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Wings Over Atreia: Bribing for Balance
Nope, this isn't a new game show on a cable network but rather the idea behind the latest program from NCsoft to help increase and balance the populations of the servers in Aion. In a game heralded for its PvPvE, keeping enough enemies around to ensure PvP is more than just a passing fancy -- it's vital to the welfare of the game. And of late, on some servers it almost seems as if Asmodians are just mythical creatures that Elyos tell stories about. Although I won't speculate (here at least) on the decline, Asmodian populations have dwindled across many servers as has their participation in PvP. Besides the universal events that celebrated the release of patch 2.5, Aion has aimed some new (or revamped) events specifically at reversing this population trend. The basic premise is this: If you bribe them, they will come. The plan, unveiled in May, would encourage players to return to their furry-backed roots or even try some claws on for the first time by offering special faction incentives. Couple this with the free trial and the hope was that servers would see an influx of Asmodians and a return to the days of faction warfare glory. Just what exactly are the incentives and -- more importantly -- how well are they working? Glide past the cut for details and to join in a discussion on the matter.
NCsoft looking to bolster Aion's Asmodian population
If you've been considering a walk down Aion's darker path, there's never been a better time. NCsoft's newest web announcement outlines the perks for rolling an Asmodian avatar on all but one of the servers scheduled to undergo the faction incentive program. Benefits include XP amulets, Gateway Getaway events that permit fortress instance entry regardless of the controlling faction, and siege bonuses composed of additional medals. Asmodian players on the North American Zikel and Siel servers are eligible for the bonuses. Across the pond, Asmos are receiving assistance on Spatalos, Telemachus, Thor, and Urtem, while Elyos players on the Perento shard can look forward to a fort siege incentive.
Aion preparing Asmodian faction incentives
The 2.5 patch isn't the only thing coming to Aion's live servers this month. NCsoft is preparing a faction incentive program designed to entice players to roll Asmodian characters on both North American and European shards. Asmodian avatars at level 10 or higher will receive Berdin's Amulets, which grant 50% more XP from hunting, gathering, and crafting for a period of one hour (with a one-hour cooldown period after activation). Gateway Getaway events will also happen more frequently, and Asmodian characters will be granted entry to Abyss instances despite Elyos ownership of the forts. Finally, fortress siege incentives will be handed out on a weekly basis, with additional medals being awarded based on which forts are conquered. In short, there's never been a better time to roll an Asmodian alt or convince your friends to join you on Aion's dark side. Head to the official web site for more info.
Aion fortress sieges to follow set schedule
Aion's Assault on Balaurea expansion has wrought more than a few notable changes across the sundered face of Atreia, in addition to opening up several new areas for intrepid daevas to explore. Among these are four new fortresses to conquer and, along with old familiar names like Siel, Krotan, and Asteria, each of these mighty forts will now be subject to a recurring vulnerability schedule. This is in contrast to the pre-Balaurea system of random fortress vulnerability times, a mechanic that left legions and alliances somewhat unsure as to when to marshal their forces in anticipation of sacking certain fortresses and accessing their rewards. NCsoft has posted the current fortress vulnerability schedule on the official Aion website, though they do note that it is subject to change based on the final integration of the new forts into the rotation.
Mark Jacobs details future Fortress changes
As was hinted at in a video featuring Mythic's Jeff Hickman not so long ago, the latest update to Warhammer Online's Fortress gameplay was only the beginning of a larger plan to improve the playability of this important aspect of the game. Mark Jacobs has now elaborated on these future plans, at the same time as giving a report on how the new update has been going on the live servers -- on the night of Jacobs' post, there were no Fortress-related crashes, and general performance was better but not quite where they want it yet.There are three initiatives that the dev team hope to put their focus on in the coming weeks. One of these is simply to see how the new population threshold is working, to determine if and how it should be tweaked with respect to balance and design issues. At the same time, they will be keeping an eye on the Fortress Lords to make sure that their difficulty aligns with the number of players attending a siege. The third change will involve optimizing the code that deals with large-scale battles, in the hopes of being able to open up the population threshold some more. Let's hope they succeed with this last effort, as some fans already have their torches and pitchforks out due to the reduced scale of these end-game encounters.
