Re: AION: Tower of Eternity

**LordMeatwad** · 07-29-2009, 05:30 PM

News: Aion interview from Comic Con

SDCC 09: Aion demo and interview
by Brooke Pilley Jul 24th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Interviews

Our very own Editor in Chief, Elizabeth Harper attended San Diego Comic Con this week and had a number of interesting interviews. One in particular was with the NC West Aion community team. Many things were covered, some of which you probably already know. Here's the stuff you may not have been aware of.

Aion will be launching with a maximum level of 50 -- and there was a bit of vocal inflection on the word "launching." Does this mean NCsoft plans on increasing the level cap at some point in the future? Speaking of launching, the North American and European community feedback has been extremely positive about Aion launching at version 1.5 -- the same version Korea is currently at.

As for Korea, they may be leading the development of Aion, but NA/EU feedback will affect the game's direction. NCsoft feels it is important for players all over the world to enjoy Aion. One example of western influence on the game is that it will be launching with many more instances than originally intended because apparently we're big fans of dungeons in this neck of the woods.

NCsoft also hopes to launch future patches as close together as possible in the game's various regions. Both development teams work very closely together to alleviate the localization process. What does game localization mean in Aion? According to the person we spoke with, the main difference between the Korean and NA/EU versions is language/text and lore. The game mechanics will actually be the same.

This flies in the face of the rumour that has been circulating that western audiences will experience less of a "grind" in their version. Hopefully, we can get some clarification on this in the future.

When talking about Aion, you must inevitibly discuss PvP(vE), so that's where we headed next. What's to stop highbies from ganking lowbies? There doesn't seem to be any punishment mechanism in the Abyss according to what we heard, but the zone is broken up into various level ranges. This should artificially separate the highbies from the lowbies, but technically a highbie could break away from his or her path and engage in lower level ganking.

As for rifts, which are small portals leading into the enemy's PvE areas, there is a punishment system. The developers have introduced a "curse" mechanic, which prevents high level players from escaping through rifts once they've killed players deemed too low level for them. This mechanic should be interesting since you can't actually tell what level your enemies are in Aion and it has apparently been working well with the Korean players.

We wanted to know what made Aion different from other MMOs and the community person really wanted to stress flight. Even though games like City of Heroes have done flight before, it never held the same kind of strategic value as it does in Aion. Not only can players attack each other from the air and ground, they can also siege fortresses and even specific PvE content. Some PvE is only accessible via flight, so flight isn't just a simple travel feature -- it's a necessity.

Even gliding can be very useful if you manage to take advantage of Aion's thermodynamics system. The game world features pockets of hot air that can provide small boosts to your gliding height and range.

Aion will also feature rich levels of customization. The character creator provides vivid diversity in character appearance, which is compounded when you add it to their armor skinning feature (allowing you to apply different looks to your restricted armor type). Manastone sockets will provide statistical diversity and stigma stones let players choose various special abilities that suit their play style.

Finally, there's the Crytek engine. Even though some players may not appreciate the Asian-inspired art direction, they can't scoff at the stunning visual quality that isn't very hardware intensive compared to the competition. The artists paid extreme attention to detail and the various animations are fluid and unique

Aion is currently in closed beta and set to release in North America on September 22, 2009. A number of us here are in the beta, so you can stay up to date on our coverage by bookmarking Massively's Aion category page.

Source article:
http://www.massively.com/2009/07/24/...and-interview/

**LordMeatwad** · 07-29-2009, 05:37 PM

TenTonHammers Aion PvP Interview:

Aion PvP Q&A with Producer Brian KnoxPage:12Tags: in Ten Ton Hammer Network Aion Anonymous Brian Knox Interviews
Posted July 24th, 2009 by Cody Bye

Aion's PvP-side, demystified.
Will PvP predominate the Aion experience? What shape will PvP take when North American and European players get deeper into the core PvP play and the Abyss? Players have a number of questions about Aion PvP, and Aion Producer Brian Knox was at San Diego Comic-Con 2009 to clear things up and reveal a little more about Aion's endgame!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ten Ton Hammer: In some previous interviews, you've discussed PvE and PvP being separate. Is that really the case? I've been hearing about people who were in PvE having to engage in PvP against people that came to their area via portals and things like that. What's the real PvP scope of Aion look like?

Brian Knox: Basically the scope is that PvE and PvP are blended together in Aion. That said, you can choose your path as far as where you want to go and you're not penalized if you want to switch your mindset partway - if you want to go from PvE to PvP and vice versa.

