Aion Beta

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I would like to first say that this game is amazing. It completely destroys any competition in both gameplay and graphics. Everything is so smooth, especially the flight system.

Firstly I would like to explain the game a little bit. There are two races which are available for play, The Asmodians the Elyos. After a battle that separated the planet in two, the Asmodians have lived without sunlight and had to fight to survive. The pampered Elysians, however have lived a mostly peaceful life under the warmth of the sun.

There is, however, a third race. Initially created to protect the planet, the Balaur have evolved, and began to attack both races. You must pick your side, and fight against your rivals, and the balaur.

There are 4 main classes you can pick. They are Warrior, Mage, Priest, and Scout. Each of these branches off into two sub classes. Warriors of level 10 must choose either Templar, or Gladiator, Mages of level 10 must choose Sorcerer, or Spirit Master. Priests of level 10 must choose either Chanter, or Cleric. Scouts of level 10 must choose between Ranger, and Assassin.


Server Select Screen.

Character Select Screen.

Race Select Screen.

Elyos Class Select

Asmodian Class Select




Character Creation, First 3 are Elyos Last one is Asmodian.










My Elyos Chanter

Asmodian Cleric

If you can afford this game, I would definitely recommend buying it.
It is amazing.

Your Elyos Chanter looks like a Zora from TLoZ.

Still looks like an amazing game though. I wouldn't mind trying it out.

Looks fucking awesome

Wish i had the time to MMO again D:

that game looks fucking sick...
but, by the way you said "if you can afford it..." then im not interested lol.

Looks pretty epic

Wish my comp was good enough to play some beast games like that...

Looks like many poeple are interestred about this game (considering 6 memebers are reading this topic now ) Yes, it looks really geart, picteresque graphic, interesting fighting system etc.
But most of us play RS; play RS because our computers can hardly run a better game
Anyway, if we try this new game -> less time for RL + less time for RS & less time for WG...
... no ty; I like to play Runescape

Looks fun, might buy it.

have like 3 friends in the beta, they love it, there are cinematic for quests and lots of stuff to do from what I have heard.

My friend even changed his vent details to aion b/c he likes it way more than wow rofl.

It looks pretty good and I'm pretty sure I'll be playing w/e it comes out.

From what I've read they are also going to be doing an Open Beta, which will allow even more people to try it.

Really unfortunate that they are charging $15 USD per month. I doubt I will fork out money like that, but I have no clue what will happen.

Looks extremely good though.

All I used to play is PC games, but I've switched to console gaming exclusively for the past year almost, so really haven't heard of Aion until the beta hype got started around the interwebs. But I suppose it's looking to be this years WAR/AoC in terms of hype, amirite?

So yeah, I've done some research on it over the past two days. It does look potentially good just from an outsiders view, and obviously there's also some pretty positive things coming out from the beta players mouths.

The graphics aren't all that impressive to me when compared to previous mmos I've played like WAR, AoC, LotRO, GW, etc. Lots of flat/blurred textures. Typically I'm not a huge graphic whore though, so as long as the gameplay is fun enough, I'm perfectly fine. The concept of the Abyss is really attractive to me, although the so-called "PvPvE" tagline seems more like a gimmicky sales tag than an actual feature. I remember similar PvP/PvE features melded together in other games, and it never really amounts to anything all that special.

The idea of the "ascension" quest immediately reminded me of Guild Wars, but the idea that you earn your wings for ascending is really appealing. The time limits on flying is a put-off, but understandable and important to the game's structure.

One of the things I've read about that I love most, as small and negligible as it may be to some, is the idea that you can apply stats of certain armor to a different armor so that you can keep the armor you like, or mix-n-match different kinds. It's a feature I've been thinking of and wishing was applied in mmos for a long time, and I'm glad that Aion decided to finally use the idea. It creates a lot more flexibility with aesthetic looks, and also diversifies the looks of the player base, since not everyone will necessarily have the same looking high-end armor like in other games.

