The Digital Continuum: 'Comfort' grind
by Kyle Horner 
Oct 26th 2009 at 3:00PM
Filed under: MMO industry, Opinion, The Digital Continuum
I used to think this was a colossal problem, yet lately I'm beginning to rethink my stance.
aion posts
I used to think this was a colossal problem, yet lately I'm beginning to rethink my stance.
A look back at Aion's first month and impressions
by Brooke Pilley Oct 26th 2009 at 12:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Opinion, Massively Hands-on
Smooth criminal
Aion experienced one of the most technically smooth launches in MMO history, which was the result of hard work, innovative design, tough decision-making, and of course nearly a year between the Eastern and Western releases. Anti-cheat software, GameGuard, was stripped from the client in the 11th hour. This no doubt eliminated most of the open-beta issues that would have sent a lot of potential players packing shortly after release. Players just aren't as forgiving as they used to be.
A retrospective of Aion's first month (part 2)
by Brooke Pilley Oct 26th 2009 at 12:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Opinion, Massively Hands-on
One month: Aion October community address
by Brooke Pilley Oct 24th 2009 at 4:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, News items
Aion has officially been out for one full month and NCsoft just released an October community address in response. The notice reads less like a giant pat on the back and more like a checklist of major issues they are working on, which is bound to churn up speculation about how well the title is doing. Oh, we're sure Aion is doing quite well even though we haven't heard the official numbers yet, but developers usually use these opportunities to shout about their accomplishments rather than their shortcomings.The top three issues mentioned in the letter are experience curves, client performance, and spammers/botters. Most players will agree that it can feel like a part-time job to level your character at times. Some players have had performance issues specifically related to "Cryssystem.dll." And finally, everyone has been forced to /ignore the odd spammer... or fifty. NCsoft is using this opportunity to yet again tell players they are aware of these issues and fixes are on the way.
We're curious how this may relate to differences between eastern and western gaming cultures. Aion has been released for nearly a year in Asia and yet only the outcry from European and North American players against experience grinds and gold spamming specifically seems to be sparking a change.
Five quick tips for Aion (week 3)
by Brooke Pilley Oct 21st 2009 at 6:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, New titles, Tips and tricks
Welcome to our third installment of "Five quick tips for Aion." The title is pretty self-explanatory so let's just jump right into things, shall we? This week's post features the trade broker, group recruitment, faster XP, rift locations, and custom signatures!1. Quickly search the trade broker
It can get annoying typing out the full name of an item in the 'Buy' tab, especially when the names are all case-senstitive and can be quite long. Here are two quick tips to speed up the process.
a) If you have an item in your inventory and want to do a quick 'Buy' search to see how much it is selling for, simply ALT + Left Click the item in your inventory and the search bar will be auto-filled with the complete item name.
b) If you don't happen to have an item in your inventory but know its name, you can simply enter the first letter of each word (capitalized) in the search box. For example, you can search 'T S L J' instead of Thin Soft Leather Jerkin. Some item names share the same initials, so you can narrow the search by adding a second letter in lower-case. For example, 'M W F' will result in Major Weapon Flux and Minor Weapon Flux. If you only want Major Weapon Flux, search for 'Ma W F.'
Aion tops NPD Group PC sales chart for September
by James Egan Oct 21st 2009 at 3:30PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, MMO industry, News items
When NCsoft released Aion, they had hopes it would ultimately enjoy the caliber of success in western markets that the title has in Asia. It's been roughly one month since Aion launched in North America but it's off to a good start, as indicated by its entry to the NPD Group's September US PC sales chart at number one.
Aion usurped competing titles like World of Warcraft and Champions Online in the NPD rankings, and the Aion Collectors Edition took the number five slot on the chart as well. Not bad at all for a game that only launched in the third week of September.
One Shots: Getting used to her wings
by Krystalle Voecks Oct 21st 2009 at 2:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Aion, One Shots
Screenshots from all games from small to large, and MMOs of all genres are welcome! Just email those in to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the game it's from, and a quick note about what we're seeing. We'll post it here and give you the credit for sending it in.
Why You Should Be Playing Aion: Chain combat
by Seraphina Brennan Oct 21st 2009 at 10:00AM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Game mechanics, New titles, Hands-on, Why You Should Be Playing
"Why you should be playing ..." is a freeform column from Massively.com intended to inform you about our favorite parts of our favorite games. We want you to know why we're playing them, so you can know what to play.
I didn't give Aion the world's most glowing set of remarks last time I visited it, so I thought I should at least stop by and spend some time on a part of the game that I do actually like -- chain attacks.
Chain attacks do many things to help Aion's combat move smoothly and efficiently. They clean up the UI, they offer flexible choices, they keep the combat looking fluid, and they're a lot of fun to pull off.
