Exclusive interview with Aion Producer Brian Knox
by Brooke Pilley 
Oct 8th 2009 at 5:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Interviews, New titles
We've heard a lot about "westernizing" or "culturalizing" Aion for North American and European audiences. Can you please explain the full breadth of this term? Are we talking about language translation, story rewrites, and lowered experience curves here?
Westernizing Aion is about making the game culturally relevant to our market. This includes going above and beyond basic translation and delving into the story behind the text and making sure that it is presented in a way our players will understand. For us it isn't so much about changing things with Aion but shining the spotlight on the area that is most appealing to our audience. Aion is a huge game with a ton choices and features for users all over the world to enjoy; making sure we point those parts out is a huge part of the culturalization
As for actual changes to the game, we try to take an addition approach, rather than a subtraction approach. For example, we provided more character creation options for the Western audience, but at the same time we were able to provide those same options to the Eastern market. We had a much larger focus on PvE and ensured we had enough content for our users to enjoy. Everyone always brings up the lowered experience curve but the fact is Aion was built with a western curve in mind. An average user will spend about 300 hours to get to the max level, in fact in the 2 weeks since we have launched we have a good amount of players already in their 40s and we expect a few to hit 50 in the next day or so.
You've gone with two player factions and an NPC faction for your PvP setting in the Abyss. Why did you decide to make that third faction NPC instead of player? Just how intuitive is the AI for the Balaur?
The third faction is used for a variety of reasons. It provides an alternate challenge for players and helps in the balancing of the server. The AI for the Balaur will make choices based on the game environment, specifically in regards to the balance between Asmodian and Elyos players. For example if the Asmodians control the majority percentage of the fortresses in the Abyss than the Balaur will be more apt to attack the Asmodians.
Because players can gain Abyss Points (AP) from killing both players and NPCs in the Abyss, there seems to be some concern that they will take the safer path of least resistance and focus more on PvE to avoid risk of death. Afterall, you lose AP upon death to another player, right? How does Aion address these concerns?
The majority of Abyss Points will be earned in, well, the Abyss. This means a player is putting themselves out there for PvP. They could find a segregated part of the Abyss and hope to avoid conflict but they are still vulnerable. It all goes back to risk vs reward. A player can choose a lower risk path as you mentioned but it will take longer than the player who takes the larger risks.
To go a bit further with the theme of "taking the path of least resistance," how have Korean players been reacting in PvP so far? Are they forming up larger PvP groups to reduce the chance of death (school of fish tactics)? Are they attacking undefended fortresses instead of defended ones for a better risk to reward ratio? Do you think westerners will react differently?
Play styles between East and West can be different, but we try to provide a grounds in which players can choose their style and are not forced down one path. Traveling in groups is certainly a safer way to travel but it also draws more attention to yourself and leaves you open to more mistakes. While you may attack a Balaur controlled fortress thinking it is unguarded the other faction may just be waiting for you to clear it out and swoop in for the glory in the end. We are really excited to see how the Abyss plays out in this market, our players are starting to pour in so it is something we are going to watch develop over the coming months.
So far, the biggest compliment we seem to hear about Aion is that it is extremely polished and relatively bug-free. We realize that this is partially due to all the improvements made in Korea before releasing to the western audience, but just how important is polish and performance to you? Do you think MMOs will ever achieve a gold standard in terms of quality upon release and after patches or are they simply too complex?
I believe there is a point of diminishing returns. We classify bugs with different priority. Two of these differentiators are 1) How many people will it affect, 2) Is there a work around. For example, if the class change quest was unable to be completed at level 10, this is a large issue because it affects almost every player and there is no work around. We had a large decision ahead of us with Aion. Do we release as close to possible to the Korean release or do we wait until we feel the game is polished completely for our market? We were very concerned that delaying our release would hinder our community and the growth of Aion in the West, but we felt that releasing an unpolished product would be even worse. Our growth since our betas have started have been beyond our expectations so I really feel we made the right choice in ensuring the game was ready for our market versus working towards a more synced release with Korea.
You have experienced a great amount of success with Aion in the East. What are your aspirations for the West? How would you define success?"
For me, success with Aion will be measured with the excitement and growth of the community. I have said all along we don't have to sell 10 million boxes to be successful. We want to launch a polished product and give gamers a high quality choice in the MMO market. Our initial sales are above our expectations which is a great accomplishment but it doesn't stop here. We need to improve every day and work towards providing a good customer experience so that our users continue to play Aion and spread the good word about the game.
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, Brian! And to you, our loyal readers: stay tuned for an Aion community Q&A session later this month. Our plan is to gather Massively reader questions and propose them to NCsoft on your behalf.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
fairyfay66 said on 5:11PM 10-08-2009
good little interview. i just got a new comp and am currently installing aion right now. its always good to hear its not just about income, and how they care about what is going on with the actual consumer. im very excited to start playing. keep up the good coverage with everything.
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Celestian said on 5:57PM 10-08-2009
Not one word about the massive grind the game turns into? The game has some amazing points but the single worst has got to be the grind, at 34 it's stupid. Quests are almost non-existent.
Ask them what they plan to do in that regard. It's all I can do to login now to just grind mindlessly all night to try and level up to the next grind.
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Wensbane said on 6:28PM 10-08-2009
NCSoft has already announced that they're going to increase quest exp by 500% (!), with the next major patch. This was even covered by Massively yesterday.
What more can you possibly want?!
Jason said on 6:45PM 10-08-2009
What more could I possibly want?
