Anyone following this game?

Seen it, you get wings at level 10 it seems so you can fly around while you fight

So I have been following this for a while. have not seen a lot of it .. just got the Preorder and can get into their Beta Weekends, so may have more info later.

So I played a bit last night. I need to check the NDA status before I post any of my initial thoughts.

Okay, so it looks like the North American NDA was lifted around the 1st. So here is my first impressions on the game, and some info about it.

The game pits two opposing factions, the Asmodeans and the Elyos. Both factions live on opposite sides of a shattered sphere on the inside of the sphere. Both races have the same 4 classes, Fighter, Ranger, Mage and Priest. As far as I can see you are pretty much the same if you are Asmodean or Elysium, so it is more a choice on dark (Asmodeans) vs light (Elyos).

You can tell this is an asian designed game. The quests are the normal Kill X of Y monster, Collect n of m items or deliver item z to person q. Now the map is very helpful here as you get the quest, and you do not know where to go, you can click on the locate button which will show you on the map where you need to go for the quest. As you are fighting things, there are a TON of the monsters out there, and people all over the place whacking at them. Kill stealing is very much around you, and I have yet to detect a mechanic that locks mobs. I have lost quest items as I started fighting something at the same time someone else did. i felt I had hit first, but when the fight was over the corpse was locked to me. This grinding and KS mechanics are popular in the asian designed games I have played.

The land is beautiful. I think they leveraged a lot from Guild Wars in th graphic department, with some great character models from things like Lineage 2. i will see if I can get some screenshots posted. The music is also good to get that blood pumping as you get into danger areas or battles. Just think of things like the Darth Vader theme and how it set the tone. same sort of stuff here.

To do PvP, you have to be able to get to the opposition, which means you have to fly. You get your wings at level 10, and since I have only reached 7 I have not seen this. They do have flight routes between the villages and camps, so you get a feel for what flying will be like.

One complaint is that the combat specials do not queue, so if you do not time your strikes right with hitting the buttons, you may not have a skill go off that would finish off the mob, and instead you find yourself eating the dirt. I do like the way they chain skills, so if I open with a certain strike, then another skill opens up to use.

Things cost in the game, and the talk about NCCoins, so i think there is MRT in the game, yet have not seen it. Everything costs, for example it costs 100 Kinah, the coins in the game, just to bind to a location. Cost me 1000 coins to talk a flight between villages.

In all though, the game is very fun. There is a small storyline, but I have not seen a lot of the meat of it yet. I was able to get to level 7 in about 4-5 hours, so you will not be grinding low levels for very long. Crafting is available, though I have not tried it, but have collected items for crafting, which is open to everyone, and you must skill it up to gather better items, plus you have a chance at failure to collect items which I think is based on skill and rolls while collecting.

I think this might be a very fun game to play, and may have some good PvP in it. Hopefully can give more info (and screenshots if I can figure that out)

Oh, and for those of you that don't like Game Guard Hack Protection software, sorry, but this game uses it.

Kharael - Elyos Siel
Kharl - Asmodean Siel (Why do they allow this ... both factions on one server
Hopefully this only allowed in beta)

Okay, so flying is fun. You press the page up key and you unfurl your wings, and then can move like normal, but if you pitch up with the mouse, you are flying up. Pitch down, and you glide down. It's really controllable and pretty fun.

Since the wings come out your back, you have your arms free, and can fight, and use all of the specials yu had before. Just now you are in flight.

You have a timer or stamina meter though. once the meter is exhausted, you must be on the ground, or you start plummeting to your death. (Gonna have to check that out). I think this mechanic is very well thought out and plays very well. Gonna have to see how it works in PvP.

I have Been laying this also this wwekend, got a 13 spiritmaster 10 ranger and am now working on a healer type, atm 8 priest. So far the low level game is fun but i do not like the afk merchants that are in every town and village, reminds me too much of Lineage2 and the massive lagfests everytime you went to turn in quests.

So far I might just buy this to play as it will be retail before SW:TOR will be and thats what I am looking to get into.

I also am on the Seil server all Asmondian tho so I can swap things between chars thanks to the account shared part of your bank. Look me up Kharl or anyone else thats in the beta names of Morgis, Octavis and Whisperr.

So Garrick and I tried trading some stuff today, and found that the areas are set up in instances or "Channels", so you may have to change channels to get all of the people in your party together. Luckily is is fairly easy to change Channels, just go to the Menu, select support and then change Channels ... okay, it could have been easier!

I have played both sides, and they both are fun .. I have yet to see the Asmodean Home city, and will try that on the next Beta weekend (whenever we can play). I had fun on both sides, and I even played a mage, whcih I normally hate, but had fun, though died a lot due to the squishyness of the mage -- have to remember to keep the Mage Armor up.

Edit - So I ascended before logging out tonight. Ascending ia a quest where you are granted your wings, and you go to the capital city for a ceremony. so I got to See Pandaemonium the city for the Asmodeans. It was good and interesting but seemed a bit not up to the scale of the Elyos city, which really reminded me of a castle city in the Final Fantasy series with the bright colors and it being in the air, it meemed more majocal than this one. in all the whole process was about the same on both sides.

OK, now that CB3 is over my final take on the game is I went out lastnight and grabbed the preorder(got into beta thx to fileplanet)

I Ascended 3 chars this weekend, Ranger, Chanter, and Spirit Master. The ranger is just what you think it might be, any ranger class from any other game but it has wings. Spirit Master, caster class with elelmental based pets. Chanter, nothing like the Enchanter from EQ or DAoC, it is a healer base with buffs/debuffs and whips a staff around like the old Friar from DAOC, except its in chain armor.