Whew. So yeah, talking about it is fine and dandy, but I want to finally get my hands on the thing after this whole two days I've been sitting on the hype train for the game . So until they officially announce the date of their open beta, I'll be watching more vids, reading more previews, and working on pronounciating the name "Aion" properly :S .

Double post sorry.

Why does it look almost exactly like Guild Wars but better?

oic, it's the WoW ripoff version of GW. why can't other games understand they will never match the unstoppable force that is the World of Warcraft?

o well, actually does look decent, not sure if it's worth the $15 YET, but I'm sure if it picks up enough players it will be. only 2 races and 4 classes tho? cmon...

looks way too asian for me

don't they have INTERNATIONAL DISTRICTS?!?! it was always fun to laugh at foreign ppl on guild wars

I was being serious though, International districts were awesome ideas on GW, as well as Districts in general. Being confined to one server where you're stuck with the same idiots every day kinda sucks.

The more I read about this game the more badass it sounds. I looked at all the classes/subclasses, just about every one of them can be compared to a class in WoW. I'm not saying they are stealing anything, because these classes are pretty basic in most MMOs

Gladiator (Aion) = Warrior (WoW)
Templar (Aion) = Paladin (WoW)
Cleric (Aion) = Holy Priest (WoW)
Chanter (Aion) = Shaman (WoW)
Assassin (Aion) = Rogue (WoW)
Ranger (Aion) = Hunter (WoW)
Sorcerer (Aion) = Mage (WoW)
Spiritmaster (Aion) = Warlock (WoW)

Just a quick reference. Those that play WoW might want to pick a class similar in Aion, or you could just try something completely new. Personally I would probably pick Spiritmaster or possibly Gladiator.. If there is an open beta I can't wait to try it!

To Johnny, they kind of combined the GW district idea with the idea of non instanced gameplay. Basically it's like having 10 servers to choose from at any given time.

To Kiwi, the spirit masters summons not being able to fly has supposedly been fixed.

Downloading the beta.. 9 gb. But it doesn't start until the 6th, so I have plenty of time. @ 40%.

Is there cleric lightly or more heavily armored? I liked my cleric in D&DO, he could thwack the shit out of stuff; WoW healers die when they stub a toe.

Just an update, the "open" beta will be starting on September 6th and ending on the 13th.

I use the term "open" in quotations though, because you'll still need to find a key through sites like Fileplanet, Massively, MMORPG, etc. You can also get in by preordering the game as well.

But yeah, if you don't want to preorder, start looking out for keys as they start popping up this week around the net.

You shouldn't ignore the lore, it's actually really good, and makes the game more interesting.

Yeah, I'd just go the preorder route then. Only $5, and along with a beta code you'll also get access to the character name and server pre-select on the 18th, a couple exclusive stat-boosting items, and a 2-day head start into the game on the 20th before it releases in stores on the 22nd.

Like I said though, you can also try your luck getting keys from other websites, as Fileplanet isn't the only site that distributes keys. There are lots of other gaming/mmo related sites that always have these beta key giveaways and distributions.

I'd recommend the preorder though. The extra goodies and perks that come with it are well worth it .

And by the way Ranma, and anyone else planning on giving Aion a shot, we should decide on a server to use once preselect comes around, that way we can play together for once, and on something besides Runescape. I've played many, many mmos, and honestly I have a rough time meeting the kind of people I've met in WG in other games. And yes, that's a compliment.

I coughed up the $7 for fileplanet. I was a little scared because it was over 12 hours (EST) into Tuesday and still nothing about the beta, I thought I missed the keys or something. But it came up at about 3 PM and I signed up. Can't wait to play this game. If I enjoy the beta I'll probably pre-order it so I can get all those pre-order perks.

For anyone planning on playing, I will be playing Elyos on the server named Siel. My name will most likely be Ranko. Also, if you find you like the game, you can do a digital collectors edition upgrade for only $10 on the playNC website.

Edit: Siel is a confirmed server and the one I played on in the closed beta. I will also be on this server during the open beta.


Edit 2: There is an IRC channel for Aion on the Quakenet server, really nice community with a few appearances of a couple GMs. The channel is named #Aion

Ranko?

