Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, Leveling, News items
A new patch for an MMO is a bit like a present. At best, it can provide a number of new opportunities for fun and enjoyment. At worst, it can break several things you already liked and now have to replace. Aion has recently deployed the new patch 1.5.1 and, as could be expected, fan reaction is somewhat split on whether it’s a nice present or the immortal pairing of socks and underwear. Certainly there isn’t a major content influx, and the often-requested reduction of the game’s grind has yet to be implemented, but there are still a number of nice updates and additions.
Leaving aside the bugfixes and optimization with only a mention that they should help the game play more smoothly all around, several instanced dungeons have been adjusted somewhat. Nearly all of these changes look beneficial to players — reductions in difficulty and increases in reward, as well as added UI displays for important objectives. They’ve also added stealth-detecting NPCs to starter areas and increased several NPC health totals in an effort to curb destructive PvP tendencies. Quest experience at mid-to-high levels has been adjusted upward, rewards have been slightly improved on several quests, and level-difference experience penalties have been reduced. Last but not least, there’s now more incentive to hold a fortress in the Abyss and work to defend it, as rewards are offered for defending players. Aion’s fans aren’t all happy about the changes, but it’s best if you take a look at the changes yourself. Just remember that even if you don’t like it, this present is unreturnable.
Patch 1.5.1 goes live for Aion originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 12:00pm by Eliot Lefebvre
Filed Under: aion, aion-patch-1.5.1, aion-the-tower-of-eternity, game-mechanics, grind, leveling, ncsoft, news-items, patches, pvp
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Culture, Events, real-world
NCsoft and the Aion staff have been spending a lot of time lately working to get the Aion community involved and engaged in ways beyond just playing the game. They began with the Eye on Community feature, brought out Aion apparel, and now NCsoft gives you Aion Around the World.
The Aion team is enjoying the international popularity of their game and want to see it in action. Community Manager Andrew “Tamat” Beegle explains “to highlight the global phenomenon that Aion has become, we want to see pictures of our community members in public locations. We’re looking for pictures of our players participating in exciting activities or showcasing Aion-themed merchandise, art, or cosplay.”
Tamat and two other Aion team members Ayase and Amboss illustrated the idea by cleverly getting themselves into one photo while 5,000 miles apart. (We anticipate someone taking the idea a step farther by doing the same thing with their entire guild.) Aion will be featuring the pictures on their site for the next few months, so get to work on those wings, grab your camera, and send your photos to the Aion Community email. Have fun!
NCSoft asks Aion players to fly their fan flags in public originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on November 14th, 2009 at 6:00pm by Rubi Bayer
Filed Under: aion, aion-around-the-world, aion-community, aion-the-tower-of-eternity, ncsoft, real-world-events
If your gaming origins consist of old-school tabletop gaming, you most likely know and fear the term railroading. It’s used to describe an innocent-enough formulation that begins in a large number of games, usually run by younger players, wherein players are more or less forced along a preset path no matter what they might choose to do. That’s a Terrible Idea recently took certain parts of the MMO world to task for this as well, as offering precisely that — a game streamlined so effectively that you have no choices to be made. In particular it cites Aion as an example of a game offering a straight-line, no-thought approach to the genre.
Certainly one of the common criticisms of some newer games, such as Aion and Champions Online, is that you find yourself pushed along on a narrow set of tracksw toward an inevitable conclusion, without many choices to be made in terms of gameplay. On the flip side, of course, it’s hard to argue that a certain amount of streamlining is a good thing — we might miss the sensation of wondering what we should do next, but not the sensation of having no idea what comes next. But there’s an argument to be made that streamlining too far removes the whole reason we play the game, and it certainly destroys any hope of meaningful immersion when all your choices have already been made.
Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion
The perils of railroading in MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted on November 8th, 2009 at 8:00pm by Eliot Lefebvre
Filed Under: aion, aion-the-tower-of-eternity, champions-online, co, culture, game-mechanics, linear-games, opinion, railroad, railroading, streamlining, thats-a-terrible-idea
