Aion: First NA Beta

NEXT AION BETA RUN: FRIDAY JUNE 19th

View the Aion Beta screenshots here: http://s726.photobucket.com/albums/ww265/AionBetaCL/

Most of the non widescreen shots are from Myself, Rilu, Mentaro, Jambori. Widescreen shots by Nekoarashi.

I spent the past weekend trying out NCSoft’s (Lineage 2, Guild Wars) new MMO Aion along with a few other friends. There were 5,000 keys given away and they were all gone within about an hour or less. My first impression is that it’s very similar to WoW. I started off in a newbie area, which is essentially a large island called Poeta. Since there is a lot to cover, I’ll break it down in sections.

Experience Points: Can be gained by defeating monsters, or doing quests.

Quests: Pretty much all of the quests I did were fetch quests in some shape or form. That or kill X mob and come back. It was slightly addicting though. They have a compass similar to WoW, and it will locate NPCs or mobs for you if you click their name in your quest log and chose “locate”.

Jobs: There are 4 basic jobs; Priest, Warrior, Scout, and Mage. Each of those have 2 different jobs you can branch off to.

Wings: Wings are earned through a simple quest to become what’s called a Daeva at level 9. Not all areas allow you to fly, and flying is limited by a timer.

Skills: Pretty basic stuff as far as MMOs go, but you can perform skill chains (mages included). Basically after doing 1 skill, you get the choice do to another as fast bonus damage.

That covers a lot of the major game play, but I don’t think it’s where the charm lies in the game. Here are other things I noticed while playing;

• When it’s raining your character will notice, and pull out a leaf umbrella if you’re idle.
• Characters will emote independently, sometimes based on what you type.
• Mobs give up aggro very quickly if you’re running away.
• You can PVP and fight mobs while flying.
• You can kill yourself by jumping off a ledge into the sky in the main town. (Careful of the elevators)
• Armor can be dyed.
• Lost EXP due to death can be regained for a price.
• In-game cut scenes are decent.
• Characters actually appear tired if they are low on HP.
• Players can sell items via Auction House or personal store.
• Summons do not have any penalty for being used. (EXP/HP-MP drain)
• Manastone items can be used to give armor or weapons bonus stats.
• There are 2 weapon slots for each hand to make switching between them easy.

How will this impact the MMO community? Aion has already experienced huge success in other countries, I think we can expect to see the same pattern here in America. One of the most popular NA MMOs World of Warcraft is loved by many, but has been out for quite some time now. I think that WoW fans will find it very easy to get into this game, and those who’ve never played it will find enjoyment in the new style of game play. That being said if you like MMOs I do suggest you try this one out.