By the way, which faction are all of you would-be Aion players going for?

At the moment, I'm leaning towards rolling an Elios character. While I love lots of the Asmodian armor/clothing, the look of their capital city, and think their wings generally look a lot better, the pale, sunless and often snowy environments are a turn-off for me. I much prefer the bright, colorful, and temperate environments on the Elios' side.

Probably Asmodian. I've always seen myself as an "alliance" player in WoW, never wanting to play horde. The whole dark-side-of-the-world theme makes it seem kinda like horde, which is what I'd like to experience. But whatever the people I know play I'll probably roll with. At the start of the beta we should leave our info here on faction/server/class so we can all come together.

Once the game is released and things get rolling we should decide on something official, it'd be great to play together.

Asmodian b/c thats what my friends are doing.

As I've stated, Elyos. Don't wanna be some blue chick with back hair.....

Verelyse (my main in WoW) is a chick. I just make sure everyone I play with knows I'm not so it doesn't get awkward.

I was given a European beta code. For anyone else who has likewise gotten into the Euro beta, I'm playing an Asmodian on the server Perento. Character name is Sonixpber, see you there.

So far I'm enjoying it, but the questing system is a bit of a pain in the ass. Then again thats probably because I'm used to all the addons that make questing in WoW painless. I'm playing a warrior, I plan to make it a gladiator at level 10.

Sorry for the double-post, but here goes.

Once I got into the habit of locating quest NPCs, it made it quite a breeze. The combat system is pretty enjoyable, and I'm liking it so far. I was having a rough beginning because I was level 6 and still hadn't upgraded my weapon. Now that I have, its getting a bit easier. I haven't used any manastones yet because I'm not sure if they are worth saving for better equipment or not.. Anyways I'm looking forward to more content, but at this rate I'm definitely pre-ordering this game!

only problem I have heard of so far is some UBER lag spikes from so many people being on the servers and the gay game guard shit errors....

Yeah, this has probably been one of the messier open betas out of the many I've played in.

Fortunately I haven't been having nearly as bad of issues as many others have had. I did have problems with massive ping spikes twice, but they were fixed both times they restarted the servers yesterday.

So for the majority of the beta so far, it's luckily been fairly smooth sailing, or gliding as the situation may have it, for me. Overall, I really like the game so far. I didn't set my expectations unrealistically high like I mistakingly did for Age of Conan and Warhammer Online, and it's worked to my benefit. While I'm not absolutely blown away by any of Aion's individual aspects, I'm all around happy of what is there.

The graphics are mostly nice, the art style is great, and the character models and animations are fantastic.

The gameplay is pretty true to the genre. Nothing particularly new or innovative, but everything that's offered is very solid and works as intended. Flying is enjoyable, and a very liberating feeling to earn your wings and go vertical for the first time. The gliding mechanic is also surprisingly fun and addicting, and I'm currently working at mastering the skill .

I'm also really impressed with how smooth the games runs in terms of framerate and how well the game handles having dozens, if not in the excess of 100, players on the screen at the same time. I have an above average gaming PC, and where games like Age of Conan, Warhammer, and Lord of the Rings Online (my last three mmos) would take a serious crap in populated areas, Aion runs remarkably smooth and at a steady framerate almost all the time. Any framerate drops I experience is usually when entering a densely populated area for the first time, but things go back to buttery smooth in <10 seconds.

My only major complaint really is the quests. They're all very standard and bland kill and collect quests, which became really old after my second mmo. And the little voice-over cinematic scenes they threw in kind of feel out of place. I was expecting something perhaps on par with Guild Wars type cinematics, when the majority of the time it gives you a single voice-overed line with a 5 second video clip. That's one thing that I really, really miss from a game like Runescape that just isn't ever done in any other mmos- really unique, sometimes cinematic, quests with legitimately fun and entertaining stories that don't involve reading bland walls of text and killing 5 of generic monster X or collecting 3 of generic item Y.

