ncsoft aion assault on balaurea launch party seattle

AION ASSAULT ON BALAUREA LAUNCH PARTY

NCsoft threw a party at the Experience Music Project, in Seattle during the Penny Arcade Expo weekend. This is what it looked like. No sound.

NCsoft Aion Assault on Balaurea PAX 2010 Launch Party Details

AION EXPANSION LAUNCH PARTY FRIDAY PENNY ARCADE EXPO 2010!!!

Come this Friday, NCsoft will launch Assault on Balaurea, the upcoming expansion to the popular MMO, Aion. They will be kicking off the launch with a party in Seattle, at the Experience the Music Project at Seattle Center. All are invited, but of course if you are an Aion fan, this event is not to be missed, especially if you are to attend PAX this weekend.

And in true NCsoft fashion, a Korean pop group by the name of Wonder Girls will be performing to liven up the place. I'm not familiar with their music, but a quick google/youtube search revealed that Wonder Girls is music I wouldn't necessarily listen to. BUT even then, this Friday should be a good party.

I've been furiously trying to catch up to all those players who have made it to the level 50 cap before the expansion, so I've been hard at work currently at lvl 49 and a half. My goal is to make 50 before Friday. Can I make it in time?

Who woulda thought I'd be make it this far, in Aion. The game is still pretty damn good despite the steep lvl grinding.

I'm definitely looking forward to PAX, and this AION party. Will you be there?

Aion - Assault on Balaurea

You are cordially invited to the Aion®: Assault on Balaurea™ Launch Party!

Join members of the Aion® MMORPG team at Experience Music Project for an evening of entertainment; awesome raffle prizes from our event partners Alienware, AMD, and Razer; hands-on time with Aion: Assault on Balaurea; and a featured performance by the Wonder Girls.

In addition to getting hands-on time with Aion: Assault on Balaurea, event guests will see a live performance by Korean pop sensations, the Wonder Girls. Guests can also view Experience Music Project music history galleries, including featured exhibitions on Jimi Hendrix and the Supremes, as well as use popular EMP interactive exhibits such as Sound Lab and On Stage.

When Friday, September 3, 2010 8 p.m.–12 midnight

Where The Aion: Assault on Balaurea Launch Party will be held at Experience Music Project (EMP). The entrance line for the event will be on 5th and Harrison.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS ON THE NCSOFT SITE!!!

Aion, the game so far...

...is awesome.

It has only been a few weeks since Aion launched, and so far I've managed to make some very good progress, playing everyday like an obsessed fiend trying to keep up with the rest of the community who are, no surprise, blazing a trail to max out their characters. Currently at a ripe level 27, I think I have a good idea of what this game is all about up to this point; what is lacking, what makes it irritating, and where I think it is pure genius, and a joy to play.

Once this 30 day trial is over, I can say with certainty that I won't hesitate to pay to play further. This willingness to continue past the trial period, was something I didn't feel compelled to do with World of Warcraft, for whatever reason, WoW, and I didn't jive. (To each their own, WoW experience).

I'm having fun right out of the box with Aion. I don't have to wait until lvl 60, or the third expansion pack later to enjoy myself.

Starting a game fresh, on launch makes all the difference. I think any MMO gamer would agree. When you start a game where every other player is discovering the world at the same time as you, players are actually dare I say, friendlier and supportive of Newb-like behavior, because in the beginning, we're all Newbs.

The benefit of which is finding a pickup group to level with who aren't interested in pushing their Guild/Legion on you, many don't even have Legions starting out. You can find players who are more likely to help you out, where asking random players for advice is not a line you never should cross. Rather it's encouraged, as I soon discovered.

Life in an MMO.

I'm learning a lot about MMO rules, thru Aion, but which apply to just about any MMO. It helps when your buddy is knowledgeable in this sort of thing, a person who has played quite a few MMOs in the past, that they have become a jaded mess of online anti-socialism, filled with all these MMO rules (self-imposed, or based on "MMO culture"), that they literally live by. A friend like that can give me the rundown on how to behave in an MMO, but it is equally frustrating, when you can't play the game the way you want, because it violates some rule.

