; instead I will point out what I have seen in the first 10 levels of Aion.
The first time Aion was installed in my computer, my enjoyment was reduced to pure anger and frustration thanks to GameGuard. What exactly is Gameguard? According to wikipedia:
" nProtect GameGuard (sometimes called GG) is an anti-cheating software developed by INCA Internet. It is installed alongside many Asian massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) such as Lineage II, 9Dragons, Cabal Online, Phantasy Star Universe, GunZ: The Duel, Flyff, Pangya and Ragnarok Online to block malicious applications and common methods of cheating. nProtect GameGuard provides B2B2C (Business to Business to Consumer) security services for online game companies and portal sites."
You see, Gameguard is more of a problem than a solution (at least for me), my computer stopped responding twice before I could find out the problem. How ironic that in order for Gameguard to work and I could play Aion, my antivirus needed to be turned off. As of now, NCSoft has taken the problematic software out of Aion, good job NCSoft.
Upon starting the game you need to select a server and create your character, here is where Aion grabbed my attention. I can't remember what other game offered so much customization (except the City of Heroes franchise and Champions Online) to create your own online persona. Gamebynight posted an entry in his site showing two Aion pictures: Michael Jackson and Arthas. That shows the potential and how powerful the creator can be.
Someone wanted to play as Obama in Aion.
Meet Ekhoe:
Every single time I was in combat my eyes turned red.
The game uses Crytek’s CryEngine and it makes Aion a beautiful game that scales remarkably well on older systems.
The quest system in Aion is very simple, every quest gets logged in your journal and you can read for more information. There is a small twist, if needed you can "ask" for the location of the NPC, item or location you need to find. The campaign quests are very entertaining and gives you a sense of accomplishment in the world of Aion; the rest are pretty much the same "kill x and bring me" kind of chores quests.
click here for a better image
The location gets marked on the map and makes it very easy to find; the map is extremely easy to navigate. Certain items or locations can't be tracked using this method. The UI will remind players of other known games and offers some options.
Aion's combat is very traditional, you have your skills, auto-attack and combat movement benefits. When you’re in combat, moving forward gives you a slight damage bonus, moving backwards gives you a slight defense bonus, and strafing gives you a slight evasion bonus (kinda like AoC). Using the special attacks will trigger other set of skills to start Combo-chains.
One of my favorites things in AoC was how the NPCs in Tortage had their own voice, very inmersive and you can find that in Aion at some degree. Certain elements of the story are provided via a small movie showing mobs or locations that you need to visit. During the quest for my wings at one moment I need to fight some mobs, next thing I know the game pauses and there is a DBZ fight in the game, it was very unexpected.
That's all for my level 10 experience and I have to say it is a very solid game that has not crashed my computer since release. Complaints? Sure, some users are still experiencing lag, and the server queues can be a pain. My plans are to reach level 25 in order to see some pvp action and decide what's next for me; if the game becomes "grindy" (as people are saying), I might have to reconsider what to do. Aion is not innovating or game breaking; it is a new well polished MMO that will find it's target audience and might cannibalize Lineage's player base.
For those that plan to stay on Aion please enjoy the game to the fullest; however if you hate Aion with a passion or just don't like it, breath, don't give in to any temper-tantrums and wait for the "next gen" MMO that will release; after all there will be more MMOs carrying the "next gen" flag even if it is not truth.
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16 comments
Dizko Sep 26, 2009 at 4:10 pm
+1 votes
It's a gorgeous game that's for sure. My buddy at work really wants to pick it up so I might join him and do so. I was going to wait it out until they got the server overload issues all sorted out but maybe I'll cave and give it a try. CO was fun but it's clear that it's been forgettable considering I haven't touched it in over a week. Ah Well.
I played the beta and it plays almost exactly like WoW but with a little more complexity in the combat. The coolest thing is the directional modifier stuff, so freaking sweek. Clicker noobs won't last long against a keybinding player.
My only concern is that the game will lack that deep PvE experience that WoW players drool over, for me the PvP part is what I like, but I'm worried that the game won't last very long at the level cap because of the lack of a counterpart to Raiding.
