Arrode.com # FFXI and AION

A week into AION I feel like I’m here to stay. So, my initial thoughts on AION are as follows:

1. 

   AION has some really pretty environments.

   The game is very similar to World of Warcraft in terms of UI design, playability, and concepts. Even the graphics remind me of WoW in terms of the design they took and environments. Overall, AION is a much prettier game that WoW being that it’s relatively new, but the resemblance between the two games is apparent even for those who didn’t play WoW often (like me). Things like the auction house system are exactly the same as in WoW, basic commands and shortcuts are relatively the same, and the battle mechanics are similar. Those who have played WoW won’t feel that AION is too foreign. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I tend to dislike games that blatantly rip 90% of the UI from another, more popular game (aka Warhammer and AION).

2. 

   You totally get panty shots of your character while flying. How nice.

   Flying is quite fun! You can’t fly in every area which makes sense since flying around everywhere would be hax since most of the enemies I’ve thus encountered are ground based and wouldn’t be able to chase you around hundreds of feet in the air. As of right now you can fly in certain city areas and everywhere else you can glide kind of like a hand-glider would. This is wonderful for falling off high cliffs since you can usually save yourself by gliding gently to safety. The problem is you have a 60 second flight limit so if your timer runs out before you hit ground you’ll probably plummet to your death. There’s a slight cool-down between using flight abilities (10 seconds I think?) so if you fly for 30 seconds and land you’ll have to wait 10 seconds before you can use the rest of your 30 second flight timer. When you land your flight seconds automatically replenish. 60 seconds of flight = 60 seconds of grounding to recoup and “rest”. I just say it’s because our characters are obese and out of shape. I personally think we should be able to fly for longer than 60 seconds, but whatever. :3 Later in the game you can upgrade your flight time (not sure to how much) and you can also use potions that increase flight time.

3. 

   Questing is very similar to WoW.

   Questing is the way to primarily level in AION thus far (similar to WoW). You initiate quests from townsfolk who have blue arrows over their head and “campaign” leaders who usually have golden suns over their head. You do their quests which usually include killing some number of mobs, collecting stuff, or delivering some sort of package and then collect your item award and exp. Same as WoW, nothing startling here. The dialogue with the NPCs is usually interesting enough to read and provides background into the world of AION. Quests are stored in your quest log and are ranked based on what level you’re supposed to complete them at.

4. 

   I fight using orbs, which is pretty sweet.

   So far from what I can tell at level 18 skills are acquired by purchasing skill books from your respective job trainer. These can’t be customized so far to determine your growth as a character, but I feel like that might have to do with some features I’ve yet to get around to yet due to my low level. Battles are decently fun. I’m playing as a Spirit Master which is similar to a summoner. I summon elemental spirits to help fight alongside me and most of my abilities seem to be damage over time based or to enhance the abilities of my elemental.

Soooo, I once again pretty much quit FFXI. I feel like I’ve exhausted most of the material in that game and I really was reluctant to really say I had quit. I really did think FFXI was the best online RPG I’ve played and I loved the community and the world/storyline, but after 4+ years I felt like there was little left to explore or stand in awe at.

I heard a little about AION Online from other LS members who had decided to drop FFXI to wait for FFXIV. I didn’t know much except it was a Korean MMORPG and the interface kind of reminded me of World of Warcraft. Regardless I decided if some of my old LS liked it, it was worth looking into as something to do when bored. I bought and installed it yesterday and ran around for 5 hours or so as a Mage Elyos and enjoyed it thoroughly. Though it does strongly remind me of WoW in terms of interface, shortcuts, typical quest storyline progression, I feel like it’s a better product overall and for having only been released a month ago I feel like it’s something I could see myself playing for at least a little while (aka till FFXIV comes out).

Welcome to AION!

If you happen to play on the Marchutan server feel free to say hello. I’m playing as “Arrode” there.