Aion

[Dasquian Belargic]

Another day, another MMORPG from the makers of City of Heroes and Guild Wars...


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http://www.aiononline.com/en/

"It is fantastically gorgeous, with thousands of little details to gorge on."
- MMORPG.com, June 2009

"The screenshots (http://www.aiononline.com/en/media/screenshots/)don't do this world justice at all. It's true epic fantasy."
- Examiner, June 2009

"The world of Aion is high fantasy at its finest."
- GameSpy.com, August 2008!

What is Aion?

Aion is a visually stunning massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) where your character wields devastating powers and sweeping wings to explore a celestial world of breath-taking beauty and epic adventure. It features cutting-edge imagery, gorgeous environments, and a unique fantasy world. Your character plays a pivotal role in the fate of Atreia, where the enemy is not only the other player faction but a deadly ancient evil as well.

The Thrill of Flight: Soar to great heights and battle in the open skies of Atreia. Flying in Aion™ is not just a way to travel - it is a strategic and integral part of the game, adding a fresh dynamic to all aspects of the genre, including combat, quests, and exploration.
Stunning World: Discover a meticulously crafted fantasy world brimming with otherworldly inhabitants, mysterious enemies, and ancient secrets.
Epic Adventure: Experience captivating, story-driven quests as you play a critical role in a celestial civil war that has raged for hundreds of years.
Intense Visceral Combat: Engage in a spectacular and evolving combat system utilizing combos, skill chains, counterattacks, and spectacular aerial combat. Plan and execute raids against rival factions, and earn special ranks and rewards through victory.
Unprecedented Customization: Take individuality to a new level through an incredibly in-depth character creation tool, advanced crafting systems, and extensive item customization.
In-Depth Crafting: Create potent tools of war and defense through a highly flexible crafting system that extends to hundreds of items, weapons, and abilities.
Innovative PvPvE: Aion™ introduces a new dynamic to MMOs by combining both PvP and PvE gameplay into an exciting new style. As player factions fight amongst themselves and against the AI-controlled Balaur, enemies can become allies in a desperate fight for survival. Join thousands in the relentless war for dominance in the pivotal Abyss!
Unmatched Visuals: Explore one of the most amazingly beautiful and detailed MMORPGs ever as you fight to save a vibrant world, all brought to life by the powerful Crytek engine.

***

Looks very Final Fantasy-ish to me. The game is available to pre-order now, with any pre-order purchase getting the player into all the pre-release beta events leading up to the actual release date in September.

[Darth Phantom]

I'm not much into MMO's anymore, I was addicted to EverQuest for quite awhile and I swore to never again play a MMO, lol. I still haven't touched WoW, despite all of my friends playing it like their lives depended on it.

[Dasquian Belargic]

I'm not exactly eager to get back into playing MMORPGs, since WoW was such a time-sink for me, but I do kind of like the look of this. Most likely I won't play another MMORPG until the Old Republic game comes out, though.

[Peter McCoy]

A guy in work said his mate plays it and it's okay, nothing special. Flying for flyings sake, apparently. I'm not that interested in it - I'm back on WoW for now - working on a Death Knight OP mutha!

[Darth Phantom]

I'd love to play Old Republic, but even that worries me, lol.

[Pierce Tondry]

I'm at the point where I find MMOs boring. I have no interest in unproductive tedium (aka grinding). Therefore I won't be trying this at all.

[Droo]

Pre-ordered the game today. Downloading and installing at the moment. I seriously needed something different to WoW and until Modern Warfare 2 is out, this is it.

[Zasz Grimm]

i beta'd it and i pre-ordered as well. I put down WoW about 5 months ago, hardcore raiding for almost 5 years did me in. This is a nice casual pace game from what I noticed while playing from 1-20, and the levels actually mean something, compared to WoW, and it's much more rewarding as you level.

[Khendon Sevon]

It uses CryEngine?! Awesomenesss :) I might have to check it out if only to see what that insane piece of technology is capable of.

...business expense ;)

[Dasquian Belargic]

You beta'd this game, Zasz? Can you tell us more about it? :angel

[Droo]

I can tell you it goes live for those of us who pre-ordered it in five minutes. I can't wait to get stuck in! :)

[Dasquian Belargic]

Well... well?! Come on, man! Don't leave me in the lurch!

[Droo]

Let me tell you a story. A man works Monday to Friday, let's say a regular 9-5 job, and he comes home on Monday night to play his new game Aion. Flashback to Sunday night, it's the day of the game's launch, and the same man is waiting in a queue to join the server on which he'd paid in advance to reserve himself a place. Four hours pass and he gives up and goes to bed safe in the knowledge that it was merely the usual case of MMO teething problems due to the servers being overwhelmed on its first day.

So tonight he returns from work and logs in... to find himself in a three and a half hour queue. Four hours later and he's still waiting to even catch a glimpse of the game he paid for... the funniest thing about this is that the official retail launch of the game isn't until Thursday and with more gamers expected, can you imagine things getting much better anytime soon?

Who knows. I've had a few hours to play it today thanks to having the day off work, but just before 5pm I got disconnected from the server and put to the back of a four hour queue to play again. The story above applies to a friend of mine and I've no doubt he's not alone. All I can say is Blizzard must be rubbing their grubby, money-stained hands together right now.

In short, the game is alright but nothing special and nowhere near worth the wait to play.

[Zasz Grimm]

You beta'd this game, Zasz? Can you tell us more about it? :angel

Sorry, was busy, life combatted with Pc checkin'. Don't go into it really expecting WoW, because it's different, not entirely so, but different. I'd say it's hard to describe, and a much more casual pace as I stated before. My roomie is leveling a chanter and im a ranger atm, both are level 15. The graphics are amazing, I will admit that the landscape is breath-taking, and being able to fly in certain areas only enhances it; and more importantly the aerial combat is incredibly fun, and depending on class, you get abilities that enhance it.

As Droo said, the queue's were monstrous on initial headstart, but they've leveled out since the game went live and such (At least myself and my roomie have had no real Q trouble on Marchutan). One of the other cooler things about this game is just the absolute level of customization you can do to your character, and not just on initial creation. You can modify gear appearance, and you can accept and acquire every single crafting skill that I've noticed. As you gather, you gain experience, and the same with crafting, and with crafting, while somewhat still annoying, can turn into being a rewarding experience as myself and my room-mate have found out. He went on a gathering / crafting binge and is almost a half level ahead of me because of it.

The story focuses on the individual basis making the experience much more..Unique to you, and dependant on what path you take. If you have any specific questions I'd be glad to answer them, pardon my grammar and horrible spelling, replied to this as I was hitting the hay.

[Tear]

Little news (http://kotaku.com/5365842/hope-on-the-horizon-for-aions-server-woes)on your server queues.

[Zasz Grimm]

Incase anyone grabs this and is playing on US servers, I'm on Marchutan, Elyos faction, name is Alhana and am atm a 23 Ranger

[Lilaena De'Ville]

What is the monetary investment for this game?

...I'm still waiting to be able to justify the $15 a month for City of Heroes to my budget so I can play that from time to time. But I'm curious about this game. :)

[Peter McCoy]

US$14.99/£8.99 - seems to be the standard for MMO's in general.

[Dasquian Belargic]

As far as I'm aware Guild Wars is the only major MMORPG without that standard subscription fee.

[Zasz Grimm]

Yeah, it's gonna be 14.99.