Instances

[Aeterna]

Originally Posted by Aionfuse.com

Q. What are dungeons like in AION? Are there instanced dungeons for raiding, for example?

A. There are 3 kinds of dungeons. The first kind is the regular one. This was previewed at E3 – we call these ‘themed dungeon’s. The second are instanced dungeons made for single and multiple parties, which feature instance bosses. The third kind are unique to AION, called ‘The Abyss’. It’s where PvP, PvE and RvR types of gameplay come together.

I am really interested in the PvE in games as I'm personally not a real PvP'er.
This has gotten me really interested into the instance system of Aion, I know this is from quite an old interview but I was just reading it through again.

The first 2 dungeons seem simple enough, as they are merely the standard party-instances and raid-instances for bigger groups of people(Guilds most likely). I'm just guessing to see a 5-20player limit there I think, but that's just a feeling so don't hold me on that.

But the truely interesting part is the 3rd instance called "The Abyss".
Being a WoW-player myself I could compare these to the "outdoor raid bosses" as they require a big group of people to kill and are AI-controlled monsters. But at the same time there can be other groups of players that want to kill that boss aswell and there you have the PvP part.
The thing that really brings up a question to me is the Instance part in it, if you take into consideration that doing stuff in the world (The first thing I'd think of is killing a big boss) would influence the whole server. So I would find it weird to have such things in an instance rather than the actual outside and I don't think it would really help the feeling of being free in the game and it would give a weird feeling when you're travelling to a dungeon of the likes.

I'm really hoping that I'm not right in this but I'd really like to hear what you guys have to say on this subject.

[dalin]

ive never been a huge PVP'er myself... prefer to travel with friends, and accomplish quests, etc.

one of the main things that turned me off from GW (having come to it from WoW) was the instanced content... sure, you could experience it with a party, but i always like the feeling in WoW that no matter where i ended up, there was a chance i could stumble across another live person and ask for help, or just shoot the breeze...

[Rinnhart]

I'm not a big fan of instances either.

I much prefer to travel throughout the land on my own and bump into unsuspecting folk and engage in conversations.

[JuggerNaught]

i like different things on different days.

moods tend to make me do different things

[Zinrae]

I personally like instancing, and think some of it would be good. I see what you're saying about instanced events not affecting the game world though. But really, if you think about it, there's no way they can have *everything* do that, just specific events probably.

[phantom2k]

Can someone properly explain an instance and give me an example of one?

[Norpser]

There are many different types of instances as given to you in the OP. But as to what an instance is, it is like a dungeon. However you enter through a portal which brings you into your own unique dungeon so you can fight through mobs and such, while a group doing the same dungeon at the same time, is not with you in your dungeon as they are in their own dungeon.

As for the third one, i will find that one a little hard to explain as it is "unique" as quoted in the OP. However i think it will be a mix of guildwars and WoW. In guild wars, you enter through a portal into a world area where only you are like a normal dungeon, however you quest here and everything is unique just for you. That is the PvE part. The PvP part is, im guessing, like world of warcraft. Where you enter a battleground and you are placed on a team (or you can join as a team) and battle it out with the other faction to attain a specific goal.

So im sure that this third one will be a mix of battling dragons (pve?) and the other faction to ubtain a goal of say capturing specific points to gain control of the abyss

[Zypherion]

Originally Posted by phantom2k

Can someone properly explain an instance and give me an example of one?

An instance is basically an area of the world that's cut off from the rest, and when you enter it each group are in it's own copy of that area, and what one group does in no way affect the others. That way you can have multiple people killing the same boss without having to wait for respawns for example.

An example of an instance could be Molten Core in WoW. In GW, all areas outside towns are instances.

EDIT: Ah, Norpser beat me to it.

[bobby]

my gaming experience isnt that broad but the only thing i can think of that seems close to abyss as i see it is a little like Rv in CoX where you have a pvp zone that holds pve content yet the 2 factions defeats or wins effect how the zones look, like if villians are winning the zone the zone changes to a more villianous look and hero AVs spawn to hinder the villians advance and vice a verse for heros. This is open to huge amounts of abuse tho as these areas get filled with power lvlers and farmers as the rewards far out way the pvp game play sadly

As for what an instance is i guess the simplest type of instance is when say u take a mission/guest and a dungeon spawns for u and u alone or your team think these are called door instances, these can work really well as they stop griefing and having to wait for bosses to respawn but they can lack the chaos and unpredictablity and fun of a shared dungeon spawn.

[phantom2k]

Arghh cheers guys was a bit obvious what they were :P

[Warggoath]

For me The Abyss should go like this: Every team has own instance with normal enemies in it. When they stumble upon the boss, it loads another instance where all the teams in that dungeon collide same time to battle for the kill of the boss. So it could hold up the instance but still be in own unique boss system. After the kill of the boss it would turn as normal dungeon holding just normal enemies. The boss woulda gone forever and it would turn into whole instance without split into boss collission instance....

[Arkela]

I don't actually know what RvR is... Anyone care to enlighten me?