Needless to say I LOVED the chanter and will prob work on it more in next phase of betas.

Kharl we need to coordinate when next phase starts so we can roll thr quests and areas like wildfire. That goes for anyone else that is going to be able to get into the next phase. Mabye we can even make a Cairdeas legion in the next phase.

Absolutely. Yes, I had already pre-ordered, as I have been following this for a while, but was unsure if I could find the time to play. it is that good though that I will just have to find the time, as I had fun.

The game starts with 4 classes - Warrior, Scout, Mage and Priest. At level 10 you ascend and get your wings, and you also get a Job Change. Warriors can become Gladiators or Templars. Scouts can become Rangers or Assassins. Mages can become Sorcerers or Spirit Masters. Priests can become Clerics and Chanters. Each advanced class gives you different skills you can learn, along with the skills you can learn from your base class.

Aion is a fun game and I can't wait to see more of it in the next test. Yes lets definately coordinate for the next test.

http://help.ncsoft.com/cgi-bin/ncsoft.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=7284&p_created=1245275914&p_sid=hmu99eCj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MTQsMTQmcF9wcm9kcz00NzEmcF9jYXRzPTAmcF9wdj0xLjQ3MSZwX2N2PSZwX3BhZ2U9MQ%21%21&p_li=&p_topview=1

following prepurchases are currently available from the NCsoft Store.


Aion Prepurchase - available for $49.99*
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For more information on what these prepurchases provide, please see the following articles:
Aion Prepurchase Features and Bonuses
Aion Collector's Edition Prepurchase Features and Bonuses


The boxed versions of Aion are not available in stores yet, but the Aion Limited Collector's Edition boxed version will sell at an anticipated price of $69.99, and the Standard Edition boxed version will sell at an anticipated price of $49.99. For more information regarding pre-ordering these boxed versions, please see http://www.aiononline.com/us/preorder/


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Players who wish to use a credit card will be able to choose from the following recurring billing options*:


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(Example: Your credit card will be billed for $75.99 in one lump payment if you choose the 6-month plan. The $12.66 simply shows the average monthly rate - it is not the amount you will be billed.)


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Players who do not wish to use a credit/debit card can use game time cards, which are available at many North American retailers. City of Heroes, City of Villains, Lineage II and generic PlayNC/NCsoft Game Time Cards can be used for Aion game accounts.


Players who wish to activate the account using PayPal® will be able to choose from the following purchase options*. You can choose to make a One time payment or have your PayPal payment Automatically recur.


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Next phases of the closed beta


Closed Beta Event #4 - July 17-July 20 Focus: Elyos and Asmodian levels 1-25

Closed Beta Event #5 - July 31-August 3 Focus: TBD

Closed Beta Event #6 - August 14-August 17 Focus: TBD

from what I understand this game is being ported over from Asia where it has been out a while. That may make a more complete game at release if it is true. That seems to be the sticking point on most games these days.

Its been out in Asia for allmost a year allready, when it releases here it will release at version 1.5 which is what they are playing currently. So yes it will be alot more pollished and fleshed out then most games when it releases. I just hope that it isnt full of chinese bot farmers link Lineage2 was. I loved that game but I couldnt see to pay for a game that was so overrun by the bots that would grief kill you if you messed with their cash farming areas.

Maybe I missed something. I pre-ordered the game and got the beta code. But I don't see where to enter it or get the download.

never mind

I've been testing this for a while now, I really should check the boards here more often. Its easily the most advanced North American beta ever, due directly to the fact that the game has been out in Asia for almost a year and the primary transitions to NA, is simply language translation. Also why they're only doing 6 short public tests for the closed beta.

Currently going into Phase 4 of 6, this game is more polished that Warhammer in enviornment detail, quest completion, and overall gameplay. Its hard to get a meter on PvP as there hasn't been a whole lot of it to experience yet.

Kharl and Garrick gave a great overall explanation of the lower levels of the game. Its very much Guild Wars meets WoW, with a little Final Fantasy Mixed in. Guildwars style movement options and control interface, WoW graphics with the anime influence (decent quality and very low resource requiring) and quests without a whole lot of thinking required, and Skill names kind of remind me of the FF legacy (Blaze I, Blaze II, Blaze III, etc as you level up and learn a new more powerful version).

As is the norm in todays world, you take the best of whats already existing, try to tweak it a little and hopefully add a little new flair of your own to create a new MMO.

Aion imo has succeeded in making a new MMO that has a unique feel to it. You dont feel like you're playing the same game you just left after a few hours, atleast I dont. The combat mechanics are altered just enough, quests and how you go about completing them also has its own feel to it. Add in combat while flying and the whole MMO experience is now different.

Anyhoo, theres my 2 cents of spam...I kept it brief!

Good to hear Levens! Hopefully we can all get together for the next CBT. I will keep my eyes open for people.

-Edit: Oh Ev! Didn't see the above post! Excellent! We definitely must get everyone together .. this is gong to be fun. See you when the next test opens up. I have the day off work so i will be ready for it.

http://www.gamereactor.no/grtv/?id=4305

Good explanation of MANY things regarding Aion. Covers a lot of topics, even those that think they know it all find something new in this.

Its a presentation by some NCC staff.

So I am off work today, you shoudl be able to find me on Elyos on Kharael on Siel Server

I am also on Vent


editied with the correct server name (I hope)