How about them making the change prior to launch? I mean the game has only been out in Korea for a year. Did they not have enough time to increase quest XP so the game wouldn't be such a grind? I know Asia loves the grinding MMO but isn't part of westernizing the game eliminating the grind completely? NC Soft dropped the ball on this. It's nice it'll eventually get fixed but it wasn't soon enough IMO.
Celestian said on 8:45PM 10-08-2009
The Massively article didn't mention if it was ALL quests or just level 40+ quests. The grind starts way before 40 ;_)
Wensbane said on 8:52PM 10-08-2009
My reply was directed to Celestian, not you Jason.
Celestian can't complain about them "not saying a word about reducing the grind" when they have already made a public announcement and taken the first steps to rectify things.
You CAN complain about these steps not being taken before release, of course. With that, I would agree. But you simply can't accuse NCSoft of not recognizing their own mistakes and trying to fix them. They are, to my surprise, doing just that!
This coming from someone who expected Aion to be "just another asian grinder" and ended up enjoying the game quite a lot. Just goes to show you never know before you try, I suppose.
MrGutts said on 5:14AM 10-09-2009
The grind starts around 20 and just wait till lvl 50's start rolling in to ruin your day while you level.
Tyler said on 6:22PM 10-08-2009
Correct me if I'm wrong but NCSoft has already upped all the quest EXP as of the latest patch. I would also assume that new quests would be on their way as well.
I remember AoC had a terrible grind in the mid 30's or so, but was quickly patched up with exp gains and extra quests.
Give it a few weeks it should smooth itself out :)
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Celestian said on 6:26PM 10-08-2009
From what I have read that's 40s quests though I suppose it could be the lower ones as well. Unfortunately I've exhausted almost all the quests at my level so if they do it wouldn't help me till I gained a few more levels or they add more quests.
I'm already feeling the burn ;(
starzzareblind said on 6:51PM 10-08-2009
I think they did that on purpose so that the whole playerbase isn't level 50 within a week or 2. The quest XP rates are being increased by 500% in the next big patch.
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Quez said on 6:54PM 10-08-2009
To Celestian:
90% of the players are still under level 20. They will patch and adjust the experience as more players get higher. I'm sure their biggest concern at launch was to make the game the most fun experience they could in the pre-20's, and not to be overly concerned with a few powergamers who rush rush rush to be first to 50.
It's a fun game so far for me, I'm LV15, and it keeps getting better. I'm also in no rush, I'm an alt-oholic, so I plan on trying a bunch of classes before deciding what's my favorite.
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Celestian said on 8:50PM 10-08-2009
While I might be slightly ahead of the average I am not so much wanting the leveling pace faster, I just don't want to have to mindlessly kill the same mobs and grind a level out.
Aganazer said on 8:41AM 10-09-2009
"90% of the players are still under level 20." Wow! Really?
I got close to 20 my first weekend playing in beta. I am always surprised at how little (or inefficiently) most people play MMOG's.
CindyL said on 11:26AM 10-09-2009
@ Aganazer
Most people have also tried out at least 3 classes to a reasonable to decide which class they wanted to play, a lot of people don't just start an mmo and pick whatever class and zoom to 20.... There's a bit more to it. And not everyone was in the betas either in which case their progress will be slower because it's all new.
And if you craft you can spend entire sessions not leveling your class at all....
CindyL said on 11:27AM 10-09-2009
I meant zoom to 50 not 20...... Can we have an edit button? :P
Mr Angry said on 6:58PM 10-08-2009
It's been out 2 weeks and people are already burnt out?
I think companies like NC Soft have decided that there are certain types of customer they aren't really interested in, so I'm not surprised they made leveling difficult to start with. Those who are looking for a quick fix of max level fun probably aren't the highest priority for them.
While it's nice they have addressed this, it was hardly ever game breaking. I don't understand why people need to be hand held via questing to level anyway, what about raising cash by hunting what you want to kill? Why not group with friends to help them on their quests, why do people need this safety net?
If players are unable to change their perspectives, it's going to be very hard for the genre as a whole to move forward. I hope that players can embrace a MMO that is supposed to be a bit harder in the future, which does challenge and isn't something that is finished in two weeks, and for those who are not interested in this level of challenge, there are already plenty of alternatives currently available.
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The Claw said on 7:39PM 10-08-2009
I hope the MMO genre can embrace the idea that "hard" and "long tedious grind" aren't the same thing, and that there can be levels of challenge that aren't based around the "levelling is a chore, and the game starts once you hit the level cap" paradigm. Not using classes and levels would be a start.
You seem to be describing a return to the mechanics of 8-10 years ago as "the genre moving forward."
Celestian said on 9:59PM 10-08-2009
I love when people state there are "already mmos that already 'insert something silly'".
There are ALREADY mmos that are "challenging" to level. EQ1 and DAoC come to mind. What, you want to go back and play those I bet? Ok, so stop trying to tell people there are "already mmos" that do something out there and trying to convince them they should go play those.
Besides, the problem is that you have to grind levels killing mobs endlessly, not that leveling is to slow. The fact you can't level up questing makes the game BORING and mindless for many people that have already played some of those
"already mmos" and are sick of that.
Goonja said on 11:47PM 10-08-2009
I'm glad that this kind of customer is not a priority to NCsoft because they are the MMOhopper type who always complain about every single thing which is not given to them.
Jim Whatshisname said on 10:19AM 10-09-2009
Yes, the people who prefer questing over mob grinding are the scum of the earth and they'll all be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.