I played the beta and it plays almost exactly like WoW but with a little more complexity in the combat. The coolest thing is the directional modifier stuff, so freaking sweek. Clicker noobs won't last long against a keybinding player.
My only concern is that the game will lack that deep PvE experience that WoW players drool over, for me the PvP part is what I like, but I'm worried that the game won't last very long at the level cap because of the lack of a counterpart to Raiding.
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Sol Invictus Sep 26, 2009 at 4:24 pm
+1 votes
Do keep sharing your experiences with us. I'm not going to pick up the game because I don't have time for MMORPGs.
bilingue Sep 26, 2009 at 4:43 pm
+1 votes
I guess MMOs are my addiction, the last 2 single player games that I remember finishing were Assassin's Creed and Gears of War 1.
Time will tell if I will ever see a real "virtual" mmo with gloves and visors ;p
Time will tell if I will ever see a real "virtual" mmo with gloves and visors ;p
Project_Xii Sep 27, 2009 at 3:16 am
+0 votes
Great. So then millions of nerds can stay at home and hump the leg of an imaginary Night Elf. That wil certainly make internet cafes less traumatising to visit.
Helion Sep 26, 2009 at 5:22 pm
+1 votes
As much as they try to hide it, MMOs can be reduced to one thing and one thing only: Progress Bars. Wow you can fly! How many bars do you have to fill for that? That is the one key reasoning behind every MMORPG, and that is the key deterrant for me. City of Heroes/Villains did a remarkably good job of hiding it, also thanks to a great community, but the spell didn't last long.
I'm waiting for an MMO to make a revolution in the genre, and I see a tiny ray of hope in Love, the one man MMO. Until then, I shall keep out of the genre that rewards time spent vs personal skill. That is going to be true for Aion as well, sadly. Some of the concepts sounded fun.
I'm waiting for an MMO to make a revolution in the genre, and I see a tiny ray of hope in Love, the one man MMO. Until then, I shall keep out of the genre that rewards time spent vs personal skill. That is going to be true for Aion as well, sadly. Some of the concepts sounded fun.
Helion Sep 26, 2009 at 6:05 pm
+1 votes
It's being developed by only one man, and it's quite amazing to look at.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tag/love/
All RPS articles about love
http://www.quelsolaar.com/love/
Official Site.
http://news.quelsolaar.com/#home
Eskil Steenberg's (developer) blog.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tag/love/
All RPS articles about love
http://www.quelsolaar.com/love/
Official Site.
http://news.quelsolaar.com/#home
Eskil Steenberg's (developer) blog.
Dizko Sep 26, 2009 at 11:49 pm
+1 votes
Oh it's developed by one man, that changes everything. See I thought the game was a solo/MMO which would be silly right? Just play a standard RPG.
Cleric Oct 5, 2009 at 6:25 pm
+1 votes
Man, nice tip about the moving in combat thanks!
I'm nearing lvl8 now, and I saw that the combo moves system was sorta taken from AoC. And I'm glad they did that, otherwise it wouldn't be as "interactive fighting" as it is now. I like this game. It has a lot of potential and I can see my self enjoying the game for some time to come
One thing that is pi55ing me off though, is the LAG! OMW, they MUST do something about that, and fast! It's easy to start a new char on a new and not-so-crowded server, but to have played a while and now wanting to start over, and being stuck on a server that is getting more traffic is extremely aggravating!
I hope NCSoft is focusing on the server flooding problem, coz it can get worse now that it's been released to the rest of the world :P
I'm nearing lvl8 now, and I saw that the combo moves system was sorta taken from AoC. And I'm glad they did that, otherwise it wouldn't be as "interactive fighting" as it is now. I like this game. It has a lot of potential and I can see my self enjoying the game for some time to come
One thing that is pi55ing me off though, is the LAG! OMW, they MUST do something about that, and fast! It's easy to start a new char on a new and not-so-crowded server, but to have played a while and now wanting to start over, and being stuck on a server that is getting more traffic is extremely aggravating!
