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One Shots: The bigger they are
For all that our fearless leader has been hanging out in Aion lately, we've actually gotten surprisingly few screenshots of the game in our One Shots mailbox recently. Thankfully, Briand L. sent in some Aion images, and we've picked a pretty epic group undertaking as the first one of the batch we're going to show off. However, since Briand's note is a bit longer than normal, we'll just say if you'd like to send in your own action shots from Aion or any other MMO, you can email them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. That said, on with the note -- and be sure to read the rest after the break. On 06-12-2010 the Elyos on the European server Telemachus have conquered Divine Fortress in Aion! An alliance of the best legions joined forces to completely annihilate the Balaur from the Abyss. BOON Control, eXistence, Section IX, Le Lene, Afterlife, Dark Reign, Soul Eater, Sacred Spirit, ENTAXH and many more legions actually managed to take the fort. Of course, BOON Control was almighty and took command of the fortress. %Gallery-85937%
Aion guide to Daily Quests available
New (or newly returned) to Aion and curious about the recently added daily quests? Well you're not alone, as your humble correspondent has been playing for awhile now and was having trouble unearthing any definitive information regarding the system just added in the 1.9 patch. Happily, NCsoft has updated its PowerWiki with a lengthy entry devoted to answering all of your daily quest needs. Everything from where to get to them, to what kind of rewards they offer, to how to join the requisite NPC factions, is available in the new article. "Every morning at 9 o'clock, the organization will send a new Quest notice that can be found at the bottom of your screen. Once you click on the icon, you can choose to either accept or decline the Daily Quest. If you accidentally decline the Quest, you can quit and then re-join the organization to get it again," the article says. Check out all the details over at the official Aion PowerWiki.
Wings Over Atreia: 1.9 impressions
So, the big day has come and gone, and Aion's North American players are now basking in the post-patch glow of the much ballyhooed 1.9 update. With such an extensive list of tweaks, its hard to get a good gauge on what works well and what doesn't given the short gestation period. Nevertheless, your humble columnist is here to make the attempt. Over the next few weeks, we'll be examining all of the patch additions in much finer detail, but for now I'd like to use this edition of our weekly look at the Aionsphere to examine a few of the smaller nuggets from this week's update. In no particular order, we'll try out a few things that you may have missed, given that the vast majority of the update's hype focused on the larger issues such as the Armsfusion system, the new quests, and the stun (or is that Assassin) nerf.
Aion plans eight-hour downtime for 1.9 patch
Aion's 1.9 patch has gotten a lot of press recently, and rightfully so, given the game-changing updates it brings to the table. With the big day officially scheduled for tomorrow, June 2nd, the community team has updated the official site with word on the expected server downtime, which currently stands at eight hours. The servers will go dark at 4:30am PDT at the start of the process, which works out to an estimated 1.9 launch time of 12:30pm PDT tomorrow. Check out the announcement over at the official site, as well as the patch notes. While you're at it, have a gander at some of our 1.9 coverage to get up to speed on the forthcoming changes.
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 roundup talks hot balaur hearts
The Aion community team has released their weekly Eye on Community roundup, and in addition to the usual news reviews and player spotlights, it features some information on forthcoming changes to the much-maligned Fenrir/Miragent pants quest, and the hot heart of magic components needed to complete it. "Crafting a hot heart of magic is no small feat -- unless you're insanely lucky, that is. Thankfully, we've made these quests much less painful with the 1.9 update. For starters, the amount of Boiling Balaur Blood Stains required for an attempt at the Hot Heart of Magic has been reduced to 100 instead of 125. This is complemented by the fact that Boiling Balaur Blood Stains now drop off normal and elite mobs of levels 43 -- 50. We expect that this will reduce the price of these components found on the Broker and make finishing the quest much more accessible," the roundup reads. Check out the full post over at the official site.
NCsoft releases third The More You MMO video
NCsoft has released the third episode in The More You MMO series of video shorts focused on RMT in Aion. The new piece, entitled Earn Your Power, examines the perils of buying your characters as opposed to leveling them up the old fashioned way. "When you buy a character, you could be buying a character created by an RMT company or a power-leveling service. Not only could your security be compromised by dealing with these companies, the link your character has to these companies will lead to your account being eventually banned. Even worse, your character could have been a character stolen from another player who has been hacked," states the press release accompanying the video. You can watch the short, which chronicles the ineptitude of a newb named Yarvington, on the official website or embedded here on Massively after the cut.
