9/22/09 - I suppose I should update the thread for the live launch eh?
Aion has officially launched. Yay!
9/9/09 - FilePlanet has lifted subscription requirement for obtaining beta keys!
Go, get some... NOW.
8/27/2009 - Open Beta / Early Start / Launch Schedule
"Open Beta" Key Holders - 9/6/09 through 9/13/2009
Pre-order "Early Start" Customers - 9/20/2009
Retail Launch - 9/22/2009 (US) / 9/25/2009 (EU)
8/10/2009 - Free beta keys!
TenTonHammer is currently giving away beta keys! Hurry before they (might) be all gone!
As a note, anyone that has participated in the closed betas will also automatically be enrolled in the open beta.
Hurry hurry hurry!
8/3/2009 Comments:
I did play some of the beta again this weekend. I haven't gotten terribly far due to a slate of betas that I'm currently in. I will say this about Aion though - it feels incredibly solid. They've ironed out all the translation issues I've come across, and the gameplay is super solid. I've been tooling around with a Spiritmaster, and it has become my favorite class, but then again I love pet classes anyway. I'm still blown away by the visuals. I don't care what anybody says, in my opinion Aion blows WoW out of the water in just about every single way imaginable. That's all I have for this week.
6/23/2009 Info:
NCsoft today announced the official North American and European release dates for Aion.
North America: September 22, 2009
Europe: September 25, 2009
Aion will be available via traditional B&M boxed product, as well as digitally direct from NCsoft, Direct2Drive and Steam.
6/21/2009 Words:
Screenshots! (of Asmodae)
The old screenshots are also contained (with some that weren't previously).
All in all, Asmodae is a mirror image of Elyos. The Asmodae I guess are supposed to be the "evil" race of Aion. ALL of the classes, skills, etc are identical to their Elyosian counterparts. In fact, I couldn't really get the impression that the Asmodae are even all that bad! The story line seems to indicate their philosophy is simply a more warlike race, but they themselves hold ethics and fairness in high regard in most cases. They're a little more ... chaotic? ... than Elyosian Daeva though.
Anyhow, their zones and worlds are very similar to the Elyosian versions, though with generally darker graphics.
I played a scout through to level 10 (level cap for this beta) - which then progressed and I took ranger as my class. Ranger is said to have some crowd control ability an sort of a master of the battle field. Rangers have access to trap skills, but unfortunately the beta limit pretty much meant I didn't get anywhere with the primary class. Ranged combat feels a bit weak. But then again, I didn't get terribly far into the skills with the level cap.
Aion is shaping up to feel VERY solid. I didn't see any localization issues this go around (there were a few in the last beta). Gameplay progressed fairly well, the first 10 levels are still a bitch. It took me probably 5 hours to get from 1-10. A far cry from the about 10 minutes it takes in most western MMO's. It does get faster after 10 though.
Anyway, enjoy the screenshots. There are screenshots of all of the System Options too. framerates are still impressive. I was playing windowed 1680x1050 with everything cranked to max on a Radeon 4890, Phenom 940BE (stock) and 4gb of ram on Windows 7 x64.
Updated 6/18/09: The NDA has been lifted!
This weekend comes another Closed Beta event - focusing on the Asmodian race (the bad guys). The good news is, the NDA has been officially lifted, so you'll be seeing a hell of a lot more information coming about Aion (at least the US release) flooding out here real soon.
I will make sure to post a lot of screen shots and such for everyone. Any questions, let me know! I'm in the beta thanks to Tabula Rasa closing (One of NCsoft's gifts to TR players on the way out), so I'll be happy to provide any info I can, wife permitting!
Info on future beta events:
* Closed Beta Event #3 - July 2-July 6
Focus: Asmodian levels 1-20
* Closed Beta Event #4 - July 17-July 20
Focus: Elyos and Asmodian levels 1-25
* Closed Beta Event #5 - July 31-August 3
Focus: TBD
* Closed Beta Event #6 - August 14-August 17
Focus: TBD
So this gives you an idea - Aion isn't scheduled for release probably until close to the holidays at best.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I suppose... I'll provide a mini-review.
#1 - It uses CryEngine. And it is a gorgeous looking game. It has a look slightly reminiscent of Guild Wars, and it definitely has Asian influence with most of the character models.
#2 - While I haven't gotten very far yet, you can feel a grind, even with the quests. After about 3 or 4 hours of playing, running around, questing and learning, I'm only level 5. The pace "feels" slow.
#3 - It's a traditional MMORPG in most every sense. The only difference is that probably the key bindings are going to screw with everybody's head out of the box (eg: 'B' activates power shards, not opens bags... 'P' opens your character profile, not 'C').
#4 - It feels good and performs great on my machine (X4 940 @ Stock, 4GB Ram, 4890, everything cranked to max with 4xAA @ 1920x1200).
#5 - well... I don't think I can say much more at this point yet. I'll post screenies later today.
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
----------------------------
I can neither confirm nor deny that I may or may not be participating in a closed beta this weekend of a particular upcoming MMO.
But I have to ask - are people really that excited about Aion? I was reading an article on how certain circles seem to be thinking it's the next great MMO since sliced bread... and I have no idea why. Apparently within 4 hours of launching in Korea, they had to add 4 servers to the 21 they opened that morning. Over in China, apparently they have some 70 servers up and running... keeping in mind that they spec each server with a capacity of 7000 players.
Can anyone tell me that they are indeed eagerly awaiting Aion, and why?