This buddy of mine refuses to ask for advice, they refuse to talk to any other players outside their group, and they almost always have an excuse that prevents them from dealing with other players. They would rather solo than join other players, and when it comes to group quests, they'd rather not. They never use their MP to buff other players, or to even rez someone who needs it. I don't play many MMOs, and Aion is only my second, but I think all these rules can be ridiculous.

It's kind of bizarre, closing oneself off from everyone else. I guess because this friend of mine is afraid of dealing with those online trolls, and the fear of being labeled a 'newb'. True there are jerks in any game, especially MMOs, but if you're gonna be uninterested in dealing with other players, then you might as well be playing an offline game. I guess playing WoW, really drove my friend up the wall, for this sort of thing.

This is an MMO, a social experience. It is also just a game. Some people take things way too seriously that they forget they're not getting paid to play, they're paying to play.

Aion, is its own thing.

But anyway, back to Aion. In a game where, not many things are handed to you the easy way, I've learned that you have to ask for help. It might be because that's the way 'Korean-style' MMOs are, where the things aren't as self-explanatory as they should be for challenge reasons, or it might be because of localization, that certain pieces of information are left out. Or it could just be a game design flaw. This game definitely ain't WoW, when it comes to a lot of things in the game.

Aion is quite 'grindy' as well, and requires lots of killing, and questing to fill up the XP bar. I've been told, that's the Korean MMO thing. Also the NPCs, don't give you directions to every location in a town, which at first was incredibly annoying, coming from WoW, where the locations are all spelled out for you when talking to townspeople. The lack of information, carries on in other aspects of the game as well, (ie. rift locations) where you really have to ask around with real players, or read the chat, to figure it out.

I didn't know what to expect from Aion in the beginning, aside from pretty graphics, and 'wings' that make Aion unique. When I heard you couldn't swim, I was slightly put off. Then I realized that it wasn't a big deal at all, there isn't anything in the depths of the water anyway, that players need to do worry about. All the action is in the air, purposely designed which makes the water irrelevant. Though, it is pretty to look at, you spend most of the time on land, or in the air.

The developers did a great job constructing the environments, to fit with the vertical scheme of things. While flying is reserved for certain areas, gliding, is your next best friend. Rather than the wide expanse of land being relatively flat, the environments in Aion are designed with gliding in mind, with hills, small or tall, for players to jump off of to avoid monsters, to take shortcuts, and to speed up travel in general. It's a strategic ability, that I'm loving more and more. I like to think the ability makes players like Batman, swooping in for a kill. Gliding is so integral to getting around.

Other than that, the game is pretty darn fun. Combat is a joy, and the chain attacks are awesome.

PVP is awesome too, and as a Priest turned Chanter, I can hold my ground. Just the other day, I went on my first trip to Asmodian territory, where I had to complete some quests. All I gotta say it, it was intense, trekking through the dark side. Gliding, and flying extremely important, as to travel undetected.

Oh, and I've joined a Legion, or should I say formed a Legion, of which I am a co-founder in the two member posse 'Pixel Pushers'. A group for digital artists/gamers.

I guess, it was a smooth launch outta the gate. The channel system is still iffy though, in fact they need more channels, because the server I'm on is always packed. There's also a serious problem of Gold Farming, and Phishing flooding in the general chat channels of Aion. Just the other day, there was a massive crackdown on Gold Farmers, banning many players, even those who had nothing to do with Gold Farming, and were caught up in the mess. (Like the RULE ABIDING, MMO expert, friend of mine, I mentioned early).

Not to mention the retards that hawk their items in their private stores, hopefully NCsoft figures out a way to deal with that. There was actually an in-game survey about what players thought about the Private Stores, which I stated I wasn't a fan. Private Selling in Aion FTL!

During the course of this trial period, I realized I don't miss swimming/diving, or even care for it in game anymore. Second, Aion is more than just "WoW with Wings". Third, not every bit of information in the game is handed to you, leaving it up to the players own discovery.

So with that, I'm gonna be playing more and more Aion, even though it's an incredible waste of time, but it's good fun.

Any other Aion players out there? I need to roll with a crew in the Abyss!

STAR TREK ONLINE PAX demo FTL - AION Open Beta FTW

STAR TREK ONLINE, was not what I expected.

