Beta Testing: Aion

[OmegaOPS]

Currently Beta Testing NCSoft's Aion this might be a game to bring DBD into I'll post more when I can break NDA

[Zeb]

I heard it's gearing up to be a WoW killer or at least the best competition out there. Looking forward to trying it.

Zeb

[Masklein]

I got into the beta for Aion as well. It won't be a wow killer. But it definitely will attract it's own core audience. It feels like a typical Korean mmo with one big difference so far: polish.

It isn't trying to be everything for everyone. It has an identity and is sticking with it. I have had fun in the beta so far and would seriously consider playing it further into release.

Asmodian all the way!

[OmegaOPS]

Bought the CE, so Aion will be one I'm playing, please let me know if there is enough interest to Guild up, also on the FPS fron I've been testing 2 Games, Huxley: The Dystopia and Section 8
Bothuse the UTE 3 Engine on is Koren (Huxley i.e. ijji) and most likey be free to play and the other (Section is from one of the F.E.A.R. makers Time Gate Studios - Each is unique enough to offer differant modes of game play depending on your mood Huxley will be more semi presitant in storyline and gameplay - so come over for some FPS Action:

Quote:

Dear ijji Users, For the final 2 days of Huxley testing we are opening the server to everyone for a large-scale stress test. As of right now, all non CBT testers can log in to http://huxley.ijji.com/cbt.nhn and download the client. Starting Tuesday, August 11th, 11am - 10pm PST, they can get a character set up and try to make it into your faction's main City. Finally, on August 12th from 3pm - 7pm PST, we want as many people online as possible at one time. This will be our final test of the servers before we go back down to digest and implement all the great feedback and suggestions from CBT2 before Open Beta. So please get set up on 8/11 from 11am - 7pm PST, and get everyone you know to play on 8/12 from 3pm - 7pm PST. Thank you! Sincerely, ijji.com

you know where to find me

[Masklein]

I preordered AION through steam. I don't know how long AION will keep my attention. If the launch is rocky or bad, it might not be long. But so far I have high hopes for it.

I've also been playing League of Legends a ton. Very fun.

I'll try to check out Huxley tonight.

[Masklein]

I tried huxley.

It rates poop on a scale of 1 to 5.

The game gave me a head ache. They need to fix the lag. Their pvp maps don't accommodate all classes (if you play sniper expect to be cannon fodder).

It could be a 3 or 4 but they need to fix the lag issues and then revisit how they expect support all classes having a chance to thrive in pvp.

Right now pvp is bunny hopping lag and rocket fest.

[OmegaOPS]

Rumor is they have dedicated servers in the wings and that P2P will go away - however as a Phantom I totally in agreement as to a change - if it is F2P I will playit in my off time

[Masklein]

CB6 for Aion is this weekend. I'm looking forward to it.

[Masklein]

I'm on Siel server as an asmodian. Random'd the name Kalelia.

[OmegaOPS]

Kelt (As) on Seil (New lvl 4 atm) Keltia on Israphel (Elly) I tried whispering you but you wern't on so xfire me or IM when your on

[Masklein]

I'll be on TS and on Kalelia all this evening. I don't have a mic though.

[OmegaOPS]

Elliot! Joe! get your asses in here!

[Zeb]

Seriously is it that good? I'm buying a new computer in the next week or two, was going to wait until then.

Zeb

[Masklein]

Tell me what your qualifications are for an mmo to be good. For what I am looking for, it is great. But that doesn't mean it is great for you as well.

[Masklein]

Champions Online open beta starts tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it!

[Zeb]

Good PvP + RvR, strong and imaginative PvE and a robust economy with the ability to take part in it in a meaningful way. Smooth Combat systems and animations. The ability to "tune" a toon rather than just selecting 1 of 5 templates and hacking away.

I am flexible, but that is what I like the most.

Zeb

[Zeb]

...oh yeah, and the possibility of some kind of recongnizable advancement, even if you can't play 40 hrs a week.

Zeb

[Masklein]

The game is like a polished version of lineage 2 for PvP. There doesn't seem to be any of the things people hated about L2 pvp. No ganking out of towns or open world combat unless you are in a place called the abyss. Even then it is faction pvp for the most part. Legions (guilds) can hold castles so in that respect you may end up fighting your own faction. Also L2 had a lot of rewards that only the Guild leader could get. That so far does not seem to be the case in Aion. As far as how does PvP combat feel? I haven't had a lot of time trying it out, so I can't comment.

