Archive for October 11th, 2007
Aion
Aion: The Tower of Eternity is an MMORPG in development by the MMO powerhouse company, NCSoft. The general storyline of the game chronicles the fight between the Elyos, Asmodians, and Balaur. The more specific storyline goes something like this… At one time, the world was whole, held together by the sacred Tower of Eternity, until a great catastrophe destroyed the Tower, and the world was split into two. The ancient Balaur race was awoken from their exilement in The Abyss and waged war upon the world. You choose who you align yourself with. And with those choices, the world will change. You are in control.
What sets this game apart from other MMOs (current or future) is that it promises an ever changing world. Actions caused by the individual player and their aligning faction can alter the entire environment. This means that multiple servers will have multiple outcomes, and no two servers will be the same. Not only is the world ever changing, but it also features a unique conflict system. Players can control either the Elyos or the Asmodians, however the third NPC faction, the dragon like Balaur act as both a friend and a foe. They will switch alliances between the two player races, altering the tide of battle. To give you more of an example, here is an excerpt from an interview with Ju-hyun Jang, a producer for Aion:
| “The Balaur are a server-controlled NPC faction, so players cannot choose to play them. However, just because they are controlled by the server doesn’t mean they are stupid; they can make choices, and players will never quite know what they are going to do. For example, imagine a castle siege-style scenario, where one of the player factions, the Asmodians, is attacking the Elyos faction’s castle. In the middle of this siege, the Balaur may appear. When they arrive, no-one will know what they are going to do. They may have previously helped the Asmodians, but that doesn’t matter; in the siege, they might betray them and help the Elyos. Or they might help the Ma to siege the Elyos’s castle. Or… they might try and take the castle for themselves, fighting against both the Elyos and the Asmodians. The important thing to realize is that the Balaur are not typical NPCs. They are the third faction in the game, and they have free will, which makes them very unpredictable.” |
Players will start the game by picking a basic class and completely quests in order to get to level 10, which they then become an Daeva and choose a secondary class. The Daeva are the highest forms of beings in Ateria, as they are gifted with the supreme ability to fly.The environment itself has a huge impact on battle. The unique weather and terrain system is set up to be almost realistic. If a caster casts a fireball at an enemy in the rain, the ball of flames will be affected. Wading through water isn’t as easy as simply walking on land. The character will slow down in swamp areas or shallow water. These small touches in gameplay set Aion apart from other, more simplistic MMOs out on the market.The environment itself has a huge impact on battle. The unique weather and terrain system is set up to be almost realistic. If a caster casts a fireball at an enemy in the rain, the ball of flames will be affected. Wading through water isn’t as easy as simply walking on land. The character will slow down in swamp areas or shallow water. These small touches in gameplay set Aion apart from other, more simplistic MMOs out on the market.
Free flight is not only a cool feature, but also an important aspect in the gameplay. The entire world is set up to not just be horizontal, but also vertical. Flight plays an important part as the two factions are split into the lower, and upper half of the world. In the middle is The Abyss where a stage is set for massive PvP battles. Floating cities and fortresses and other incampments will play a huge role in The Abyss, as well as PvE experiences like instances and other quests. Being able to fly is as important in this game as being able to walk. Players must be wise in when they choose to fly. There are limitations for how long and where a character can fly, so to keep the speciality of it.The last thing I’m going to talk about is probably the most important reason you should be interested in Aion. The Grind Factor. Aion is a game that promises to delete the quest grind that is so prevelent in all MMOs today. No more will you have the kill 1,000 of these guys to collect these items. Specifics haven’t been given out about how, exactly, they will pull this off, but more details to come soon.
New Blog
Just launched a new blog, will be mostly dedicated to the new game ncsoft is coming out with called “Aion”. Rumor spreading around the mmorpg community says this will change World of Warcraft to World of Warcrap. Game play will be the same as WoW, but with much much better graphics. Almost everything in game will be like WoW, expect you will not have any mounts. But instead be able to “Fly!”