But overall, it's a great game that has a lot of potential. While I feel that it does struggle from forging it's own unqiue identity among a sea of endless other mmos in such a saturated genre of gaming, I think Aion excels where many other mmos fail- and that's at creating a really sound, solid game that does almost everything already tried-and-true, instead of promising something revolutionary and ground-breaking and failing miserably at it in execution. I can see myself playing Aion for a good while I think. At the very least, I'm pretty sure at this point that it'll keep me entertained more than 3-8 weeks that has become the standard with many mmos I've played as of late.

(grats if you actually read all of that. I know I wouldn't had it not been my own post :/ ).

I've been having a few gameguard errors but I found that if you just ignore them instead of clicking OK, you can continue playing the game as normal. I literally just got my wings. The amount of skills and the weapons you get once reaching level 10 will hopefully make things a ton easier, though I'm not sure if I picked the right weapon or not. Nevertheless, I'll probably upgrade it in a few levels anyways. And yes I read it all Pali, I'm trying to learn how to glide effectively also. Flying isn't as great as WoW, but its there and working. The 1 minute limit is a little annoying, especially since you have to wait another minute or two to fully recover your fly time.

To those that are on the beta, which would be more worth my money, having never played either: WoW or Aion?

Don't get me wrong, I love WoW and I can't wait for some new content (see: Icecrown Citadel) but as a new player to the game I'd say Aion. I like the idea of starting out on the same level as everyone else. Then again if you had some friends answering every question you had about WoW and making you knowledgeable, you could be level 80 and geared to raid in maybe 3 months. Only time, however, will make you a better raider.

I'm not going to give you a solid answer on either one because I haven't played Aion enough, but as Pali said it seems finished, well made. And it works. WoW has way more content, however. Leveling in Aion is enjoyable I find.

Yeah, leveling in WoW is one of the things that drove me nuts. It would seem like I'd get stuck on certain levels forever. Aion is fairly well paced, and thus far it seems like there's an abundance of quests. It probably helps that they added a ton of quests with the 1.5 patch.

Don't mistake me either though, when I say it's finished, it's more of an assumption- though an educated one I'd say. Aion's already been out in Asian countries for a year now, and currently boasts 3.5 million subscribers last I heard. So I would say that after a year of already being released, they've already had lots of time to polish up the game and fill it with content in places that it may have originally lacked. The number of subscribers it still has over there is reassuring too.

On another note, I'm not so sure I'll be playing Elyos anymore once the game officially launches. I've unfortunately, err, overplayed the beta so far, and I'm not entirely sure I'm mentally prepared to redo like 20 hours of work after characters are wiped. I may just end up rolling Asmodian just so I can start fresh and do new things .

TLDR; I might roll Asmodeon for launch now, not sure. But is it decided that WGers will be all rolling on the Siel server, then?

Excuse the double post, but to Lefty and anyone else wanting to get into the beta, you can get a key as long as you have a Fileplanet account- no subscription required any longer. Worth noting though that the keys are supposedly "very limited," but I don't know the actual amount they have.

http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/aion/beta/?_cmpid=fp191

Sorry Sonix, kinda sucks for you .

Yea leveling in wow sucks, I would suggest aion just because I heard its more enjoyable and everyone else is a noob too in a general sense.


I heard the reason for all the ping issues in aion is b/c the Aion team is doing background work in the beta servers.

/me <-- Elyos Gladiator...

/me<-- is going to play on a server that you guys don't play on... WINK.

Duno about servers yet. will there be RP.PVPVE servers? and I yes. what ones will be one?

Hehe go Asmo, I took out two gladiators and an assassin by myself today.. bring it on =)

Heard the American and European servers will be separated?
Who here is US and who is European?

European myself.

American...cant wait !!!

Meh, I didn't really get into the game as much as I thought I would. Mostly because school just started + I'm still raiding in WoW. But I got my wings and still played a bit after that, it was fun. I don't see myself pre-ordering this game though, just because I have other things to do.

I am no longer rolling on siel, I will be rolling Vaizel with my legion.

rolling on Yustiel w/ some friends of mine

will be Shockz in the legion Echos of the Void