I sat down (via email) with David Noonan, content writer for Aion, and chatted about the game. Dave is no stranger to fantasy games, having worked for Wizards of the Coast designing two editions of Dungeons & Dragons. He talks about Aion’s story, how it stacks up against that other elephant-in-the-MMO-room, and the future of story-driven computer games.

GeekDad: First, can you tell us a little about the game world and its history?

Dave: Aion takes place in the world of Atreia—a world where the people live on the interior surface of the sphere (like a science-fiction Dyson sphere) and there’s a tower running from pole to pole where the god, Aion, lives.

Some of Aion’s earliest creations, the dragonlike Balaur, rebelled against their creator. That long war ended with the Tower of Eternity exploding and the world splitting in half at the equator. Now two factions, the Elyos and the Asmodians, inhabit their own hemispheres, and they blame each other for the tower’s destruction. And the wreckage floating in the middle of the world is the Abyss, a high-level mega-zone where the two factions fight each other and the Balaur that caused the trouble in the first place.

David Noonan, Writer for Aion. Photo: David Noonan
GeekDad: Aion is a big deal in Asia, but Eastern MMOs are traditionally very different from Western MMOs. When it came to the “culturalization” process, how did you go about reworking the game for its new audience? How were certain tropes converted, and were there any memorable quests that just couldn’t make the transition?

Dave: We actually took a light touch with specific Asian-themed plot elements; they’re fun, and I think a lot of players want a sort of mélange—I often told our writers to shoot for a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon feel.

We spent more time trying to satisfy the Western desire for game and narrative aspects that probably don’t rise to the level of full-on tropes. For example, I think Western audiences (speaking broadly here) want their quests to have explicit roots in what’s happening in the game world, and they expect the NPC questgiver to directly or indirectly explain why the PC must do the job rather than the NPC himself. It’s a matter of providing answers to the “If this is so important, how come you don’t do it?” question.

We were also cognizant of the desire for payoff—to have a plot thread resolved somehow. You can resolve it in a pleasing or troubling way, and you can even leave it as a cliffhanger (something that an MMO can get away with that other genres can’t). But you can’t just let it peter out with no consequence.

GeekDad: When World of Warcraft was released, there was a built-in playerbase already familiar with the heroes and villains of Azeroth. Without that advantage in your arsenal, how did you go about introducing the VIP NPCs from Atreia in a way that endeared them to players?

Dave: I think most games—Aion included—have a naturally instructive quality. In other words, if you want to teach anything, a game of some sort is pretty good sugar to help the medicine go down, and a game can show you how the discrete parts of whatever you’re learning fit together. So we deliver a lot of lore in the course of gameplay. As you run around fighting, questing, and exploring, you learn about the people and places as you go.

That said, I rebel against the premise of the question a bit. Aion intentionally avoids activist NPCs, and the metaplot is much further in the background. There’s no equivalent to Arthas, Thrall, and Jaina in Aion, and we like it that way. The NPCs are there to serve the player story, not the other way around. Our VIPs are the PCs. (And that’s handy, because NPCs rarely play MMORPGs.)

GeekDad: Could you explain the difference between the Campaign and Standard Quests?

Dave: It’s basically a question of degree. The campaign quests have bigger plot implications and bigger rewards, so the UI calls them out separately. It’s basically a big “don’t miss this one!” sign. Structurally, there isn’t much difference between the yellow-arrow quests and the blue-arrow quests.

GeekDad: Everyone’s excited about Aion’s flight system. Tell us a little about the flight system and how it affects game play and questing.

Image: NCsoft
Dave: You gain wings at level 10—four hours of gameplay, give or take. You can immediately fly in a few places in the world, and you can glide—sometimes for quite a distance—anywhere you’ve got altitude and open space. (I think base-jumping is one of Aion’s more fascinating games-within-a-game.)

When you reach level 25 and go to the Abyss for the first time, you see flight in its full, unfettered glory. This sounds kind of spacey, but battling in all three axes (x, y, and z) does cool things to your brain, especially in a PvP environment.

GeekDad: What are the crafting opportunities in Aion?

