My Aion kOBT Review :)

[Lord Devil]

Hello everyone

Since NCSoft is preparing the retail launch on 25. November in Korea, I finally have the time to write a little review about my OBT Experiences in there. First off I have tried and played a lot of MMORPGs in the last 5 years... from L2 to FFXI, from WoW to LOTRO, from Tabula Rasa, EQ2 to Vanguard, from Perfect World to Sun, over AoC and WAR etc. etc. ! As you see I never got really settled in a MMORPG anymore because most I quit after around 1-2 months. FFXI and L2 I played for longer amount of times, but I also had a blast in WoW even though it was just for 3 months... but I am quite familar with all the MMORPGs around.

Well with that said I guess I can start with my review about Aion. I followed Aion now over a year, I fell in love with the graphics, music and art style but was a bit skeptical because of the faction system - I was never a really fan of faction based MMORPGs, because it removes the options for politics and other dynamic things. However you can't always have everything you want.

So how was my experience with the Open Beta in Korea?

Pre Reservation Event, Char Creation and Perfectionism
Link to my character creation movie
When I finally got an account there through my korean girlfriend (thx so much!) I was already amazed by the professionalism on how they run the preparation of open beta. Well its not that it did say anything about the game yet, but when I saw how they managed to even out server population, client download and intallation etc. I was alreay pleased. Before the launch on 11. November they roll out the hype in different stages. First thing was that you could download the client... it was around a week before end of october aready (so plenty of time to get the whole heavy 8GB client). A week later they started to allow pre registration of characters. So everyone was able to login and create their characters and thus reserving its name. I guess I created a lot of characters at this time, because it was all you could do, but it was a nice experience since you can see in my video. They put really a lot of details into it and you already got your first impression of the game engine, which run absolutely smooth. Another great thing I noticed is that they reported the current statistics of all servers on their homepage, you could see balance of factions, classes, ages of people etc. for each server... they were forced to open up new servers every once in a while to keep up with the high registration amount they got...

Open Beta start
You can surely imagine from that time it was really hard to wait for the launch on 11. November... I was so excited to finally get a glimpse of the game, on how it runs etc. so I was really waiting hard till that day. Luckily I was able to get a week off from my work so I could enjoy the launch as much as possible.
The start of open beta itselfve was as smooth as everything before. You could already login on the specified 6:00am launch time and everything went smooth (even though I heard they had already 11.000 concurrent users after the first 2 minutes).

Anyway I was lucky enough to play with some friends from Korea which guided me through the first quests and missions which was really a blast. So now since I am in finally what about the game itselfe?


Interface
Link to my interface movie
What shall I say I guess since I played WoW a long time ago it was the first time ever again I found such a polished interface. We all know that many MMORPGs today lack from good interfaces which is really a sad thing, because it is the first thing you see and you always have to interact with it... if you build a great interface for a game its already the first step of a good game.
So well what makes this interface so good - maybe they didnt go wrong with the fact that they copied a lot from WoWs interface, which is really not a bad thing... ! You got all the neat stuff you are used to there... from Linking Items, Waypoints Quests, then the possibility to Share Quests, Configure several options like defining control, changing hotbars... It also offer most of the common features like, turning on/off helmet, guild wams, custom titles of your character etc. ! Chat tabs can be customized to your liking with really plenty of options. All skills and items have very nice and big icons. The fonts they use are very nice to the eye... so overall it looks totally fresh and beautiful... removing all the need for Add Ons (which is a feature I dont like anyway).

Graphics
Well first thing I saw is that my computer got already rated for highest graphic settings in 1920x1200 and 2x AA. So when I entered the game I already saw the world alive. Maybe in the first few secons I felt like I was playing WoW with more detailed graphic. Even though the graphics is still not as detailed as maybe some other new MMORPGs out there the engine run so fluid and the chars and background was made with so much animations and details it was awesome (also the shadows and water quality looks really great!).
The first area looked a bit like too "friendly" to me (I was playing Elyos)... thats why it remembered me to wow first... cute little monsters, very colorful areas etc. It didnt look bad in any way, but it was just a bit colorful to my eyes... remembered me alot to WoW.
But due to the fact how smooth all run and how well everything looked I got used to it fast and enjoyed the graphics.

