Aion: The Tower of Eternity

[Kaseixjaa 0]

So, Aion: The Tower of Eternity is a new game coming to the states and Europe this September. It's already out in Korea and China, and from the trailers and what I've read, it looks like a great game. The graphics are stunning and the music seems to be excellent (unfortunately I haven't played it at all, so my insight it only what I can take from others) but theres plenty of videos about Aion.

The ones I particularly enjoyed were the ones that demonstrated the vast character creation system. There is literally thousands of options, and barring player laziness, you'd be hard pressed to find two characters who look the same. One guy actually made a character that looked like Wolverine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aion:_The_Tower_of_Eternity

Click the above wikipedia link to learn more about Aion.

Here's the short synopsis: 4 main classes that each branch into two more classes, three factions, Elyos (light) Asmodian (dark) and Balaur (angry giant things cast to "hell" and coming back with a vengeance, of sorts).

Classes are same for both the Elyos and Asmodian factions (not sure about Balaur). Nice in-game interface from what I've heard, with some comparisons to WoW, you can fly at level 10, which plays an integral role in PvP'ing. Initially you can only fly for about 45 seconds, but that increases with level, and if you buy the collectors addition you get an extra minute of flying time by default.

As for PvP, that occurs in the Abyss, which I believe is where the Balaur were cast to (by the Gods). In the Abyss, Legions (equivalent of a guild) control castles, and the guild that owns a castle can earn money via taxes.

The fighting system is also interesting--the way it works is, you have your basic skills, that lead into a tree, meaning if you use one skill (X amount of times) you can unlock the next skill. You also have to use X skill, to be able to use Y skill, creating a chain, very much like a fighting game.

(Note: My memory isn't 100% accurate so if you I made an error in my information, please feel free to correct me.)

This game has seriously made me consider buying a new computer (something I've been contemplating for awhile, seeing as my current one is about six years old and extremely outdated). I'm not really huge in mmorpgs, but this game looks great.

If anyone has heard about this game, or if this topic has piqued your interest, please share. I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on the matter.

Edited 7 Aug 2009 by Kaseixjaa (see edit history)

[Stormsworder 0]

Leave it to the makers of Guild Wars to make awesome MMOs.

I'm not a fan of paying to play a game, so I won't bother. Me, I'll stick with Guild Wars and RF Online.

I've heard about it from all the people in RF being trolling idiots and saying they're going to Aion.

[Kaseixjaa 0]

Oh, that reminds me... Something did disappoint me about this game... The Chinese and the Koreans have a bad ass payment option--you basically buy a virtual card of sorts, for X amount of money with X amount of hours... so instead of paying for the month, you pay for whatever you play... Of course America couldn't do that... I shouldn't be surprised but considering I'm going to college in a couple weeks and I don't like to play a game all day, it'd make more sense to pay for the hours, not for the month. Oh well.

And I've played RF online... No offense, but I thought that game was terrible. Guild Wars was a good game though.

Oh, and another thing... All the gear in Aion is customizable, which is cool. It's designed to prevent people from choosing something more aesthetically pleasing than something that is more strategically useful.

Edited 7 Aug 2009 by Kaseixjaa (see edit history)

[Stormsworder 0]

If you played RF Online while Codemasters owned it, then yeah, it was bad. But now thankfully CCR owns it and works on updating it and have increased XP gain rate.

Yeah, because being scantily clad and being more heavily armored than someone with a buncha armor is kinda odd. XD

[Kaseixjaa 0]

I'm not sure whether CCR or the codemasters owned it while I played... but it was very repetitive... granted most RP's are, but to me it was just one of those dime a dozen free mmorpgs where the quests were either stupid or bugged, was impossible to get anything unique equipment wise and all you did was buy armor that looked the same as your past 5 sets of armor... I blame Rain (not this forum's Rain) for all these awful rpg experiences.

Yeah, because being scantily clad and being more heavily armored than someone with a buncha armor is kinda odd. XD

Eh, well... That's one way companies appeal to gamers... in this case, male ones. Haha.

Edited 7 Aug 2009 by Kaseixjaa (see edit history)

[Stormsworder 0]

Rain... Rainstater? >> Actually, probably not...

Eh. It used to be retail, and it was really bad on retail. The higher armors could been made better, but eh.

[Kaseixjaa 0]

Not a Rain on these forums. xD And considering they're free, RF Online, Ares, etc... Weren't AWFUL... Just not something you could play for awhile.

[Stormsworder 0]

Yeah, but if you think about it, RF Online was originally pay to play and buy and stuff, unlike most of the other free-to-play games.

[Kaseixjaa 0]

True. The only reason I played on it was 'cause I was playing on a private server. Same thing for Ragnarok Online and Rag. Online 2. xD Those games just appeal enough to pay for them. I've played WoW and Lineage II private servers as well. Maybe I'm just stingy.