Dave: The game launches with six crafts, all fed by the same gathering skill, including staples you’d expect like weaponsmithing, alchemy, and cooking. You can level all of them simultaneously, and you get XP both for gathering and for actually making stuff.

More broadly, player-created items carry a lot of weight—they’re among the best-in-slot items.

GeekDad: What are Stigma stones?

Dave: In terms of gameplay, it’s useful to think of them as “equippable abilities”—attacks and powers that you have, but other members of your class don’t necessarily have. Coming up with the right mix of Stigma stones is a key character-building exercise for high-level PCs.

And in the lore of the world, Stigma stones are a fragment of a long-gone Daevas soul. Daevas are generally immortal; it takes something like the destruction of the Tower of Eternity or death at the extreme fringes of existence to render a Daeva irrevocably dead. The Stigma stone is a coalescence of that Daeva’s soul—a bit of consciousness that teaches you a long-lost technique you couldn’t learn on your own.

GeekDad: As a well-respected game designer, do you have any ideas on how you’d like the MMORPG genre to evolve? I used to play text-based MMOs back in the day and I have a long-held fantasy that one day a company will create a game that offers the in-depth, character-driven roleplaying experiences that I once had on MUDs and MUSHes. Should I stop holding my breath?

Dave: I wouldn’t hold my breath—instead I’d get to work finding the community within an MMO that can provide the in-depth, character-driven experience you crave. I think that with each passing year, MMOs are providing a player experience that stretches closer and closer to what a MUD or a tabletop RPG provides. Those character-driven communities are out there, and just as with a tabletop or MUD experience, they draw their strength from the consensual acceptance of the community, not from the gameplay mechanics. Put another way, you can take a trip far down the rabbit-hole of character immersion if you’ve got witnesses (friends, in other words) along to validate and support that experience. It’s no more or less inherently immersive than rolling dice in your basement or writing something great for a MUD.

When I look to the horizon for the next set of waves, I’m thinking more about how MMOs can provide the Dungeon Master experience—how they can satisfy the latent “content creator” within all of us. Put as simply as possible, how can an MMO help me make up a cool adventure for my friends? That strikes me as a tricky beast to tame, but given time and smart minds, I’m sure we’ll get there soon. That’s what I’m holding my breath for.

I’d like to thank Dave Noonan for taking time to chat with GeekDad.

Aion retails for around $50 and currently, anyone who buys Aion at one of the retailers listed below will get bonus in-game items. With the “Aion Holiday Ascension Pack”, you can pimp out your winged hero’s armor with special dyes. Check ‘em out:

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Based on my experience in Aion, there were enough interesting twists and turns from the standard play associated with your usual MMO fare. The world was challenging to progress through, and an immersive storyline and gorgeous graphics have enhanced the experience.

The world of Atreia has been split in two. The Elyseans of Elyos have lived rich full lives basking in the sunlight, while the Asmodians reside in the harsh and dark environment of Asmodae. Between the two lies the Abyss, a region filled with monsters and ghosts. It is also full of valuable resources that pit the two groups against each other as well as a third group of dragonlike creatures called the Balaur.

Overall, Aion’s launch was smooth. Servers have been fairly stable since last month’s launch.
 
For the first time in my MMO experience, I felt as if my character was meant for something other than “leveling up” and getting better gear. There is a vast storyline being played out with your character as you move through the game. The campaign quest lines bring this about with rich cinematics and narratives through non-playable characters (NPCs).
 
Gameplay itself follows the same process of most role-playing games (RPG). You perform your series of quests to collect items, kill creatures and talk to key characters. Questing here is made easier by using the channel system on your server, depending on what area you are playing in.
 
Each zone has a number of channels that allow players to leave an area that’s overpopulated or if a quest suffers from bugs. Players change the channel by simply using the support interface in-game and switching over. The game will start new players in less crowded channels, so if you are joining friends in the game, be sure everyone is on the same channel.
 
Aion is a rich world full of sights and sounds that stand out over most MMOs. From the vast options offered at the character creation screen, Aion sets a new standard for visuals. It was amazing to watch my Chanter character interact with elements of her world. Standing in a light snow, she would hold up her arms up toward the sky. If she was near a body of water, she would lean over and swirl her hands around in the water.
 