I hope NCSoft is focusing on the server flooding problem, coz it can get worse now that it's been released to the rest of the world :P
bilingue Oct 5, 2009 at 8:19 pm
+1 votes
The lag problem is weird, here is an example: My neighbor has the same ISP I do, he had a great connection and I had a ****ty one. Eventually it got fixed but if you still have bad lag I recommend using lowerping.com . I use the service from time to time and highly recommend it.
Yea I like how the Aion's combat but still prefer AoC mechanics. I am an MMO romantic, I have a crush on AoC and Vanguard .
Yea I like how the Aion's combat but still prefer AoC mechanics. I am an MMO romantic, I have a crush on AoC and Vanguard .
Cleric Oct 12, 2009 at 4:33 am
+1 votes
NO! Just when I thought last night that I'd check it out soon as I got a little fed up with the lag. It's not that bad tbh, I used to play LOTRO with such a ping, but knowing it can be better it lead me to maybe try it out.
bilingue, you said you do use lowerping.com right? Is it true though, did NCSoft ban proxy services?
bilingue, you said you do use lowerping.com right? Is it true though, did NCSoft ban proxy services?
bilingue Oct 28, 2009 at 6:11 pm
+1 votes
Sorry for the late reply, I have used lowerping several times and it was working ok when I tried it on Aion (on release) but Slappy is saying NCsoft banned the services. Can't really say what is true because I canceled the game, could not take the grind man :/
Cleric Nov 9, 2009 at 6:04 am
+1 votes
I thought I'd add something now since I've reached lvl 24
The lag has improved dramatically tbh. It used to be horrible in the past at times, but now I lag only in high population areas, and it's not that bad as it was before. Mostly it's system lag, not internet lag.
There are two tips I can give to help with this though, and that is to quickly go to the Options menu, and disabling the option to show PC Names, and pressing Shift+F12 (disables PC Player Models). This helps not to pull unnecessary information it high-pop areas where you wouldn't necessarily want to see them, and lag up your machine...
The game experience till thus far has been great! I haven't been in much PVP yet, as the story and quests are fun!
The PVP I have been involved with, were exciting and fun to say the least.
People have asked me if there is open-world PVP, and yes there is. It's just a challenge to find a rift gate to get access to the other side of the planet and go behind enemy lines
In areas where the Asmodaens have access to through the rift opening on their side, you might find yourself fighting alone or in a group doin quests, and suddenly an assassin or hunter uncloaks from hiding and starts attacking you on your own ground :P
They can also enter through in groups, and that can get tight as they can work together in slaughtering everything in sight, unless a worthy group can compete against them.
The lag has improved dramatically tbh. It used to be horrible in the past at times, but now I lag only in high population areas, and it's not that bad as it was before. Mostly it's system lag, not internet lag.
There are two tips I can give to help with this though, and that is to quickly go to the Options menu, and disabling the option to show PC Names, and pressing Shift+F12 (disables PC Player Models). This helps not to pull unnecessary information it high-pop areas where you wouldn't necessarily want to see them, and lag up your machine...
The game experience till thus far has been great! I haven't been in much PVP yet, as the story and quests are fun!
The PVP I have been involved with, were exciting and fun to say the least.
People have asked me if there is open-world PVP, and yes there is. It's just a challenge to find a rift gate to get access to the other side of the planet and go behind enemy lines
In areas where the Asmodaens have access to through the rift opening on their side, you might find yourself fighting alone or in a group doin quests, and suddenly an assassin or hunter uncloaks from hiding and starts attacking you on your own ground :P
They can also enter through in groups, and that can get tight as they can work together in slaughtering everything in sight, unless a worthy group can compete against them.
aionplus Dec 28, 2009 at 12:54 am
+1 votes
Choose automouse2 Aion bot and you wont have to stay infront of your monitor looking like a gollum.
Everybody knows Aion is a grindfest, do you really want to spend 10hrs/day repeating the same basic movements when you can have fun playing other games?
For more information visit automouse2.com
Email me automouseus@yahoo.com
Everybody knows Aion is a grindfest, do you really want to spend 10hrs/day repeating the same basic movements when you can have fun playing other games?
For more information visit automouse2.com
Email me automouseus@yahoo.com
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