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SDCC 2010: Massively's interview with Aion producer Lani Blazier
San Diego has been the place to be for the past few days, with developers bringing out all the latest and greatest to show off at Comic-Con 2010. We at Massively have been pretty busy, in part with Aion's web producer Lani Blazier. Aion's free expansion Assault on Balaurea is just over a month away, so Lani had plenty to talk about. She gave us a look at what we can expect with 2.0, and spent a bit of time answering our questions afterward. Follow along after the jump to see what she had to say.
Wings Over Atreia: Community roundup
There's been a lot happening around the Aionosphere this past month, with the announcement of next week's 1.9 patch revelation topping the list. There's also been talk of server merges, the mythical 2.0 update, changes to Miragents, and a boatload of other community news that we'll recap for you after the cut. As always, send in your Aion-related questions or observations to jef AT massively DOT com, and let us know of anything we missed.
Aion devs talk 1.9 features in new podcast
If you're an Aion fan and are anxiously awaiting the forthcoming 1.9 patch (and honestly who isn't), you'll want to head over to the European website and check out the recently released patch-centric video podcast. NCsoft producers Chris Hager and Lani Blazier, as well as community manager Andrew Beegle, talk about everything from UI customization, to counter-stun mechanics, to reduced soul healing and travel costs. "We have drastically reduced the prices of soul healing, soul binding, and transportation, and I think players are going to find it's a big win. I know we do internally because it is really expensive to heal your soul, bind to a location, and fly places," Blazier says. The trio also discuss the new equipment rental system and drop hints about a large amount of new quests coming in the update. Check out the full podcast, and don't forget to peruse our exclusive interviews with Chris Hager about 2.0 as well as Aion in general.
Aion 1.5.1 patch additions receive an overwhelming "Meh"
The latest additions to Aion's 1.5.1 patch notes illustrate the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" reality that is MMO development. They also show a potential communication disconnect between the game's players and developers or possibly even unrealistic expectations. Upon reading the pages and pages of player comments on these patch note additions, the general opinion can be summarized as such: "These changes don't address our major complaints." There's no doubt that 1.5.1 will greatly improve Aion (less grind anyone?), but players seem to be sticking on a few major points that aren't yet in the tentative patch notes. Most of the players commenting on these notes seem to feel that Aion's first big patch should tackle the crashing fortresses issue (crysys.dll), flying spiritmaster pets, better UI customization, and a number of other issues (less grind included). There also appears to be resistance to a new debuff that will be added to aether extraction. Players will now be randomly debuffed when gathering, but can quickly remove it by typing a captcha. This change is obviously aimed at bots, but many state this will become an annoyance for everyone. Check out our summary of part one of the patch notes and AionSource's interview with NCsoft's Lani Blazier to get a comprehensive view of the situation.
Aion announces new North American server to be available soon [Updated]
Lani Blazier, associate producer on NCsoft's Aion, has announced today via Twitter that the game will be opening its arms to a new North American server very shortly.This announcement most likely comes to many cheers from the community, as server queues have continued all this week on many of the NA servers. While we announced earlier that private shop changes will be coming to the game in order to reduce AFK spot holders, the new server will be one of the best ways to help spread out the population.The new server is currently unnamed and the time frame is still not set in stone, but Lani has assured everyone that the server will be available sometime this weekend. This post will be updated as more information becomes available.A new European server will follow as well, but as of this posting, the time frame for that server is still up in the air.Update: Fregion [West] has been added to the server list and is now taking players. An East Coast American server and the new European server are also on their way.
NCsoft announces its PAX plans
It's nearly September which means the Penny Arcade Expo is swiftly approaching. Taking place between September 4th-6th in Seattle, PAX is fast becoming the new must-attend convention for all sections of the industry, from developers to publishers and gamers. NCsoft has just announced their plans for this year's convention and this focuses on their three big IPs: Aion, Guild Wars 2 and City of Heroes.NCsoft will once again have booths at the event, one per game. On the Aion front, they will be showing the latest build of the game, which includes patch 1.5 (aka The Shadow of the Balaur). Producer Brian Knox and Associate Producer Lani Blazier will also be on hand at booth #642. At the Guild Wars 2 booth (#842), there will be Q and As with the Live Team, a talk on the upcoming novel The Fall of Ascalon and the chance to win a 128 page Art of Guild Wars 2 artbook. Finally at the City of Heroes booth (#542) you can take a peek at the new update ("Power Spectrum") and nab a special PAX Costume Power code. There will also be a player meet up on the Saturday night (September 5th) hosted by the Online Community Relations team, for more information on that click here.