Once I got to the more advanced and later areas the graphic changed alot and amazed me more and more. Later I even found out that on your char you can see earrings and necklaces... I got a necklace that shines in all rainbow colors all the time... througout the game you will notice so many little details they have put in. From all the animations of NPCs which are moving around the city... some do work and bringing boxes from here to there... everything in the world is moving. Also your char is never standing still. Depending on the area they will do different actions, like cooling them with a blower in hot areas, pulling the sand of their clothes in dusty areas like deserts etc. ! You always see that Aion is finally another game where the developer actually put a lot of love and detail into.

Music
Some of you may already know parts of the Aion score... as far as I know it was all made by the Londoner Symphony Orchestra, so you can expect a lot from the music. Cool thing is that the music is constantly changing... depending on location. It is different in different city locations as well as in different huting areas. Also when you do combat the music changes... but you dont always have the same combat sound, its also tied to the area.

So overall you should be pleased with the music of aion.

Sound Effects
Some thing I always wondered is that I think some of the easter companies dont have access to great sound effects libraries. Not that Aion has bad sound effects, but some sounds (like hitting a mob etc.) I think could sound a bit better. Well its not of a big problem, but maybe the only thing for now they could improve

Quests/Missions
The game has a quest system as well as a mission system. Missions are more complex ongoing quests which you really need to do (they also involve party)... they are like a storyline (with some short sequences) bringing you further in the a game.
The quests are normal quests, which include everything from hunting specific mobs to gather materials, timed quests, escort quests, special quests etc.!
There are so many quests in this game I never had to grind on one and the same spot for mobs So the basic gameplay remembers to the leveling to WoW -> And by doing quests and missions in Aion its surely the fastest way to level (thats also why bots will have a hard time in this game)!
Also you always get nice rewards from the quests, which can be everything from gold, scrolls, potions and also weapons, armor items etc...
*) Missions are a bit more complex and sometimes need the help of groups. Group play so far was really fun, we moved into a big "ogre" like camp and killed several named bosses there. We needed to do some other stuff there too, like collecting this or that etc. We also had a wipe here and there so it was really excited and we also got some good drops from the named mobs
Another cool mission I should mention is when you were transformed into a parrot and you needed to spy some pirates on a ship, pretty funny ^^

Item & enhancements
The game has a similar item system to WoW. White, Green, Blue and Legendary orange items. Some items need to be bound once equipping (its done with a nice animation). Items can be sold in the Auction House or via AFK Shops (Afk shops are really nicely made, you are sitting on a chair with your store name above you, but your character is always standing up attracting surrounding people to come to your shop)! Normally I never liked the item binding system in wow but on the other side in todays games where you dont have item binding, the game usually gets dominated by RMT which is also a bad thing. So I think its was a good way to go.
Also you can enchant your weapons and armos by disenchanting your lousy items you dont need anymore and with this "dust" you can try to make your cool armor or weapon better (you can make weapon and armos +1 +2 +3... on a fail you reset it back to 0 - so dont go to high - similar to L2 enchanting except you cant destroy the item ).
Also most items are socketable... you can put different kind of runes in it... they boost all kinds of stats, and are available in different grades... alchemists can even convert them or make them better etc.

Crafting
Also I already came across some crafting... you have gathering skills, transformations skills and you can learn all the usual crafting skills from jewlery, alchemy, blacksmithing, tailoring etc.
Crafting makes a lot of fun... you always have a chance to fail too, so the higher your skill is in regards to the recipe the better the success rate... you may also have the luck to create rare items from now and then or more than just 1 !
Overall a very solid crafting system and the items there are mostly useful, its not just some crap you dont need

Mail system
Another cool feature is the mail system... when you send a message, item or gold you have the option to send it normal or with express. When sending normal the item gets send to another mailbox and the player needs to pick it up there. However you can also select express delivery, then the other player can get the packet everywhere he is... -> he simple gets an icon in his radar that a new packet is available and if you click on it a little cool "animal like" figure is running to you and bringing you the packet directly Really fun and nice idea ^^