Aion has officially launched. Yay!
9/9/09 - FilePlanet has lifted subscription requirement for obtaining beta keys!
Go, get some... NOW.
8/27/2009 - Open Beta / Early Start / Launch Schedule
"Open Beta" Key Holders - 9/6/09 through 9/13/2009
Pre-order "Early Start" Customers - 9/20/2009
Retail Launch - 9/22/2009 (US) / 9/25/2009 (EU)
8/10/2009 - Free beta keys!
TenTonHammer is currently giving away beta keys! Hurry before they (might) be all gone!
As a note, anyone that has participated in the closed betas will also automatically be enrolled in the open beta.
Hurry hurry hurry!
8/3/2009 Comments:
I did play some of the beta again this weekend. I haven't gotten terribly far due to a slate of betas that I'm currently in. I will say this about Aion though - it feels incredibly solid. They've ironed out all the translation issues I've come across, and the gameplay is super solid. I've been tooling around with a Spiritmaster, and it has become my favorite class, but then again I love pet classes anyway. I'm still blown away by the visuals. I don't care what anybody says, in my opinion Aion blows WoW out of the water in just about every single way imaginable. That's all I have for this week.
6/23/2009 Info:
NCsoft today announced the official North American and European release dates for Aion.
North America: September 22, 2009
Europe: September 25, 2009
Aion will be available via traditional B&M boxed product, as well as digitally direct from NCsoft, Direct2Drive and Steam.
6/21/2009 Words:
Screenshots! (of Asmodae)
The old screenshots are also contained (with some that weren't previously).
All in all, Asmodae is a mirror image of Elyos. The Asmodae I guess are supposed to be the "evil" race of Aion. ALL of the classes, skills, etc are identical to their Elyosian counterparts. In fact, I couldn't really get the impression that the Asmodae are even all that bad! The story line seems to indicate their philosophy is simply a more warlike race, but they themselves hold ethics and fairness in high regard in most cases. They're a little more ... chaotic? ... than Elyosian Daeva though.
Anyhow, their zones and worlds are very similar to the Elyosian versions, though with generally darker graphics.
I played a scout through to level 10 (level cap for this beta) - which then progressed and I took ranger as my class. Ranger is said to have some crowd control ability an sort of a master of the battle field. Rangers have access to trap skills, but unfortunately the beta limit pretty much meant I didn't get anywhere with the primary class. Ranged combat feels a bit weak. But then again, I didn't get terribly far into the skills with the level cap.
Aion is shaping up to feel VERY solid. I didn't see any localization issues this go around (there were a few in the last beta). Gameplay progressed fairly well, the first 10 levels are still a bitch. It took me probably 5 hours to get from 1-10. A far cry from the about 10 minutes it takes in most western MMO's. It does get faster after 10 though.
Anyway, enjoy the screenshots. There are screenshots of all of the System Options too. framerates are still impressive. I was playing windowed 1680x1050 with everything cranked to max on a Radeon 4890, Phenom 940BE (stock) and 4gb of ram on Windows 7 x64.
Updated 6/18/09: The NDA has been lifted!
This weekend comes another Closed Beta event - focusing on the Asmodian race (the bad guys). The good news is, the NDA has been officially lifted, so you'll be seeing a hell of a lot more information coming about Aion (at least the US release) flooding out here real soon.
I will make sure to post a lot of screen shots and such for everyone. Any questions, let me know! I'm in the beta thanks to Tabula Rasa closing (One of NCsoft's gifts to TR players on the way out), so I'll be happy to provide any info I can, wife permitting!
Info on future beta events:
* Closed Beta Event #3 - July 2-July 6
Focus: Asmodian levels 1-20
* Closed Beta Event #4 - July 17-July 20
Focus: Elyos and Asmodian levels 1-25
* Closed Beta Event #5 - July 31-August 3
Focus: TBD
* Closed Beta Event #6 - August 14-August 17
Focus: TBD
So this gives you an idea - Aion isn't scheduled for release probably until close to the holidays at best.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I suppose... I'll provide a mini-review.
#1 - It uses CryEngine. And it is a gorgeous looking game. It has a look slightly reminiscent of Guild Wars, and it definitely has Asian influence with most of the character models.
#2 - While I haven't gotten very far yet, you can feel a grind, even with the quests. After about 3 or 4 hours of playing, running around, questing and learning, I'm only level 5. The pace "feels" slow.
#3 - It's a traditional MMORPG in most every sense. The only difference is that probably the key bindings are going to screw with everybody's head out of the box (eg: 'B' activates power shards, not opens bags... 'P' opens your character profile, not 'C').
#4 - It feels good and performs great on my machine (X4 940 @ Stock, 4GB Ram, 4890, everything cranked to max with 4xAA @ 1920x1200).
#5 - well... I don't think I can say much more at this point yet. I'll post screenies later today.
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
----------------------------
I can neither confirm nor deny that I may or may not be participating in a closed beta this weekend of a particular upcoming MMO.
But I have to ask - are people really that excited about Aion? I was reading an article on how certain circles seem to be thinking it's the next great MMO since sliced bread... and I have no idea why. Apparently within 4 hours of launching in Korea, they had to add 4 servers to the 21 they opened that morning. Over in China, apparently they have some 70 servers up and running... keeping in mind that they spec each server with a capacity of 7000 players.
Can anyone tell me that they are indeed eagerly awaiting Aion, and why?