Chain attacks do many things to help Aion's combat move smoothly and efficiently. They clean up the UI, they offer flexible choices, they keep the combat looking fluid, and they're a lot of fun to pull off.
Curse.com founder's open Aion letter to NCsoft Korea
by Brooke Pilley Oct 20th 2009 at 8:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, New titles, Opinion
Open letters to MMO developers from forum members area dime a dozen these days but it isn't very often you see one from a forum admin. It's even more rare to see one from the founder of a major fansite network. Today must be our lucky day because Netcurse, founder of Curse.com wrote just such a letter to NCsoft Korea, head studio behind Aion.
The public plea puts some extra weight behind the biggest complaints many Aion players have been voicing since release, namely: "the grind," spammers/botters, and large-scale PvP performance in fortresses. Statements like "...there are three issues I want to bring to the front page today that need to be addressed or this game will end up being a 300k subscriber game within 6 months, not the one-million+ subscriber game it should be," show just how impassioned Netcurse is about these issues.
What's refreshing is that the author is pointing out potential solutions for each problem he draws attention to. For instance, to combat the grind, he feels XP should be increased and more benefits should be rewarded to social players (groupers). Not everyone is agreeing with his comments in the replies, so we're curious, what are your thoughts?
The Digital Continuum: A week with Aion
by Kyle Horner Oct 19th 2009 at 3:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Opinion, The Digital Continuum
It's hard to gauge what kind of game you're dealing with when an MMO launches, largely because the reality is that, often times, much of what an MMO is designed to be will change over the course of its first half year or so of development. With Aion, we're dealing with a deliberately designed concept that's been mostly well executed on -- more on that later.
Eye on the Aion community
by Rubi Bayer Oct 19th 2009 at 1:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Culture
With some of the larger issues on their way to being solved, it looks like NCSoft is hoping to interact with the players a bit more. Hopefully this is a step toward being in tune with the Aion fans to keep the game moving in a direction that everyone is happy with. Well, as happy as a group of thousands of people can all be at once, anyway.
Eye on Community begins with a question about community in EU Aion and the Legion system, so enjoy the read while we watch to see where NCSoft goes with this new feature.
Aion celebrates Harvest Revel
by Rubi Bayer Oct 18th 2009 at 11:00AM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Culture, Events, in-game
This looks to be a great time of year for Asmodians. They'll celebrate the dark days, chasing the Wild Kurthanir hunt leader during the Wild Hunt, and preparing festive traditional dishes in between hunting sprees.
The Elyos don't seem quite as happy about all of this, probably due to the undead wandering around Elysea and invading the villages. The eclipse causes undead creatures to rise from graves every few hours, leaving Elyos little time for hunting and feasting. Their time will be spent joining Dark Knight bands to battle the undead back into their graves.
Whether Asmodian or Elyos, it doesn't look like you'll be bored during the Harvest Revel. Aion promises new lore and treats each day in addition to the rest of the celebration, so be sure you log in to enjoy the first ever celebration in Aion.
Aion's spam filter is bigger, stronger, faster
by Kyle Horner Oct 17th 2009 at 6:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, News items
By our observations, spam has been reduced to the occasional whisper or channel message from a character with an odd umlaut or whatnot in their name. Hopefully the update continues to hold water, and the gold sellers simply recede into the darkness from whence they came. Should the spammers ever return in force, we hope that NCsoft is ready to sweep an otherworldly banhammer of justice across their maw in a manner most pleasing to all of us in the community.
One Shots: Do not taunt happy fun box
by Krystalle Voecks Oct 17th 2009 at 2:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Aion, One Shots
Have you found a strange and unusual mob in your favorite game that's taken forever to kill? Whatever your reason, we want to hear from you! Send in those screenshots of MMOness to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick explanation of what we're seeing in the picture. We'll post it out here and tell the world of your adventure.
NCsoft extends a thank you to Aion players for their patience
by Seraphina Brennan Oct 16th 2009 at 1:30PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Events, in-game, News items
Remember those server queues? Yeah you do. How could you forget the glorious two-hour-plus waits to get in to play NCsoft's Aion?Well, those times are in the past now. The Aion servers have settled down, leading to most people being able to log in immediately, even during peak hours. Queues have all but vanished, and the game is settling in for its long haul.
However, NCsoft did want to give the Aion devoted a little gift for putting up with all of the hassle. While it may not entirely make up for the time spent waiting in line, it will certainly help speed your progression -- Lodas Amulets.
These amulets, when used, will provide 20% bonus experience from monster kills for one hour. Every character has been given five of these unique items, meaning that pre-order customers will now have 10 of them, as they have already received five from their pre-order. Enjoy the weekend of adventuring!
