Aion Beta Weekend 4 Comments
This weekend was the fourth Aion Closed Beta event.
I got my Gladiator, Samo, up to level 16. I got my first tastes of grouping up for a couple small quests. Very fun.
Here's a pic of Samo when I logged off today:
I also got to spend a hefty amount of time with the crafting system. I first got my Weaponsmithing up to level 50, in order to make my level 15 Polearm. Later, while questing, I got a rare recipe drop. I decided to spend some of my saved-up Kinah to buy the rare materials needed. After working my Weaponsmithing up to 75, the Spear of Demon was mine!
Here's a quick look, comparing the stats to my current weapon:
Now, last event weekend, I commented on some issues people were having with the game. I figured I'd do the same this time around.
Most of the issues I was seeing around the community were nicely summed up by this post on Aion Source.
Aion is too linear. There is no stray path that you can take to level your character.
True, but then again, this is based on the first 20-ish levels of the game. Later on, the progression is still rather linear from quest hub to quest hub, but the zones become more expansive. You're no longer just "following the road." Additionally, you can quest in The Abyss, the PVP zone, if you want to spice things up.
There is nothing you can do to customize your skills to make you have different skills than other players.
Starting at Level 20, your character starts to gain access to Stigmas. These allow you to gain new skills, customizing your character however you'd like. For example, by level 22, Samo would have access to Dual Wield, Improved Stamina and Crippling Cut. With only one slot available, that allows you to customize your character 3 different ways right off the bat.
Non-existent connection to the main plot in quests. Quests are like this: go chop off this mob's arm, or go tell Bob that Linda is a nyerk and likes him. Ect.
No. Just, no. The regular quests may be rather pointless, plot-wise. However, as I discussed in my questing preview, the Campaigns are directly tied in to the overall story of the game. While some of them may seem like any other quest, if you READ THEM, you will see the difference.
Flight is a gimmick that stops being amusing in the first five minutes of trying it out. There are no mounts in this game, either. It's actually worse off than other games as you have to run from place to place and you have no mount. 95% of the game is restricted and you can only glide. No point to flying, then.
First of all, flight is not a gimmick. It is an integral part of PVP later in the game. True, flight is limited in many places, but I see that as a good thing. Flight kind of ruined WoW for me. I actually enjoy experiencing the game world instead of flying past everything. Secondly, learn to Glide. The gliding mechanic allows you to quickly traverse the game world, and is FUN on top of it.
Poor class balance. Some classes just overshadow and stomp other classes into the ground. For instance, a ranger will never have a chance against a sorcerer. Fireball > wooden flying stick. An assassin will never have a chance against a non-assassin. They get 1hit.
And? The game is balanced around group PVP, just like damn near every other game. Of course, there will be mismatches in 1v1, but that doesn't matter. If you spend all your time in PVP battling solo, you're doing it wrong.
Now, I'm not blindly defending the game. It's not perfect, no game is. However, please don't make suppositions based on inaccurate information. I'm not even going to touch his last comment. Pointless.
Anyway, who else out there played this weekend? What did you think?
July 27, 2009 at 10:15 AM
I didn't get to beta again (honeymoons and all), but I've been keeping up with things (especially through my aforementioned nefarious means) and agree with what you've said. I've only been as high as 13, but have played each class to 10 at least once and enjoyed all of it.
I feel more attached to my character because of the customization abilities, that is a huge selling point here.
I'm not approaching it as a "WoW Killer". If that's what you're looking for, you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for "fun as hell MMO", you'll be happier. As long as your fun lines up with what Aion does well, which is a lot of things, but definitely not EVERYTHING.
I'll agree with the linearity, but also stress the epicness of missions vs quests. Sure they're gathered nicely for you (who enjoys running across the map 20 billion times, some clustering is good. Seeing scenery is good too. Beating it into your skull is bad). Missions are the story... quests are random stuff. If you have that expectation, I think it's all good. Don't expect random quests to be epic... that's kind of the point.
I haven't got to skill customizing part, so nothing there. We have to keep in mind its easier to balance fewer skill paths. So if you complain about lack of balance AND lack of skill customization, fie I say to you. You, sir, are a hypocrite. Or at least someone out of touch with game design concerns. Ideally, we have decent balance and decent skill path choices... Not uber tons of both. WoW struggles so much with this...
Finally... L2Glide may be my new favorite slogan. It's totally true. You figure out how to glide and you can zip through a zone. Also, I love jumping off watch towers and gliding away like I'm James Bond or something (with claws and wings?). It sort of adds an interesting twist to just plain old mounting up and riding. I can understand it's not for everyone though.
Anyways, that's my two cents. Sorry for the length, prolly shoulda just made my own post, but it happens... *shrug*
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