Ten Ton Hammer: So that's where everyone was confused.

Brian: One of our major aspects of the game is the concept of earning Abyss points. You can earn these via PvP and PvE. So for instance if you're out kill the Balaur, you can get - let's say - ten Abyss points. And if you're killing players you get ten Abyss points. You can earn the same gear by killing either the Balaur or the PvP.

You might make different choices in your gear depending on your playstyle, but you're still earning points in a particular direction. You don't have to "restart" if you decide that you want to play something different than PvP or PvE.

... Later in interview...

Ten Ton Hammer: What can players capture in sieges?

Brian: You can capture artifacts anytime you want - there's not set time limit on these - and they'll give your legions (Aion guilds) buffs, or it will debuff the other side. You capture these artifacts and they're actually really helpful in capturing the big fortress.

The fortresses are timed, but they're not a once-a-week sort of timed events. They're nightly and they vary.

So you're not expected - if you hold a fortress - to defend it for weeks and weeks and weeks. It's meant to fluctuate back and forth so players can enjoy the content. The Balaur - the PvE race - can own it as well. You have to compete against both factions.

Ten Ton Hammer: What if you have the highest ranking on the server in terms of Abyss points?

Brian: You can actually have a skill that turns you into a raid boss for a particular amount of time. Obviously this skill has a *long* cool down timer, but for five to ten minutes-

Ten Ton Hammer: You're badass!

Brian: Exactly. But it does have a cooldown timer so you can't just sit around and grief people. There's also a thing that lets people know that you're in the zone and they should come and attack you to try to know you off.

Source and Full 2 page Interview:
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/71749

**GoldDust** · 07-29-2009, 08:09 PM

Originally Posted by LordMeatwad

Brian: You can actually have a skill that turns you into a raid boss for a particular amount of time.

*Woooooooaaaah*, a-MAZing, that's total news to me! A player can become a Boss~!! That's so awesome. They've thought of so many cool new concepts for this game!

**Reiketsu** · 07-29-2009, 10:52 PM

Just an FYI, the patch server is up and the notes are available on the Aion website. Of particular note: They have added two new servers, and to help populate them, character creation on the existing four servers has been disabled....

**Epylon** · 07-30-2009, 12:47 AM

It's not like that's a bad thing. After all we should be happy. 4 servers already filled with the game not launching for another 2 months? That's AWESOME! And since everyone that plans on playing isn't going to participate in the beta's that means 6 servers isn't near the full potential of how many ppl will be playing. I know ffxi had like 12-15 servers .. i wonder how many WoW had..

**Hatnclox** · 07-30-2009, 01:21 AM

I prefer not letting more people over crowd our server, especially because of those one channel areas.

**Reiketsu** · 07-30-2009, 06:41 AM

Oh, I'm not saying that it is a bad thing. I mentioned it for TG members from other games who may have pre-ordered since the last CBT and were looking to join us this weekend.

**LordMeatwad** · 07-30-2009, 11:52 AM

Here is an introduction to Aion with footage from the Closed Beta Events. Very Short and Simple. This was made by me

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6gcmyw423A[/media]

**Epylon** · 07-30-2009, 04:04 PM

Neo that's really awesome! Your love for the game is infectious for sure. Even if i never wanted to play it before i do now. Good work man.

**LordMeatwad** · 07-30-2009, 04:43 PM

Originally Posted by Epylon

Neo that's really awesome! Your love for the game is infectious for sure. Even if i never wanted to play it before i do now. Good work man.

Thank you

**LordMeatwad** · 07-31-2009, 03:22 PM

CLosed Beta 5 starts in One hour! Ill be on after 7:00pm EDT or in 5 hours

**Hatnclox** · 07-31-2009, 03:46 PM

14 more minutes.

**xrisonfire08** · 08-01-2009, 10:21 PM

Im really interested in playing this game but until I get out of AIT all I have to play on is a laptop and a 500kbps connection that varies. Does anyone who has played this game thing that it will run off with those specs?

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**LordMeatwad** · 08-03-2009, 01:07 PM

Im not positive but what card is in your system it should run ok 20 frame rate. You have dx10 so i guess your card is good enough.

**LordMeatwad** · 08-04-2009, 06:07 PM

New 1.5 trailer on youtube:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVhpWGmehhU&feature=player_embedded[/media]

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