Aion's 1.9 patch available for early download
Those of you rubbing your hands together in anticipation of Aion's forthcoming 1.9 patch can now get the jump on the mere mortals who will be stuck downloading the mammoth update on launch day. In a notice posted on the game's official website, the Aion community team clues us in on the option to download portions of the patch well in advance of the scheduled release (currently Wednesday, June 2). "You can already prepare for this by pre-loading the patch and have it ready for installation on launch day. Your NCsoft Launcher will now begin to incrementally download the update over the next couple of days leading up to launch," reads the notice. You can also get a sneak peak at the 1.9 patch by logging into the Aion Public Test Server.
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.
Exclusive Aion lead producer interview
Aion fans have been on a roller coaster ride of late, what with the recent announcement of the launch date for the highly anticipated 1.9 patch, as well as teasers regarding 2.0 potentially coming to America in the Fall. Tempering the good news was the announcement of pending server mergers, which are rarely regarded as a good thing in the player community. In light of all the goings on, we were able to sit down with NCsoft's Chris Hager, Lead Producer for the western version of Aion, for some frank questions about the game, the company behind it, and the future. Fly past the cut for the full interview.
Aion pets sighted on Korean test server
Word of the recently released 2.0 patch to the Korean test servers has created a bit of a buzz in the North American Aion community. Among the huge list of tweaks and additions was the mention of player pets of both the vanity and utilitarian variety. While detailed information remains scarce here in the West, a few images of the pets have begun to show up on Korean MMORPG web sites, including these images over at MMOSite. In addition to the images, there are brief descriptions of each type of pet, including one that apparently alerts its owner to the presence of an enemy player. Along with this 'alertive' pet, there are warehouse pets (which as you might expect, offer additional storage), productive pets (which may give you a rare gameplay item when you feed them), and decorative pets that serve no particular gameplay function. The article also hints at an 'emotive study' system through which your pet can learn various abilities, including flight. Check out the images over at MMOSite.
Wings Over Atreia: In praise of double XP
In honor of yet another NCSoft double experience weekend, I had originally planned on composing a sonnet. Maybe a haiku or something in iambic pentameter praising the merits of increased experience gain. Alas, I've been too busy gobbling it up and spreading it amongst my Atreian alt army, so this column will have to do. Aion is a curious game, one in which my interest/exasperation level fluctuates wildly from one week to the next. Almost invariably during one of my down periods, there's NCSoft beckoning to me from a darkened street corner, flashing a bag of double XP and making me an offer I can't refuse. Or can I?
One Shots: A lovely day at the beach
With shiny new test servers opening up for the Aion population, the fact that it's Friday, with gorgeous vistas like this one to lounge about in, things seem pretty good for Aion players. For those of us who don't play the game, we can at least enjoy the sun and sand of this relaxing view, thanks to Gibson who sent it in to One Shots for us all to enjoy. Sadly, there's not too much of a note to go with it, other than to tell us he snapped it while "relaxing at Cantas Coast." As such, we'll have to imagine our own adventure on the beach today. (Mine would involve rum and tiki-shaped glasses!) Have you taken a picturesque -- or not so picturesque -- shot of your character that you'd like to show off? If so, we'd love to see it. Feel free to tell us about the character, why you picked the area, or whatever you'd like to add in! Send those in to oneshots AT massively DOT com, and we'll post it out here for everyone to check out. %Gallery-85937%
Wings Over Atreia: Community Guide to Aion
Welcome, dear daeva, to the sky lanes and battle-scarred trenches of Atreia. We're here to help you make sense of all your options in NCSoft's Aion, as well as bring you the best in news, information, and opinion from all corners of the Aionosphere. In keeping with Massively tradition, let's kick off the weekly column with a look at some of the Aion community's best and brightest. You'll find everything from developer news, to game tools, to fan sites listed below (and if you don't find what you're looking for, or we've neglected to mention a valuable resource, let us know in the comments)!
Aion 1.9 patch highlights with producer Chris Hager
Yesterday NCsoft teased some of the upcoming features in Aion patch 1.9, making daevas the world over drool their sparkling, celestial spit. However, while everyone was busy drooling, we met up with Aion's producer, Chris Hager, for a more extensive look into the patch notes. Patch 1.9 has a bunch of things going for it -- from the introduction of a new "rent-a-item" system, to daily quests, to looking for group interface enhancements and more. As we said yesterday, there's over 26 pages of patch notes which will be appearing on the Aion main website -- that's a huge number of fixes and changes. While we can't cover them all in this document, we aim to hit the highlights of the patch that just hit the Korean test server. Now extend your wings and fly with us to the land after the break!