Other stuff
Well since you already saw the perfection of the game, who wonders that most of the other usual stuff is also available in this game. You have a Bank, a arena, a nice guild, party and raid system (with several user rights, looting options etc.) - all many of you are already familar with. Then there are plenty of really cool emotes, from showing your wings to sitting on a chair etc. really nice for RPers
*) What I should mention too is that they have already a complete compendium about the game on the official site. There you dont just see all the game details from crafting to skills, system related things etc. They have also added a detailed quest info site where they show ALL quests explained with pictures and text sorted by region. People are also able to add additional comments there! Hope we get that on our official site too ^^

Instancing
Aion tries not to do what WoW did... making the endgame etc. mostly in battlegrounds or other instances. So Aion uses the instances only at very soft points.
There will be around 5 instances which is mostly for little friends group hunting (havent seen them yet, but cant wait to do so in retail).
The starting areas from Level 1-20 are using a common channel system that means you will have more than one copy. Though I usually hate that system they used it very well. First its only in the beginning areas and not in cities or later leveling areas (and you really need it there, damn was it full in the first hours hehe). Also you can easily switch from instance to instance with just 1 click and a 10 second delay. Not like in AoC where you need to run back to town etc.
So overall I guess they are using instancing very smart and dont try to make it a main feature of the game, which I really like.

Flying
Link to flying movies
One of the announcened core features is flying and I have to say that they have implemented it very well ! Flying really feels like flying. They really made all the animations very fluid and believable even in combat. So its much better than e.g. flying in Perfect World. I also like the limitation of flying time because this way it doesnt get overused. There are also some restricted areas where you are not allowed to fly.

PvP
I havent had real pvp yet... but at around level 20 you get a fun quest where you will be teleported to one of the enemys faction 20+ area. So you warp out of a gate and then you are left alone within your enemy faction. I tried to kill someone there but well I got kicked fast^^, so ended up dying and returning to home. It appears to me that in pvp you dont loose XP (but maybe just because this was a quest) I dont hope its this way because I like a penalty for your actions. Luckily at normal hunting you definately loose XP... even though you can buy some of the XP back (which is expensive)... you still loose something.

Quality/stability etc.
I guess the last time I had this level of quality and stability was when playing WoW in beta (even though the server stability in Wow was not as good as Aions). I was so amazed because in the whole 2 weeks of open beta I did not have A SINGLE client crash nor did I ever had any disconnects. Surely they implemented the queue system and due to the high popularity in korea (which is understandable) they had a hard time to keep up with new servers which resulted in long waiting times at peak hours, but once you were in you had a pleasent experience... Just think of that I played this game so far away, I had not had a connection problem at all. The only disconnect I had was 1 time and there I saw this was announced on their homepage ^^ so not a single server crash...

Overall feeling
All in all its really a long time ago since I had played such a detailed and fun MMORPG again. The game is really made with a lot of love. From the emotes, to the characters and world detail, to the lively areas and the good animations, all did have a lot of polishing, which you are only used to from the old WoW. All I can hope now is that they keep up the quality with a good translation to english and other languages, then I am 100% confident they will have a great launch and a great product for many of us.

I for one still hope that reaching max level doesnt take too short... otherwise I am curious now about the 5 instances they will add in retail and about the quality of the end game, which should keep you entertained for hours to come. So I really can't await to see the final game now and also try out the abbyss... which really looks cool (you could take a look at it already in some of the mission sequences ) !

Well thats it for now, I hope you enjoyed the review and please excuse all my mistakes... but since english is not my native language its not so easy for me to write in that language.

*) Added Music Video - Forgotten Sorrow

Kind regards,
LD

*) updated

[t0yo]

<3 LD

Thanks for your opinion ;3

I liked how you explained flying, helps me understand more about it compared to pw

[Kane]

Thanks for sharing!

[finalfight]

to fly is more than this, you can glide in certain areas of the map and feel the wind giving an impulse to you, its realistic to the extremity
btw thx for sharing your experince in Aion :P

[Ethos]

Very well written review. As a KOBT tester myself I must agree on every single point you mention!

