This September MMO stalwart NCsoft is set to launch its latest MMO in the West, for which read the USA and Europe. Aion has already enjoyed a successful launch in its native Korea and China. It is a high fantasy MMO, and therefore can't help but get compared to the ultra-successful World of Warcraft, but does it stand a chance against that behemoth?
Of course, Aion can't expect to scale the heights of 11 million players and growing that World of Warcraft achieved, but NCsoft has never said it was aiming that high, and nor does it need to in order to consider Aion a success. With a monthly subscription model, it just need to attract enough players to generate the revenue it needs, which in turn will ensure Aion has enough gamers in game for a convincing social and gameplay environment - something that is essential for an MMO. And Aion has enough new ideas to generate the interest it needs.
Firstly, while the game is "high fantasy" and therefore well into World of Warcraft territory, its backstory is taken from a mismash of legends and mythology from various sources, though mostly Korean, and this does give it a solid grounding. It makes the environment different enough from World of Warcraft that gamers won't feel that they are playing a clone.
Graphics and environment alone though are not enough to set a game apart, and Aion knows this. The principle addition in gameplay terms is that of flight. When you reach level 10, after a brief in-game ceremony, you are given a set of wings and the action starts to occur on more than just the ground. Quests may require you to fly around and even combat can start to use the third dimension. There's something entertaining about hovering our of reach while you blast a target. Flight is limited of course, otherwise you would become invincible. So you can only fly for a period before landing in the main game area, although PvP has this limitation removed. Flight does add to the fun of Aion, but it's not the only new idea.
When you start Aion and create your character, you'd be forgiven for thinking there aren't many class choices. There's only four: Scout, Fighter, Priest and Mage. This is actually a strength of Aion. You can choose the basic class you like and then play 10 levels while you get a feel for the game and how you like to play it. At level 10 you can then choose a sub-class that best suits your style: for example, your Priest may like straight healing best, or prefer to do more buffing, and can select a sub-class based on this.
Level 20 introduces another way to customise your character - Stigma Stones. Instead of having the abilities of your character fully defined by your class, you can use Stigma Stones to allow your character to do something that the class doesn't normally permit. For example, Cloth Armour too lightweight for your melee loving Mage? Not to worry, a Stigma Stone will allow you to wear metal armour. This way you can create a set of bespoke skills that mean your character is actually quite different from someone else's playing the same class.
Aion has little touches as well as big new ideas, so you do feel this is a well-rounded MMO: there's the Locate feature that helps you find quest targets, the semi-transparent map that allows easier navigation and the Private Store that allows you to set up and sell to other players anywhere in-game.
If there were to be a complaint about Aion, it's that despite the extensive localisation, some people may still find the graphics non-conventional. The Talking Weasels might put some people off. It's also a shame that NCsoft weren't prepared to open the UI up to third party customisation and plug-ins, which is one of the big USPs for World of Warcraft. But these are minor points in what is looking like a well crafted and polished MMO.
Due for release in September 2009, Aion is going to be a monthly subscription based MMO available on PC.
Of course, Aion can't expect to scale the heights of 11 million players and growing that World of Warcraft achieved, but NCsoft has never said it was aiming that high, and nor does it need to in order to consider Aion a success. With a monthly subscription model, it just need to attract enough players to generate the revenue it needs, which in turn will ensure Aion has enough gamers in game for a convincing social and gameplay environment - something that is essential for an MMO. And Aion has enough new ideas to generate the interest it needs.
Firstly, while the game is "high fantasy" and therefore well into World of Warcraft territory, its backstory is taken from a mismash of legends and mythology from various sources, though mostly Korean, and this does give it a solid grounding. It makes the environment different enough from World of Warcraft that gamers won't feel that they are playing a clone.
Graphics and environment alone though are not enough to set a game apart, and Aion knows this. The principle addition in gameplay terms is that of flight. When you reach level 10, after a brief in-game ceremony, you are given a set of wings and the action starts to occur on more than just the ground. Quests may require you to fly around and even combat can start to use the third dimension. There's something entertaining about hovering our of reach while you blast a target. Flight is limited of course, otherwise you would become invincible. So you can only fly for a period before landing in the main game area, although PvP has this limitation removed. Flight does add to the fun of Aion, but it's not the only new idea.
When you start Aion and create your character, you'd be forgiven for thinking there aren't many class choices. There's only four: Scout, Fighter, Priest and Mage. This is actually a strength of Aion. You can choose the basic class you like and then play 10 levels while you get a feel for the game and how you like to play it. At level 10 you can then choose a sub-class that best suits your style: for example, your Priest may like straight healing best, or prefer to do more buffing, and can select a sub-class based on this.
Level 20 introduces another way to customise your character - Stigma Stones. Instead of having the abilities of your character fully defined by your class, you can use Stigma Stones to allow your character to do something that the class doesn't normally permit. For example, Cloth Armour too lightweight for your melee loving Mage? Not to worry, a Stigma Stone will allow you to wear metal armour. This way you can create a set of bespoke skills that mean your character is actually quite different from someone else's playing the same class.
Aion has little touches as well as big new ideas, so you do feel this is a well-rounded MMO: there's the Locate feature that helps you find quest targets, the semi-transparent map that allows easier navigation and the Private Store that allows you to set up and sell to other players anywhere in-game.
If there were to be a complaint about Aion, it's that despite the extensive localisation, some people may still find the graphics non-conventional. The Talking Weasels might put some people off. It's also a shame that NCsoft weren't prepared to open the UI up to third party customisation and plug-ins, which is one of the big USPs for World of Warcraft. But these are minor points in what is looking like a well crafted and polished MMO.
Due for release in September 2009, Aion is going to be a monthly subscription based MMO available on PC.
About the Author:
Dave Taylor is a professional games journalist and Publishing Director for GamerZines.com. He writes for the Aion for Beginners blog. There is also regular coverage of Aion in the free digital MMO magazine, MMOZine.
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