NCsoft posts epic video interview with Aion Lead Designer Yongchan Jee
GamesCom is in full swing with NCsoft taking full advantage of social networking, from twittering about their activities to streaming video on Facebook in order to promote their newest MMO. Aion has been the talk of the show with everything from an eye-catching booth and drool-worthy swag to live theatre (a must-see even if the acting is cringe-worthy) to an interview with the Korean development team. Associate Producer Lani Blazier took to the stage to put the audience's questions to Aion's Lead Designer Yongchan Jee in an epic seventy minute video. This includes discussing the origins of the combat system and PvPvE, what makes Aion different from other games like WoW and Lord of the Rings Online to offering advice for would-be games designers. The interview itself is great because it's not just all about the English devs, instead we're getting to the source and a chance to listen to direct answers from one of the creators of 2009's most anticipated MMO. Check out the full video after the jump.
Second Aion vidcast now available
As we inch closer to the Aion launch on 22nd and 25th September (NA and EU, respectively), the excitement about NCsoft's latest MMO is reaching fever pitch. Yesterday, G4TV released the second Aion vidcast (the first one was hosted by IGN). Featuring devs including Associate Producer Lani Blazier and Producer Brian Knox, this one is all about character customisation. The interviews are also interspersed with some impressive in-game footage and rather arty shots of their Seattle offices. The vidcast begins by going through the differences between PvP, PvE and PvPvE. Indeed the highlight has to be seeing Lani try to figure out the best pronunciation of PvPvE. There's also a rundown of the main classess and the sub-class choices you can pick upon Ascending. If you're looking for one word that sums up both the game and this vidcast, it would have to be 'uniqueness'. While none of the information will be new to people playing the beta or who have been following the game, it's great to see more of the people behind the game and their genuine passion for Atreia.Hit the jump to check out the video.
NCsoft's Lani Blazier reveals Aion's Spiritmaster class
NCsoft's Lani 'Liv' Blazier has revealed more detailed information on Aion's Mage subclass, the Spiritmaster, in an interview with Ten Ton Hammer. Spiritmasters are, as their name suggests, able to summon spirits who will help them battle. In the beta, it's common to see Spiritmasters running around with a fiery minion at their heels but Lani is keen to let everyone know that there's a lot more skill to playing this class than meets the eye: "In the Aion beta, Spiritmasters can summon four kinds of spirits, each based on one of the core elements: earth, wind, fire, and water. At Aion's release, we will introduce a fifth spirit. This new spirit is specific to a character's race. Asmodian Spiritmasters will be able to summon a spirit that is a combination of the elements of fire and earth, and Elyos Spiritmasters will be able to summon a spirit that is a combination of wind and water. Each spirit has different abilities. It can be challenging at times to recognize which element would be best to call on, and it is a mark of a player's experience in the class to become skilled at this decision. Using the right spirit at the right time can be the difference between winning or losing a battle."Check out the full interview for more information.
Aion's first video podcast is packing lore and stunning visuals
Just a couple months ago a friend told me that Aion was the biggest and baddest upcoming MMORPG that no-one in North America knew about. It broke records and won awards when it launched in Korea last year, yet hardly anyone over here was talking about it. Well, things can change quickly.As the September launch date approaches, NCsoft has been kicking Aion promotion into high gear. Their latest marketing effort is a four-part series of video podcasts hosted by IGN. The first part came out on Friday and serves as a crash course on the lore behind Aion, Atreia, and the three main factions called the Asmodians, Elyos, and Balaur (the NPC dragon race that sets up the PvPvE system).The video really gives you a good look at Aion's very own fourth pillar (sorry BioWare, you might have some competition here) and is full of stunning in-game footage, cinematics, and staff interviews. Closed beta is currently in full swing and we're keeping tabs on it for you.
