(Yay, first translation... on Aionsource anyway!)

So, as most of us know, Mark had a chance to chat with some peeps at Playforum.net (a Korean game news site). It seems they were just as excited as he was over the bridging of East and West. Here's the gist of what went down -- from their perspective.

Warning: This post is heavy on recursive cross-referencing, also known as referring to self in the third person.

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Source: Playforum
Reporter: Hah Young Lee (Josh)
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It should first be noted that AION hasn't quite been revealed in North America or Europe. The promotional websites are up, but the community there have yet to experience the closed beta craze. Even NCSoft Europe could tell us only that they are targeting an early 2009 closed beta for that region.


A screenshot of www.aionsource.com, the largest AION fansite in North America

Yet still, serveral fansites have sprung up over the game and are enjoying healthy numbers of visitors. Of these sites, Aionsource.com is by far the largest, and at the Leipzig Game Convention I had the chance to speak to Mark who acts as the administrator of the project. He'd flown all the way from Florida USA to get a glimpse of AION.


Mark Wilhelm (www.aionsource.com's administrator and webmaster)

Playforum: Your website is based out of USA. What motivated you to travel all the way over to Germany?

Mark: I'm sure I will get a good chunk of information at next week's PAX, but I doubt the content would be as diverse as what I can experience here. At the moment this is the biggest gaming event as far as AION is concerned so I didn't want to miss the chance to be a part of it. AION has proven to feature the same great quality graphics that we've come to expect from Asian MMO games, but also promises the action and the systems that are needed to make up a great game. Many online gamers including myself are excited over the title.

Playforum: AION hasn't opened for beta yet in North America or Europe. How are you able to collect the information you need for the fansite?

Mark: I try to find a way to participate in the Korean beta. I can swap out some of the files to display the interface etc. in English. I can't translate the quests though, so it's not optimal. We get the rest of the information from Korean game sites. There are programs that translate the articles to a certain extent, so although it's not perfect we can get quite a bit. Playforum is one of the main sites that provide us with information. We're constantly surprised at the amount of information Korean sites are able to pump out.

Playforum: What is your impression of AION so far?

Mark: I believe it will be a game that strikes a balance between PvP and PvE. THe PvE content seems to follow WoW's questing style, but with a deeper narrative. The PvP system remind me of Dark Age of Camelot, like the two systems are brothers. I'm personally looking forward to the latter aspect of the game.

Playforum: I'm told that Aionsource is the largest AION fansite in the west. What is your greatest focus in regards to running the site?

Mark: A lot of players in the west have been burnt by past NCSoft games, and presume AION to be a hardcore grinding game like Lineage2. This is something that we're actively trying to change through our site.

Playforum: Do you have a word for the Korean fansites out there?

Mark: I'm very much impressed with the information we find on Korean fansites. I'd love to try for a joint project with them at some point in the future.


Mark writing that I might write an article on him on Playforum... that article which is now wrote.

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Now some words of thanks to Playforum's writer, presuming he visits back:
이하영님 기사 감사드립니다.. 제가 영문으로 님 이름 바꿔 올렸는데요, spelling틀렸으믄 말씀해 주셔요.
참고로 저는 앞으로 이 사이트의 한국정보 번역을 맡기로한 헬로즈입니다. 마니 부탁 드립니다~ *꾸벅*

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