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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Ben is different from your typical teenager. His life is a universe unto itself, where he plays his favorite online computer game Archlord avidly; trying hard to train himself for the real world he lives in. The harsh world of a technical school is for him a daily kind of hell. As the horror of being a daily subject to bullying grows, Ben devises a plan.

BenX is an amazing and touching film about a young man with Autism (or rather, the misunderstanding that others display toward people with this disability). I had multiple reasons to see this film, I like the idea of the director using the community of gaming to illustrate one’s need to escape the real world and enter their own. It was also recommended by my girlfriend, Jen, who is kind of an indie film expert and I call her my film agent. She of course, will deny working in that aspect at all other than to make certain recommendations.

It is based on the novel Nothing Was All He Said by Nic Balthazar, who also directed the film. The novel was inspired by the true story of an autistic boy who committed suicide because of bullying. Ben is played by Greg Timmermans who is an absolute newcomer to the screen. He is also a revelation in this starring role. BenX is the first feature film of this young theatrical actor, while Marike Pinoy as his distressed, frustrated mother is also dead on casting.

Ben is mainstreamed in regular school, tormented by the usual bullies, taught by clueless teachers, “helped” by incompetent psychologists, and cared for by a loving, but totally exasperated, mother. Ben is totally in touch with the real world around him, but can only relate and react to this real world through the eyes of his game character that he plays incessantly. Inevitably, life reaches a crisis point, mainly due to the bullies, and he rationalizes he has to end this game — both real life and online are synonymous to him — and start a new one. How Ben does this end-game, and his choice of a new game, are what this story is really all about. The story is told from Ben’s perspective, interspersed with narrative interludes from his mother, divorced father, teachers, psychologists, etc.

I was touched by this film and I would give it a standing ovation if not for watching it at home. This film offered a rare glimpse into the life of someone who has an amazing mind trapped in a body that cannot express it. I am not going to sugar-coat things; this film can be depressing (on the scale with movies like Requiem for a Dream) but have courage to stick until the end because it’s definitely worth it. There is a rumor of an American adaptation but I sincerely hope not: The Dutch version creates a mood that would be ruined by an American attempt. You don’t have to be a gamer or know a lot about gaming to understand this movie either. Share and enjoy.

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Een vrolijke Ier met de naam Jamie neemt plaats aan een tafeltje met een laptop erop en vertelt wat over de achtergrond van Allods Online. Na het opstarten van de game is direct te merken dat ’t niet om zomaar een gratis MMO gaat. De makers, Astrum Nival, hebben duidelijk erg veel werk gestoken in het vormgeven van het spel. De grafische stijl deed me direct denken aan World of Warcraft, al moet ik bekennen dat ik Allods mooier vind. De kleuren zijn wat scherper en de stijl is net wat leuker doordat het naast een fantasy-sausje ook veel sciencefictioninvloeden heeft.

Allods Online speelt zich af in de spelwereld The Astral Space. Dit is een grote ruimtewereld bestaande uit verschillende eilandjes. Deze stukken land komen van de planeet Samaut, die door een explosie uit elkaar is gesprongen. Het is de bedoeling om een schip te bouwen, dat vol te krijgen met minimaal vier en maximaal negentien andere spelers en vervolgens met dat schip The Astral Space te gaan verkennen. Op zo’n schip kan de speler fungeren als Captain, Navigator, Helmsman, Engineer of Cannoneer. Elk is erg belangrijk op zijn eigen manier. Zo moet de Engineer schilden repareren, de Cannoneer schieten op vijanden en moet de Navigator een koers uitstippelen voor het schip.

 
Terwijl spelers door de ruimte reizen is er grote kans dat er vijanden op diens pad komen. Dat kunnen één van de driehonderd verschillende wezens zijn of simpelweg een vijandig schip. In een strijd is het belangrijk dat de Engineer goed zijn werk doet. Elk schip heeft vier schilden. Wanneer die naar de Filistijnen zijn, kan er ingebroken worden in het schip. In dat schip zullen dan weer gevechten plaatsvinden tussen jou en het binnenvallend gespuis. En uiteraard gaat dit gepaard met melee-, ranged- en magic-aanvallen zoals we wel van meer games kennen.

In de game zijn welgeteld twee facties: League en Empire, die worden aangeduid met de kleuren rood en blauw. Hoe deze precies in het verhaal passen, werd me niet geheel duidelijk, maar gelukkig wees Jamie me erop dat op de website van de makers een uitgebreide documentatie over de spelwereld is terug te vinden. Jullie moeten me even vergeven dat ik nog niet alle dertig pagina’s heb doorgelezen. Wat ik nog wel meekreeg van het verhaal was het volgende: elk personage dient uit te vogelen waarom de planeet Samaut nu precies tot ontploffing is gekomen, en er zijn blijkbaar meer dan vijftienhonderd quests nodig om hierachter te komen.

Al met al ben ik onder de indruk van Allods Online. Het ziet er fantastisch uit, de gameplay belooft een hoop goeds en er lijkt meer dan genoeg content te zijn voor de game. Nergens kreeg ik het gevoel te kijken naar een gratis rip-off van World of Warcraft of iets in die richting. De game doet zijn eigen ding en is een goed voorbeeld hoe het ook kan. Dit is een MMO om in de gaten te houden.

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NDOORS, which had long been interested in Europe’s emerging online-game market, made the decision after a thorough research and analysis of the European market. It disseminated the superiority of Atlantica game to European users at GCO and it plans to complete local work in the near future and conduct a closed test.
In addition to this, GCO hosted “GNGWC 2009 Atlantica European Finals,” during which European representatives were selected to compete in “GNGWC 2009 Grand Finals,” which will take place in Korea. 16 gamers who had passed the preliminary round competed fiercely for 2 tickets to the finals.

In the end, “PrimalRage” took the first place followed by “ParisHilton” at the second and earned the ticket to participate in the Grand Finals in Korea. “ParisHilton” was selected as a European representative last year and made it again to the Grand Finals this year.

“We participated in the largest game show in Europe and officially announced the launch of Atlantica in the European market,” CEO Seong-Won Cho said. “As much as we have worked hard to date to make this launch possible, we will continue to give our best so that Atlantica may see good results in the European market.”

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Webzen will kick-off its product launch by opening the official Archlord website via Webzen’s games portal at archlord.webzen.com on July 30th for everyone to see the game insights and to download the free game client. Following the commencement of the official website, the company will start the beta test in August, 2009.

According to the official statement, the game client has been made available to include all the latest features. The game items and character stats have been renewed. The boss monsters with various fighting patterns updated resulting the game balance being well brought out so that participants are able to have better game experience playing Archlord.

To celebrate the opening of Archlord, Webzen is planning on running many special events to give out free in-game items to the participants.

Webzen has also announced that MU Online will have a long awaited the first Castle Siege event on this month. The details of the Castle Siege schedule and entry process will be posted via muonline.webzen.com. Currently, MU Online is running ‘Cool Summer Event’ which placing many great premium game items for sale.

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