Aion 1.9 patch details teased while videos of 2.0 dance in our heads
Thanks to one crazy community manager that likes to tease information, we've gotten a sneak peek at the upcoming patch information for Aion -- patch 1.9. The patch is hosting a wealth of enhancements and updates to the game that includes a new looking for group system, quest updates, a brand new daily quest system, changes to the endgame dungeon Dredgion, a decrease in transportation and soul healing prices, increased experience gain, a two-handed weapon merge system, and much more. The whole thing actually totals over 26 pages of patch notes which NCsoft West are still translating for Western audiences. Tomorrow, however, we've got a special look into some of the deeper mechanics of the patch, so be sure to come back and visit us at 11 AM Eastern time for all of the gritty details (as we need to be all hush hush until then.) But, for now, enjoy some beautiful concept art in the gallery below (in the form of desktop wallpapers) and a video of Aion's "update 2.0" patch stored after the break. %Gallery-87201%
The lesser of two evils is still evil
There are a lot of choices we face where we don't so much pick a good option as we pick the option that's least negative. Most people would argue that going to work is a better choice than faking illness and calling out, but not really a choice they like. Kill Ten Rats recently posed an interesting question along the same lines: would you rather your game have gold farmers or cheaters? As the full piece argues, gold farmers are the greater evil to the companies running the game -- they aren't paying customers and they're disrupting the playerbase. But the average player is more likely to run into cheaters than gold farmers, and they're more likely to have a direct negative effect upon the experience of the game. Yet teams tend to be more active in pursuing gold farmers (witness Aion's theatrical destruction of them) because cheaters, to the company, are a slightly lesser problem. Obviously, it's not a binary equation, and some games (such as Final Fantasy XI) place both at an equally high target priority. The fundamental question, however, is an excellent one -- cheating jerks, or RMT bots? There's no good option.
Aion's community address for January
Approaching the end of the month means it's time for another Aion community address. It's reliable enough to set your watch by, assuming your watch runs in one-month increments of time. This address promises an increased number of double experience weekends, with one currently running to help players accelerate their leveling. It also promises that character re-customization and gender changing services are on the horizon for players who would like said services, and briefly discusses the need for ongoing improvement in the website. There's a scarcity of hard facts, however, beyond a promise that some of these features should be available in early February. If you were guessing that the community seems a bit... unhappy about this, you'd be guessing right. The comments for this particular entry already stretch into the triple digits, with several players calling for server merges and additional content. It also has no mention about the recent security issues that NCsoft has been contending with, a somewhat sore point for several players. Coupled with the January Eye On Community, the natives seem to be getting a tad restless, especially with no news on the many features previewed in the Visions trailer. We're sure that Aion's team is hard at work, but the fan community seems a bit less docile than before.
One Shots: Girls on the internets?
Occasionally we get some interesting -- or at least amusing -- stories from players who send in screenshots. Speaking as a female who plays MMOGs, I'm personally always amused when guys don't believe I'm a girl. Alternately, I'm equally amused by my male friends who play nothing but females. What am I on about? Well, here's a note from Julian H. that came with today's sunny Aion screenshot to explain: My friends and I were rounding up some Krall marks with an alleged real "girl" who decided to cuddle next to my friend. We are all Elyos on the Vaizel server. Gotta love MMO culture -- where everyone is male until proven otherwise. Have you taken a silly screenshot when you've been out running around? If so, we'd love to see it. Just email it in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post it out here and give you the credit. Easy enough to do! %Gallery-9798%
One Shots: They're wash and wear
When it comes to characters in Aion, normally we see tall, statuesque types. That's why we couldn't help but go "d'awwwww" when we opened our email box to reveal this trio in their freshly cleaned wings. From top left to front, we have Mae, Zowina and the adorably small Flowette of the guild Penguin Theory on the Castor EU Aion server. Along with this cute screenshot, Flowette wrote us a note: [Here's] how to look fashionable in three easy steps. (Just don't put your wings in the tumble-dryer after washing!)Have you and your friends gotten a fun shot while you were playing together? If so, we would love to see it. All you have to do is email it to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. (Guild and server are welcome too!) We'll post your screenshot out here for everyone to check out and give you the credit for sending it to us. %Gallery-9798%
