[Translation] German Interview (04.01.08)

[Haubix]

Ok, here are some corrections (bold):

Originally Posted by Fayeth

Not that i don't love you Haubix, but i thought it would be easier for people to go over the information if it was a bit more organized. So thank you very much for the translation and if there is something i missed or misread please correct me so i can fix it in this post ^_^

-Main Points of the German interview with Amboss-

Graphics:
*The goal of the Devs is to produce beautiful graphics while keeping the graphic requirements for users low/as lowest as they can.
*Wherever you are at in the world, the Tower of Eternity will be visible. In every region players will be able to view the tower in the skyline; the distance the tower appears from the player will depend on where the player is at in the world.
*If a character or enemy dodges, evades, or blocks attacks we will actually get to see an animation for it and counter attack ^_^

Beta Information:
*The object of closed beta is to find and fix bugs, not show off the game. Hence why the game hasn't been mentioned much to the general public. They want the the public to see a perfect game, not the unfinished beta product, so all feedback to help them perfect it is valued...
*A EU/US Beta is planned for the 1st half of 2008, not 1st Quarter though.
*The most important part of this beta will be localization. Any feedback given from the EU/US beta players on this subject will be of key interest.
*Korean launch will be easier, they are more flexible. EU/US will have to be planned more. Koreans got already a good marketing like posters, etc. EU/US has to do it "from scratch"
*EU and US betas will be separate, but NcSoft intend to run the 2 betas parallel to each other.
*When asked if fan-sites will get beta keys the answer was....no promises, but maybe. They haven't forgotten about us and appreciate the work done by the fansites.

Abyss Information:
*Flight time in the Abyss is unlimited. At the beginning it is limited due less Aether in that region (outer part of Abyss?)
*Some storyline revealed - The Abyss is full of a substance called "Aether", an "element" or "energy" used for flight. The fight in the Abyss is about control over the Aether, which is needed for survival of the races. It is not a war about hatred for the other factions.
*Aether is that mysterious energy that allows Daevas to fly.
*Aether is mostly available in the Abyss. That explains why the Abyss is so important to the two factions and why you can fly unlimited in the Abyss.
*Guilds can recruit and purchase NPCs to guard and defend their castles in the Abyss.
*Guild castles will be taxed.
*The fight in the Abyss is eternal and will never been reset. Due to this the Abyss zones will vary from server to server over time.
*GMs may take control of the Balaur from time to time to even out extreme unbalance in the Abyss.
*All outposts/castles in the Abyss start under Balaur control.
*Outposts can be taken over by a little/large group. So no tagging and flying to the next outpost. You also have to defend the guardians of the outpost first before you can capture.
*Siege weapons can be obtained through PvE. Guilds will have to PvE to get these weapons OR buy them off the AH once a PvE guild/party has placed them there. (not completely correct - see below)
*PvE players are able to support the PvP players through obtaining siege weapons. They also can sell them in the auction house, but won't be helpful to the own faction. Basically you can help as PvE player the PvP players without taking part in PvP. The Devs also want to convince the PvE players to take part in PvP battles.
*You're able to level only through PvP and you are way faster than PvE only.

Faction information:
*Asmodians and Elyos will NOT be able to chat with one another.
*Only one faction per server, NOT per account. I.e: Server A -> Elyos (and only Elyos), Server B -> Asmodians (and only Asmodians).
*Opposite factions cannot party/group/raid or guild together.
*Opposite factions will not be able to complete or gain quests in the other factions areas. (Not the same quests)

General Character Information:
*You can complete your Daeva quest around level 10 (gain wings), this quest may be chain.
*There will be a ceremony in the sanctum upon completion of the Daeva quest.
*Upon character creation players will pick one of the 4 schools of classes. Later in the game you will specialize into your exact class.
*There are lots of idle animations ^_^ I.e: If you're standing in the water, the character taps on the water surface or is trying to catch a fish(?), and so on...

Specific Class Information:
*Ranger
-very hard class to master (Scout classes in general!)
-will not have pets
-will be able to stealth
*Assassin
-able to stealth
-skills to teleport behind their enemy
-attack from behind will be about 3-4x more damage then from the front or side. From which side you attack will be VERY important.
-uses a lot of tricks. You won't be successful only with simple button smashing. You have to manage your actions.
*Spiritmaster
-will have pets, summons (Spiritmaster is THE pet class within Aion)
-Devs are undecided about the skills of the pets.
*Sorcerer
-key is to finish the enemy before they get into close combat.
-spell like fireball, don't necessarily fly straight, they may change directions due enemy movement to get them hit.
-concentration is very important, it means less chance for spell interruption. (gained from items)
-if a spell is interrupted the casting bar may get reduced and not fully canceled.
*Chanter
-buff the group with Mantras
-Mantras will last several minutes, none over a half hour. More likely a couple of minutes (maybe 5).

No other class specifics were mentioned. (Read: they were showing this video and Amboss talked about the classes during the play - so no exact infos to all classes)

Crafting:
*Crafted items and equal to the quest items of the same level.
*There is no restrictions class wise on crafting, it will be a collection skill similar to wow.
*There will be crafting stations (ie. stove, forge, weaving loom, etc.)
*DP can be used to enchant crafted items. (Enchant = make an existing item better within its creation)
*DP is tradable. So a guild can "farm" DP then transfer it to one crafter so he can do some sort of mass production or great item.

