Aion anyone?

[[AK]StitchJones]

I have Aion pre-purchased. After playing the BETA last week I was not exactly blown away but I was very impressed. Impressed enough to invest the $50 to buy it. The developers have spent a lot of time polishing this game, and it really shows in all the mechanics of play. The one thing I'm still trying to get a real grasp on is the PvPvE element they are working in. I wasn't able to play enough to see it first hand so I can't comment on that at all yet.

The use of the Crytek engine was a great choice. The game looks simply fantastic. I played on both my Macbook(Windows XP Boot Camp) with 1440x1050 Medium graphic settings and on my hulking home PC 1920x1200 with High graphic settings. Depending on your setup you can scale the graphics to match pretty much and gaming rig you have at home that is based on hardware within the last 4 years or so. Remember Crytek engine = GOOOOD.

Aion borrows some configuration elements of the Lineage series and Guild Wars, but it also has it's own style that sets it apart. It has the most comfortable interface I've seen since WoW. The pricing plan is also something different that depending on how often you play will either work well within your budget or you'll need to pay a little bit more. Normal/Casual players will be able to play within the $15.00 plan just fine. Crazy die hard 8hr a day players will want to look at the discounted extended 40$ plan.

Right now if you go over to MMORPG.com they are giving away beta keys for this weekends closed beta event. if you want to give it a whirl, I suggest you head over right away. I also have a extra key, so if you come up short, let me know and I'll hook you up with my key.

[[AK]Swae]

I can't locate a Beta Key to save my life. Seems like a ton of sites got some this weekend, but they are all gone.

I'll keep looking, I'd like to try it out before I lay down the $50.

[[AK]The Beast]

I've seen it advertised, but haven't read much beyond that. What does it "bring to the table"--what makes it different from WoW? (Which I in no way dislike; it held my attention for longer than most games do/did.)

[[AK]StitchJones]

Good question Beast. What it brings to the table is another MMO set in a fantasy universe that is on the same playing field as other MMO's in general. It offers some features that are unique enough to be their own, yet stay within the framework of a MMORPG type game that you would feel comfortable playing. It is by no means WoW, nor is it trying to be which is good thing. To many other games have tried and failed to do so in the past.

What makes it unique, you can fly for up to 1minute. That's right you sprout wings and soar on up high to get from point A to point B. It's a nice and fun thing to do to navigate around some things in critical situations. Cool down times are still yet to be set in stone so it could be 5min, 10min or 15min. If your flying way up high and your minute is up, it's pancake time :-)
Aion offers a Human, Elf and Demon races to play. There are four main classes each with two sub classes making a grand total of eight different roles you can play.
Warrior (Templar) (Gladiator)
Priest (Chanter) (Cleric)
Mage (Spiritmaster) (Sorcerer)
Scout (Ranger) (Assassin)

You can check out more on the self-wiki if it tickles your fancy
http://powerwiki.na.aiononline.com/aion

[[AK]Beaker]

Anyone know what the time commitment would be for something like this? Less than WoW? The same? I have time for about 4 hours of gaming a week or less would this fit?

[[AK]Swae]

Anyone know what the time commitment would be for something like this? Less than WoW? The same? I have time for about 4 hours of gaming a week or less would this fit?

It's an MMORPG, just like WoW, so I would imagine you could put as much time into it as you want. I won't have a ton of time to play - WoW still keeps me busy at least 3 nights a week.

I plan on trying out the Beta this weekend and I'll let you know what I think of it. I just hope it's better than Age of Conan or Warhammer!

[[AK]The Beast]

Sounds kind of interesting. I'm through my game budget for August, but may consider picking this up in a month or so, if it's gotten any AK traction.

[[AK]Gunny Highway]

The pricing plan is also something different that depending on how often you play will either work well within your budget or you'll need to pay a little bit more. Normal/Casual players will be able to play within the $15.00 plan just fine. Crazy die hard 8hr a day players will want to look at the discounted extended 40$ plan.

Kind of a deal breaker for me think it's a huge mistake on their part to say that they are going to charge people different rates depending on how much or little you play. They will never get a lot of folks to switch from games like wow to this if they are going to have to pay 2-3 times as much. Too bad looks great but not even worth a look to me with pricing like that.

[[AK]Swae]

Kind of a deal breaker for me think it's a huge mistake on their part to say that they are going to charge people different rates depending on how much or little you play. They will never get a lot of folks to switch from games like wow to this if they are going to have to pay 2-3 times as much. Too bad looks great but not even worth a look to me with pricing like that.

I looked into this, and it seems to me that the pricing is going to end up being about the same as WoW, just with time limits that are not very constrictive.

1-month card: 19,800 won (approximately 13.7 USD*), 300 hours for 30 days

3-month card: 47,520 won (approximately 32.9 USD), 900 hours for 90 days

3-hour card: 3000 won, (approximately 2 USD)

30-hour card: 12,000 won ((approximately 8.3 USD)

Basically about $14 for 300 hours in 1 month. That's 10 hours a day, every day. I doubt I would ever go over that.

[[AK]Bojan]

I think its a Korean thing ( I get a message that comes up at 3 hours of game play and says, "You have been playing for three hours, please log off for you health."

As well I think its a tactic to stop gold farmers and bots.

Edit: Alsowhen I prepurchased I think I rember signing up for a monthly sub. $14.95 for 1 month no hour limitation that I remember reading.

[[AK]StitchJones]

Kind of a deal breaker for me think it's a huge mistake on their part to say that they are going to charge people different rates depending on how much or little you play. They will never get a lot of folks to switch from games like wow to this if they are going to have to pay 2-3 times as much. Too bad looks great but not even worth a look to me with pricing like that.

It doesn't cost anymore to play then WoW unless you are a 10-hr a day, 7-day a week player. then pricing can be a factor. I see it as a fair pricing system.

[[AK]Beaker]

I'm in if you guys are still playing in December. I see no time until then and Santa would have to buy me a computer capable of playing games again since I gave away my old gaming machine.
So basically it will have to have a strong AK presence before I'll bite.

[[AK]Bribo]

Looks like Wow with prettier graphics.

[[AK]StitchJones]

Looks like Wow with prettier graphics.

Not so much like WoW, but a bit more of a Guild Wars feel. Overall it has a very comfortable feel to it.
Keyboard commands don't make complete logical sense to me, but then again I've been playing WoW for almost 5yrs so I have those buttons burnt into my brain.
Class expansion and items are very cool and it's a refreshing way to get to a point and then groom your character into the path you want it to be in. The flying and gliding is a refreshing way to get away from the ground/air mount conundrum.
Looking at some of the retail 1.5 game press data, there are 19 instance areas that are either being improved or added to the game. There are about 1000 more quests throughout the game, and there are some updates to PVP and Arena type play. This version of the game will be much more robust then the currently released Korean version of the game.

Beaker, I'll still be playing in December, I'm certain of it.

[Etaoin]

Well the servers just went down and all I have to say is "Darn! I'm impressed!!" I will definitely be playing this come September and I'm sooo ready to get started.