Aion in a Nutshell

OK, so this is a bit overdue, considering I haven't played Aion for about two weeks, and how I've already decided (like most who gave it a try) that I'm not going to be renewing my subscription. But I figured I'd share my thoughts on the latest MMO to hit us. This isn't a review as such, since I didn't play it for long enough to get a full picture (I didn't even reach 25, where the Abyss PvP "adventure" kicks in).

WoW is the only online game I've played (with the exception of a handful of drunken Gears of War matches, which - of course - I got owned). Unlike many players, I didn't have any other games (such as EVE Online, EverQuest, and Ultima Online...never touched them) to compare WoW to, either when I first got it, or ever since. Therefore, it's all I've known, and I've never expected anything more.

That said, of course, I am easily distracted. So when I saw the adverts for Aion on the Curse web site, I was intruiged. When I later saw it had been released, I got out my card and ordered it right away

The Story

So, there's these two factions within Aion, the Elyos and the Asmodians. The world used to be whole, but through whatever reason I didn't bother to listen to, it split, with the Elyos getting the upper half, bathed in sunlight and butterflies and happy thoughts, and the Asmodians getting left in the cold, dark world beneath. Then there's this third faction who I assume must be the really bad guys, because both sides are fighting against them, as well. No, I don't remember their names; I'd stopped paying attention by this point. This was about as much as I got from the story, before I stopped caring.

You choose your faction, then you choose a class to play. There are four basic classes to start with: Warrior, Scout, Mage and Priest. At level 9, you get a quest to become a Daeva (get your wings), and at the end of this chain, you get to choose a speciality for your chosen class (Scouts can become Assassins or Rogues, Warriors become Gladiators or Templars, etc).

First Impressions

After, and I'm not kidding here, TWO HOURS spent in a queue trying to get onto the server of choice (I watched a couple of episodes of Dark Angel while I waited, so it wasn't that noticable), I finally got into the character creation screen. And then I was gone for another hour trying to get my little hairy-backed heroine looking just right. I got into the game and ran about a bit, amazed by the sights and graphic spendour, and did maybe a handful of quests. By this point, it was about 2am on a Sunday morning, and bleary eyed, I had to go to bed. The next night, I went back on for another two hour wait. Frustrated at this point, I went onto another server, and spent yet another hour creating another perfect character. So anyway, eventually I get into the game, and the adventure started from there.

Levelling

Levelling in the early stages is actually quite easy, with a few simple questchains. I found that after the ascention quests, everything suddenly took a leap into more grinding. Level 10 - 20 took significantly longer than 1 - 10, and I know that's the way it should be, but I mean significantly. And from what I've heard, 20 - 25 is pretty much a grindfest nightmare.

So you pick a class and level it through a variety of quests with the addition of a lot of grinding (I didn't get far enough to see this first hand, having stopped my subscription by the time my highest character was at level 20). This has been a talking point on a lot of the Aion forums, since this game has been live in Korea for a year already, and they haven't complained once about the amount of repetitive grinding just to get anywhere. Whereas us, the pampered WoW-sters that we are, had the game for a handful of days before deciding it wasn't good enough and had to much grinding.

Is it Like WoW?

Now obviously I can't say "They stole XYZ from WoW!", because that would be small-minded. The entire MMO empire is built on ideas borrowed from one another. Much in the same way as RPG's, there's a formula to MMO's that works, so why deviate from it?

But of course there are a lot of similiarities, which I guess is another reason I don't see a reason to continue. I have a game already that I'm used to, and that I'm (marginally) good at. If I want a game where you level through various quests, choose various classes to suit different roles, find groups for harder obsticles, level professions, sell your items to other players for a profit, and fly in some places...I'll renew my WoW subscription.

One thing I really did like about Aion was how your class is designed to fit a specific role within a group, and that's it. This means that a cleric will only ever come into a group to heal. You won't get one QQing that their DPS is better than the gladiator's so they should be able to DPS. The class just isn't designed that way.

This however brings me to a less liked (absent) feature within Aion, which is mob tagging (or lack thereof). For the class I rolled (spiritmaster) it wasn't such a big deal, but if you're a slow damage class, you would really struggle with claiming mobs as yours. Basically, the way that it works is this: Cleric McHealor starts attacking a mob. Because he's a healing class, his DPS is quite low. Ranger McDickhead jumps in at 75% mob health, thwacking it down in a few moves. Mr Ranger would have earned 75% of the XP from that mob. And, because he did the majority of damage, he also gets the loot. Even though Mr Cleric hit it first.

Did You Enjoy it at All?

Sounds like a lot of moaning so far, doesn't it? That's not my intention. I did enjoy it for a while. It was something different, it was visually stunning, and there were some differences that I would love to see implemented into World of Warcraft, such as:

• You can setup a private store for when you're AFK. This is basically like the auction house, but you don't pay a fee for listing, and you can't move while this shop is active. This meant that you could setup a little shop while you go make a cup of tea, and while you're gone someone could pass by and need just that item, buy it from you, and ta da!


• You could customise your outfits through dyes. Don't like the hideous lime green tunic you've just looted? Dye it black!


• Of course, the character customisation is immense.

Will You Play it Again?

Probably not, no. It was more like one of the usual PS3/X-Box games that I buy; I play with great enthusiasm for a few days/weeks, but eventually I always go back to WoW. It's familiar, it's safe, and for all it's flaws, it's still a superior MMO

The Money Shots

Here's a small collection of screenies I took while playing:

Catrina in the starting area.

L2R: Toydoll (Spybabe), Catrina (Catrinna), Aiv (Aiv)

Running the first instance-style area.

Nice wings!