• You can download the Aion open beta client (directions here). The open beta itself starts on Sept. 6. So that means you can download it, but you can't actually do anything with it until then.
• The Escapist (and Warcry, which is related somehow) have a nice interview with Aion's creative writers, focusing mostly on the cross-language aspects of what we do, here. (I'll note for the record, though, that Robin's a guy.)
• I'll be at PAX. I'm part of a panel on "Evolution of the MMO Genre" or something like that on Friday afternoon. I'll probably pull a shift or two in the Aion booth--I want to see total strangers play this game for the first time. I've got a few top-secret meetings involving bidness. And oh yeah--I'm gonna play a ton of games!
Out of Context: There's an aquarium filter and a lab coat here. I don't need those within reach at all times.
Music: Cleveland Orchestra, Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.
I got a key for the last closed beta and ran around as a character from each faction for like, maybe an hour.
ReplyDeleteI need help understanding why I need to push through the initial discomfort (as a WoW-head). I liked the greater ability to cusomtize the way my character looked, but then never figured out, why I was having more fun. Tel me what level, or what zone, or what activity where I might start saying "Hey, there is some cool stuff here"
-Morvant
As a WoW-head myself, I can tell you that I struggled for the first...four hours, maybe?...with a UI and game mechanics that were just different enough from WoW to be frustrating. Aion offers some "customize your AI" features, but it's not an open architecture the way WoW is.
ReplyDeleteI think the story leading up to you gaining wings--say the first six hours of gameplay, give or take--is more compelling than WoW's Valley of Trials (clobbering the peons aside).
If Aion isn't appealing to you by the time you've got your wings, then it's probably not the game for you.