[dalin]

very nicely done LordD! thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us...

i too would agree with you on several points...

[lyankyj]

Thank you for the review, enjoyed reading it!!!

[July]

Thank you mate, very well written and very cool videos I can't wait for Aion to go live

[Hanso]

Lord Devil from Perfectworld.cc I guess?

Nice write up, but your last sentence about "fast leveling to endgame" worries me a bit, especially with the little challenging (read: not **** blocking as used in many Asian/Korean games where you do easy stuff for brainkilling amounts of time, but difficult) PvE endgame content presented yet. This adds to my thesis that AION will end up as a niche game focussing on RvR (which ain't bad for me).

[Lord Devil]

Glad you liked my review

Hehe now you outed me Hanso, yes I am from perfectworld.cc ^^ but I sold this site a long time ago to onlinewelten.com.

Regarding your worries... I would not judge about the endgame content yet nor would I say the PvE is unchallenging... there are pretty hard bosses and missions out there and it has yet to be seen how tough the instances will be .
Also, since I have the chance to see some of the endgame content within the coming weeks, as I will be playing Aion Retail in Korea, we just need to wait and see.
I also dont think Aion will be a niche game, simply because of its perfection and very entry friendly nature. I even more think that Aion will finally open the RvR or PvP world even more to players who have never tried it before

Kind regards,
LD

[Kikku]

Very nice review! :'D

I haven't been fortunate enough to play Aion, but from just what I've seen of it, I'm sure everything you've said is dead on and it makes me want to play it even more.

If that is possible.. TwT;

[jerle]

Yea, fast levelling in mmo always worries me. A pace like getting to lv75 in a job in FFXI should be nice. Else if the general masses all hit max level in 1-2mth there will be so much to worry about. Low level gears will not have an economy, every1 will be doing instance/raids/RvR leaving the lowbie zones to be "just another thing to get outta way"

[Ethos]

Originally Posted by Lord Devil

Regarding your worries... I would not judge about the endgame content yet nor would I say the PvE is unchallenging... there are pretty hard bosses and missions out there and it has yet to be seen how tough the instances will be .

It's like what you say here, we have to wait and I believe there well be some good PvE for us to participate in.

Originally Posted by Lord Devil

I also dont think Aion will be a niche game, simply because of its perfection and very entry friendly nature. I even more think that Aion will finally open the RvR or PvP world even more to players who have never tried it before

I was thinking the same thing. Aion doesn't look to settle for a niche markt, the tutorials and the feeling you get how they handle everything just shows they are aiming for a wide public. Even luring players who never played MMO's before and while having enough PvE content (don't know about endgame thou, we still have to see this) also showing these players what RvR and PvP(vE) is all about, introducing them to something new. I'm one of those last PvE lovers who for the first time gets enthusiastic about PvP to the point where my natural hate towards PvP is gone and i'm exited to join a mass PvP castle siege or something else to wipe some Elyos ***.

[Mark]

As for PvP and PvE and experience loss:

PvE XP loss is completely buybackable. Not semi, completely. But the more you lose (the higher level you are, the more you lose, of course, since you have more) the more expensive it becomes to buy back.

PvP XP loss doesn't exist when fighting the other faction, I think (don't quote me). The penalty for PvP death is a long, long walk back to the action. Your bindstone is probably back at some town or outpost in PvE land, or maybe at a far away fortress or spawn-in point miles from the main conflict. Also, rez sickness that you can either wait to wear off or pay to have removed.

[Lord Devil]

Originally Posted by Mark

As for PvP and PvE and experience loss:

PvE XP loss is completely buybackable. Not semi, completely. But the more you lose (the higher level you are, the more you lose, of course, since you have more) the more expensive it becomes to buy back.
.

Mark, I am 100% sure that you can't buy back all the XP you lost (at least you could not in OBT. You always loose some amount of XP and you can only buy back a portion of it (I can confirm this from my korean friends and from my own experience). I am also happy its this way because I think death should be punished, at least a little bit so people try to avoid it (money alone is rarely a punishment)