The gameplay is focused on reaching the Abyss, where players will encounter enemies and the third non-playable faction, the Balaur. To get there, your character progresses from the starter area as you learn about your destiny. Your first major goal is to get your wings, a key feature separating Aion from other MMOs.

Sure, you can fly in World of Warcraft’s Burning Crusade or Wrath of the Lich King expansions, but you can’t fight or quest when flying. Aion lets you do just that in the Abyss where your faction will fight to gain control of resources, fortresses and artifacts.
 
You earn your wings  – and choose your character sub-class – after reaching Level 10 in experience, which does not require players to grind out long quests to reach that magic milestone.  However, it will be almost 15 levels later when you finally take flight in the Abyss. Once you enter, a series of tutorial quests will help explain the nature of play in this area.
 
Aion is an amazing game with few negatives that I found for my own playing style. I wasn’t fond of having to fight other players for respawning items, especially boss spawns on crowded channels. I still like the World of Warcraft system of whoever strikes first gets the kill. Nothing is more frustrating than waiting on a boss and not receiving credit for the kill because your group failed to tally the most damage.
 
The level grind in Aion does sometimes feel very long. With a level cap of 50, reaching it will be an accomplishment. Seeing the more than 2 million experience points needed to reach level 25 seemed daunting, but by the time you level you can feel some satisfaction, at least until the experience bar clears itself for the next level grind. 
 
Aion’s popularity and success in the Asian market is no fluke. This is a rich, immense new world of MMO gaming that should continue its success in North American and European markets. It will be very friendly to those players looking to crossover from console RPGs to a PC MMO.

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The customer service manager of the game company said, there are more than 10 million AION players all over the world. A lot of players use cheating programs in the game, which affects other players’ rights and interests, so the company shall perpetually ban the accounts that are found to use the illegal program. No warning will be issued in advance and those players even won’t be given a chance to be banned temporarily. In recent months, over 100 thousand accounts from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao have been banned perpetually.
Player Mr. Huang expressed, he joined the membership and paid 430 NT$ each month. Unexpectedly, his account was banned perpetually at the beginning of this month. He trained his character for four months and earned some treasures with great efforts, but now all have gone! The game company didn’t provide any evidence, just unilaterally believed that he used the cheating program. His request for refunding the rest money was also refused.

Some players also complained that they had never used a cheating program, but they were banned, as well.

Mr. Yang, the official director of local consumer protection organization indicated that the organization has been flooded with about 200 players’ complaints against the game company for banning or even deleting their accounts as they were supposed to use the cheating program. Generally speaking, the game companies shall punish illegal players complying with the member agreement. Anyhow, the organization will look into the agreement content and check if there are unfair terms. In the meanwhile, the official staff will head for the game company and investigate whether the punishment for illegal players is reasonable.

Mr. Zhou, the customer service manager of the game company expressed the mechanism to investigate whether players used the cheating program is a business confidential. The company won’t bring forward any evidence until players report it or take legal steps. However, players can make an appeal via customer service or mail first, the company will inquire into the appeals and then restore their account if insufficient evidence is obtained. As compensation, the players will enjoy 14-day free subscription. Sadly, the rest points in the stored-value card will return to zero after the account is banned, thus the money cannot be refunded.

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With its storyline of a world divided into light and darkness with winged characters battling over the remaining world, NCsoft’s Aion may convert some gamers from the addictive WoW. This MMORPG bears resemblance to the WoW titan with several differences, starting with character creation.

When creating a character in an MMO, it’s important to choose attributes wisely. Aion limits the choice of race to the dark Asmodians or the light Elyos. The real gem of Aion’s character customization is the option for extensive construction and proportion.

There are multiple sliders allowing the player to change almost anything from eye shape to shoulder width. Along with the selection of tattoos and markings, hairstyles and skin color, Aion soars beyond the character customization of WoW.

Initially, characters can belong to one of four classes: Warrior, Scout, Mage or Priest. This seemingly restricted array of classes is shattered at level 10, where the player gets to choose from two sub-classes for their class. This doubles the choices while specifying the goals and fighting style of the character.

