MMO Gamers

     I haven’t spoken of Aion: The Tower of Eternity on this blog yet because frankly I’d lost interest in it.  What first attracted me to NCSoft’s new flagship MMOG was the ability to fly.  You could equip your own wings and fly anywhere you liked and there would be aerial combat.  As the development cycle continued it turned out that you could only fly in certain areas blah blah blah, we’ve heard it all before.

     Another thing that turned me off Aion was video of combat from the beta.  Previously the video I’d viewed was released by the developers and highlighted the beautiful graphics, the immersive world, the range of emotes etc.  The beta combat video I saw showed large numbers displaying damage done floating over characters and combat moves I’d expect from a console game.  No doubt you can turn these numbers off (surely?) but I’d pretty much come to the conclusion that the game was not for me.

     But new information has come to light and my interests are peaked again.  Flight has changed again, with flying available from level 10 though you still can’t fly in every zone.  It seems that it will be more like the sprint ability available in current MMOG where use is limited by a timer.

     There will be two sides to choose from (think horde and alliance) with a NPC side also.  Each side will have its own starting area free of PVP with an open PVP area, the Abyss, in between.  The Abyss will have castles which you can siege and control, granting your side bonuses.  What’s interesting is how the NPC side plays out.  They may choose to side with you or they may side against you.

     Aion: The Tower of Eternity is currently in beta with no official release date.  The system requirements are quite reasonable so it should play on a large range of PC configurations.  This fansite has a good FAQ as well as lots of links and tons of information.