I had a lot of fun playing the Sorcerer in PvE. It was exactly what I was looking for in a glass canon. If the ability design from Sorcerer is any indication, classes get lots of tools to help with their job. But if you really want to be good, then you have to know how to use them. Timing and knowing what to save for the next fight is key.

There seems to be plenty of money sinks so I don't think inflation will be a big problem. There is an auction house. I haven't bothered to look at it. You can also set up your own character shop. It is the same as L2 or RO.

The combat system and animations are very well done. After 20 levels I haven't had any problems. I didn't hit a level and think that the monsters curve got ahead of my power level. You buy skills and each skill has a rank. But each skill also levels up along with you. So rank 1 Fireball will increase in damage as you level up. But rank 2 will always do more damage than rank 1.

Tuning your character is the one major weak point. There is gear and stigmata. Nearly every MMO has gear. Stigmata unlocks at level 20. You start off with 2 stigmata slots and can have up to 5. Stigmata are powers that you can only get from runes that you place in your stigmata slots. Think of it like gems and socketing. Some stigmata you can buy. Others are drops off NPCs. Some are really rare. Since the stigmata don't give you bonuses, they give you entirely new powers, the difference between your character and another won't be a lot. But what differences there are will be huge. I think it is neat that you can get new powers in this system, but it isn't enough to satisfy my desire to tune a character and tweak numbers. On gear there are slots where you can put stones for extra bonuses. There is also an enchanting system. So you can tweak your character, but it isn't even half as impressive as say... Eve. It even falls short of what you can do in WoW. There are a total of 8 classes. What will set you apart from others of the same class is stigmata, gear and the stones you socket into your gear. Thats about it.

So out of your list, the only thing that really worries me about Aion is tuning a character. If you need to tune a character to feel special then maybe wait for a trial and check it out.

Champions 'open' beta starts tonight. I'm interested to see how it goes. Right now it is looking like it offers more tuning for your character. It does have pvp if you want it and rewards for pvp (Aion does too). So far Campions appears to have far more tweaking possible than most other MMOs. That is based off of what I have been reading. My biggest worry for champions is if it will stay afloat. Aion is NCsoft's baby, so it is hear to stay. Champions is Cryptic and being distributed by Atari. Since Cryptic is flying solo (no ncsoft) I don't know how the servers will be. If the server load causes lots of lag, then champions could be a bumpy choice.

[Masklein]

Forgot about recognizable advancement without a large time sink. I would say that exists. But I am not certain it is satisfying. Levels can go fairly fast. You can make good progress in an hour crafting. But I don't know how satisfying it will be. Playing for say 4 hours in 1 week would get you through a good chunk of quests. But there isn't a lot of advancement as far as character progression goes. The reason is because there isn't a lot of features in the game that let you tweak the numbers or change the way your character does things. You don't even get something new every level. Every 3 levels you get new spells and that is it.

[Masklein]

So I've been mucking around in the Champions beta. The game is stable, not much lag right now. They did have a huge problem with releasing a bad patch and patcher. But that has been resolved.

So how is the game? Going by Zeb's standards it beats Aion in every category.

The game is sharded. No server to call home. Instead you just pick a different instance of whatever zone you wish to go to. So the game is never dead. Of the 2 zones I have been to, they all play out like a scenario. There is a real narrative that culminates much like the Westfall zone in WoW. I'm not sure if there is an Auction system, but there are items to be crafted and traded.

Combat is incredibly interesting. There is a very large variety in mechanics for how powers work. Unlike city of heroes, there is a lot of meat to the combat here. Animations look great and the ability to customize each power is wonderful.

Each character has 8 stats, just like the champions pen and paper game. The aspects these stats influence is spread very evenly. You really have to make some tough choices on what your character is about if you want to specialize. There is a lot of tweaking to do in this game. Every level you get something. At level 8 I have yet to get a dead level where the trainer didn't offer me anything interesting.

I really like Aion, but if Champions can maintain server stability it is in the lead right now. Have to try and get higher in level to see if these impressions stick.

[Masklein]

Aion open beta is coming if you want to check it out:

http://na.aiononline.com/en/news/aions-open-beta-pre-select-and-headstart-programs.html

[OmegaOPS]

A little wffling there to get start so where do we meet and so on....

[Masklein]

I created 2 Asmodians on the Vaizel in prep for the early start this Sunday.