Also at level 10, each character in Aion becomes immortal and receives wings. These wings can be used for faster transportation in combat, or just for fun. This eliminates the monotonous walking seen in WoW before the player gets a mount (an animal the character rides to increase speed). Along with in-air combat, this accelerated form of transportation makes Aion intriguing.

The advanced character customization and unique winged aspect make Aion a truly great game, although it loses some appeal because of limited back story and races, a cliché light versus dark storyline, and a limited online community.

Will that community grow and allow Aion to compete head on with WoW? Hopefully. Will Aion conquer WoW and therefore, the MMO market? Doubtful. But at least now there is a contender to initiate competition into WoW’s seeming monopoly on MMORPGs.

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Things aren’t so rosy for the Elyos though; used to the bright sunlight, the dark skies bring nothing but terror. Undead creatures rise from their graves every few hours and head towards towns and villages. Players must join Dark Night bands to hunt and destroy these creatures before they reach their destinations.

Each day during the Harvest Revel, rewards and treats will be up for grabs, along with new lore revelations. The event runs from 25 – 31 October.

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A pair of massively multiplayer online role-playing games will accompany Halo 3: ODST to market this week. Korean MMOG maker Aion will launch its angels-and-demons-themed Aion on Tuesday. Last week, the publisher said that the game had already secured nearly 400,000 preorders, making Aion the biggest MMOG launch of 2009 so far. However, Aion will have a bit of competition from Icarus Games’ Fallen Earth, a postapocalyptic sci-fi MMORPG.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 has a pair of quirky titles on tap this week. Keita Takahashi’s latest matter amalgamator Katamari Forever will offer, according to publisher Namco Bandai, the largest selection of stages, modes, and songs of any game in the series. Meanwhile, Natsume will bring over the Sony Japan-developed Afrika, a safari simulator that lets gamers snap photos of wild beasts on the African steppes. Atlus’ original Shin Megami Tensei: Persona will be hitting the PSP, as well.

As will happen, the Wii has two kid-friendly titles coming to its library this week. Capcom’s Spyborgs has been billed as an interactive version of “your favorite Saturday morning cartoon” and sees players assuming control of one of five bionically enhanced spies in an effort to take down one of their traitorous former compatriots. From Ubisoft comes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up, a multiplayer brawler built in the style of Nintendo’s highly popular Super Smash Bros. franchise.

For further details on the week’s games, visit GameSpot’s New Releases page. The full list of downloadable games on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, and the Wii Shop Channel will be revealed later this week. Release dates are based on retailer listings and are subject to change.

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Let’s begin with Huxley, the exotic lovechild of South Korea’s Webzen and America’s Epic Games. Huxley is powered by Epic’s Unreal Engine 3, one of the most popular, powerful, and versatile current-generation graphics engines available. Webzen bought the rights to use the engine back in early 2005 (see note below) and announced their plans for the game soon after. Judging by subsequent press releases, it seems Webzen expected to release the game rather soon, first estimating 2006. Huxley even got featured in prominent videogame magazines, such as now-defunct Computer Gaming World (now Games for Windows, also defunct). The game, of course, got pushed back year after year due to unforeseen and ultimately unexplained circumstances, and has finally been localized and made available to Americans and Europeans this year, in 2009.

To the untrained eye, Huxley is one of the most polished F2P MMOs available right now, other than Exteel and various cookie-cutter fantasy jaunts (Runes of Magic, etc.). Most of its apparent shine, however, is provided by Epic Games’ amazing engine, not Webzen’s gameplay design. Bugs in bot AI and terrain collision/clipping abound and the difficulty of some bosses is extremely lopsided (try killing a Romeo bot solo without purposefully getting it stuck on geometry; it’s nearly impossible). Horribly-designed underwater levels also hurt the game’s PvE experience (especially if you’re an Enforcer; at least Phantoms and Avengers natively have long-range weapons). Lag affects every aspect of the game, making most PvP matches unplayable or tilted in favor of whoever managed to become the room’s host (especially if you forget to turn off ijji’s background downloader, PurpleBean).