Payment Information:
*No specific information on subscriptions yet.
*Every region has the right to change it's subscription type so NcSoft Austin may differ from NcSoft Korea.

General Misc Information:
*90% of the world is persistent the remaining 10% is instanced.
*Instances are mostly used for story telling.
*Raid bosses and raids will exist in both instanced and non instanced zones.
*Party = 6 members.
*Raid = 4 parties or 24 people.
*Players will notice that the heavier their weapons are, the slower the characters will move (regarding animation).
*There may be PvP related quests.
*5000 people allowed at one time on a server.
*When asked about Botters/Farmers/Spammers the Devs said they will try to reduce it through game design and may implement technical tools.

And they also thanked all the fan-sites ^_^ (Maybe they send beta keys first to the fansites!)

The interview will be available in the middle of next week (8/9/10th of January) so I can dub the video with english subtitles
Special thanks fly out to Fayeth for formatting my translations

[jameinkaiser]

awesome work :]

[Ayase]

Just one thing or so that caught my attention in the Abyss-part. I spoke to Amboss about it in order to get it right from the interview, too.

Flight in the Abyss is unlimited in the sense that you can go anywhere. Flight time is the same everywhere. This is, still, due to the Aether being present all over the Abyss while only sprinkled across the rest of the world.

"You also have to defend"... should probably be "You also have to defeat".

Nicely done summary Fayeth (and translation, Haubix) otherwise, seems to be fairly accurate.

Edit: This was based on the later post with bold changes.

[Haubix]

Wow, approval from official side. Thanks Ayase!

[dalin]

so then im confused again... flight-time in the Abyss is the same as in other zones then? i dont understand the reference to "you can go anywhere", as thats the case in any zone where flight is allowed... right?

[Solvoran]

No, the point is that you can only fly where "Aether" is. Aether is some form of energy which once was in the tower of eternity. When it collapsed the aether spread out so it is now everywhere in the abyss (which surrounds the tower) but not in every region of asmodea or elyos. So in some areas you won`t be able to fly at all.

[Haubix]

True. If you think about it, its obvious:
* NCsoft want that flying is "special" so they limit it.
* The Abyss is the area where the main focus (PvPvE) lies.
1+1=2 -> Unlimited flying in the abyss won't make flying special...

[Chrysanth]

"[Haubix] 10:22 pm: you cant chat with the opposite faction!"

What the **** seriously. Pvp with no chat is like pve >>

[Chaos_Theory]

Originally Posted by Chrysanth

"[Haubix] 10:22 pm: you cant chat with the opposite faction!"

What the **** seriously. Pvp with no chat is like pve >>

Then you must not be a serious pvper to say something like that. I perfer this no faction chatting simply because of spies and less pre adolescent boys to spam idiotic things to you when you 1 shotted them for the 5th time.

I was hoping pve people could get involved somehow in pvp. The whole seige kit thing in pve is awsome. Just like in EvE how pvpers had to have pvers to survive.

I like the info on the balaur's status in pvp. I wonder if the balaur can re capture outpost in the abyss if a guild loses it?

Overall nice interview and thanks for the newish info.

[Mygo]

Originally Posted by Chrysanth

"[Haubix] 10:22 pm: you cant chat with the opposite faction!"

What the **** seriously. Pvp with no chat is like pve >>

Are you serious ? Pvp = PvE because you can't speak with ennemy ? lol sry your reaction is ridiculous ^^

And i'm very happy... speak with ennemy = spy/cheat/treason...

[Mark]

Use emotes to make fun of the enemy if you can't talk to them directly.

[Chrysanth]

Originally Posted by Mark

Use emotes to make fun of the enemy if you can't talk to them directly.

That is just pure wow.

Building a rapport and communicating with the enemy is what keeps pvp fun and refreshing, even on wow private servers thay generally allow faction chat as it makes the game that much better.

For example, imagine yourself just levelling with your mates in Aion and you get jumped by some of the other faction and you pull out all the stops and turn the pvp around to win even though you were jumped etc. Would you rather be able to do? Type / spit as they immediately release or talk to them, laugh at/with them, jest, threaten, whatever kind of player you are.

Its an MMO game and the endgame (IE 95% of what you will probably be doing seen as you can hit levelcap in a month) is pvp. The simple addition of chat between factions would change the wow-like pvp grinding into something far more enthralling.

[Disturbing]

Looks good. Beta keeps getting pushed back as we speak, Let's hope it doesn't go to far back...

Thanks for the translation.

~DisTurBinG

[Fleiva]

Seems like I'll need the mask dance or the pom-poms (wether I go asmo or elyos) in my hot bar then to use it before they release to town

BTW, the ****-talk will probably be on forums ^^

[hits79]

I actually perfer no chat. Makes you feel good when you kick there butt, and they cant say anything back, like "Omg you are so dead" "your lucky i wasnt watching" or if they kick my butt..."Hits79 got pwned!!!" "Hits79 Noob!!!"

Kick there butt, emote, end of story...a really pvper dont need to say anything