Thankfully, Webzen didn’t drop all the balls it was thrown. The actual design of environments, especially the main cities, although a little repetitive and mundane at points, is a breath of relatively fresh air. Enemies get a little repetitive after a while (same models, different textures, etc.), but are still fun to blow into giblets. Unfortunately, these virtues don’t erase the mistakes mentioned above, and also fail to make longtime fans of the game forget the broken promises made back in 2006 and 2007. Huxley has no large, truly persistent zones (unlike PlanetSide, which is still most gamers’ definition of MMOFPS) and completely dropped its support for the Xbox 360 as soon as it became apparent they were behind schedule. Huxley is more of an itemshop-enabled, stats and equipment-driven Unreal Tournament 3, with tacked-on PvE, than a true MMOFPS.

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The Elyos

The Elyos occupy the lower half of Atreia, known as Elysium. After the Epic Cataclysm, they found themselves bathed in sunlight for over 750 years and, as a result, have transformed into a beautiful and radiant people. However, their splendor has also led to the Elyos becoming arrogant; they see themselves as blessed by Aion, while the Asmodians, cast into darkness by the Epic Cataclysm, are seen by the Elyos as cursed creatures.

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The Balaur

The term “Balaur” invokes images of terror and fear for the level of destruction that they caused, and continue to cause, in Atreia. A mighty and highly intelligent race created by Aion to rule the planet’s population (including the human races), the Balaur quickly became fixated with power and servitude. Their obsession eventually threatened The Tower of Eternity after violating the restrictions that Aion placed on them, forcing the god to create the Empyrean Lords to safeguard the planet, and its people.

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With item crafting, players can not only make their own weapons, suits of armor or other important items, they can alter how these items appear in the game with dyes and other modifications—even visually mimic another item. For instance, a crafter can create a suit of armor that looks much tougher than it really is. The crafting system in Aion is robust and should be familiar to fans of the genre.

A character’s customization however is not just limited to how they look. Aion uses a Stigma system, where Stigma stones represent a way for a character to utilize skills and abilities that do not belong to that character’s class. This way even though a player may choose a particular class path, their play style is not limited to only what that class can do.

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Warrior
Warriors specialize in close combat, utilizing their great physical strength and prowess. They exhibit a wide range of dazzling battle skills other classes cannot perform, though Warriors are relatively easy to play.

Gladiator
A Gladiator lives and dies by the sword. They are skilled in using a variety of weapons and can master a mixture of fighting techniques tailored to the characteristics of their weapons.Templar
The Templar acts as a guardian, fighting with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. Templars can use a chant or incantation to protect and heal allies, but also serve as front line fighters.

Scout
Scouts provide the best variety of play styles of all the basic classes. They benefit from great agility and can make speedy attacks, though how well they perform varies, depending on the player. The scout is an extremely versatile class.

Ranger
Rangers are expert archers and are a natural with a bow. They are also capable of using other weapons like swords and daggers, and are adept at observing and utilizing their surroundings. They can survive in the harshest of environments.Assassin
The assassin is an expert in silent movement and quick termination of the given target. Though not considered true warriors, Assassins are valued for their deadly skills and stealthy nature. Their skills are considered formidable.

Mage
Mages rely on their mastery of magic to deal large amounts of damage at long range. They are comparatively weak at close combat, and it is important for them to learn how to divert and evade the enemy.

Sorcerer
The Sorcerer follows the path of magic, mastering the elements of water, fire, air and earth. They channel powerful magic in combat through their understanding of the true nature of the Aether. A Sorcerer’s talents have single-handedly turned the tide of battle.Spiritmaster
Spiritmasters use the power of the Spirits to strike fear in the enemy’s heart, and have the capability of summoning pets to turn the tide in combat. By all accounts, the path of the Spiritmaster is one of the more testing paths to journey.

Priest
Priests specialize in healing magic and can use long-range spells to help allies and hinder the enemy. While Priests are more than capable of engaging in melee combat, they can use healing and protection spells to aid allies in battle.

Cleric
Clerics follow the path of healing, using the power of magic to fortify an ally’s body and heal their wounds. They even have the power of resurrection, and are formidable opponents in close combat with a mace and shield.Chanter
A Chanter’s ethos is duty and faith. Infused with a fierce discipline, Chanters use mantras to strengthen allies and raise their morale, and can grow powerful enough to affect the outcome of an entire battle.

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