I must say, I'm kinda disappointed in the current state of Star Trek Online. As a fan of Trek, and a fan of MMOs, Star Trek Online, just isn't there yet. I was actually expecting something half decent, but after playing the available demo at PAX, the game just didn't do it for me.

In an attempt at giving players a varied MMO experience that absorbs the player in the Star Trek universe, exploration is not limited to a planet's surface, but as fans would expect it extends through the galaxy as well. Yes, Trekkies finally get to "Explore strange new worlds." Of course, that is what Trek is all about, but when I first heard about this gameplay element, I was thrilled until I actually played it. The element of space combat makes up a critical aspect of the game, and it was something that took some getting used to in this short demo.

The space combat is designed for more slower strategic play, like you're controlling a submarine, or a massive military sea vessel, the exact opposite of your average action space shooter. I guess I was expecting to control the starships with more flexibility, and speed, but in Trek, Starships actually do move quite sluggishly. So, in that respect, Cryptic is keeping it true to the Star Trek universe. Sometimes though, keeping things "true," might not work in another medium, from which it is being adapted too, especially the videogame medium. Slow moving ships might be a great way for building suspense in TV shows or films, but in gaming? Meh. Yay, moving really slowly while getting clobbered by 3 Klingon Warbirds, was real fun.

The Cryptic reps knew that everyone would have trouble with this feature of the game, so they stood by, and took extra care to explain everything. That is, if they were actually around, while you were playing the demo.

To add to the Trek feel, all the commands at the demo, were rooted to the keyboard rather than the mouse, as if you were sitting on the bridge at a tactical console. Rather than firing phasers with the mouse, you're pressing the number keys instead. That is all fine and dandy, but when it becomes too sluggish, and confusing to play, design-wise something needs to be changed. I wasn't the only one who found space combat in STO frustrating. Everyone else after me at the demo kiosk, had problems playing it.

Some have said that if you've had experience with Eve Online, you should be familiar with this type of control. Whereas I think the combat is much more similar to the Nintendo DS game STAR TREK TACTICAL ASSAULT. Here's hoping players will have the option to fly smaller ships as well, like Shuttlecrafts or Runabouts, for faster paced space fights. I can definitely see the slower space fights getting tedious, if you are just trying to get from point A to point B. The game needs faster space dog fights.

After duking it out with Klingon Warbirds, I was able to move on to the next part of the demo.

As a foot soldier, with the Away team we made out way through some corridors, and killed some Klingons, with relative ease, as in no-brainer phaser combat that felt very uninteresting. I found the funniest part about ground combat to be the leg sweep. It's just too funny, you have to see it.

This is where I think the game needs to deviate from the usual Trek, and become more of an MMO game. Most MMOs offer the opportunity to carry new armor, weapons, and learn new attack skills. In a Starfleet officers case... they typically wear the same uniform, shoot the same standard issue weapons, and do some boring self-defense moves. How boring could that be for a player to be a Starfleet officer in an MMO? Unless of course you have Betazoid abilities that could fry an enemies mind, or throw them across the room.

Overall, it didn't feel like MMO combat that I'm used to with games like WOW and Aion. It felt more arcadey, in a way.

When asked, what my favorite part of the game was, I simply wrote "Graphics", because I couldn't think of anything else. I like the game, I think it has fan pleasing aspects to it, but as a solid MMO, that I'd play for hours on end, it's still way too early to tell.

I'm interested enough in the game to possibly play the Beta, whenever that comes around.

In any case. I'll stay occupied with a REAL MMO...

I am enjoying the AION Open beta. Going on this entire week, this is the last beta I believe, ending this Sunday, before the game finally launches on the 22nd.

Hmmm, STO sure was a disappointment. Oh well, I'll just go back to playing AION.

AION BETA WEEKEND!

Aion, Aion, AION!

July 31st marks yet another Beta event for NCsoft's much anticipated MMORPG, AION. If you were lucky enough to get a Beta code, you can join in on the fun, if not, you're gonna have to wait until the game comes out.

I finally got my beta code from NCsoft at San Diego Comic-Con, after having no luck at Gamestop with my pre-order.

I played Aion for a short time at the convention, and I liked what I saw. So I'll be playing this weekend and trying to see how much I can level up within that short window of time.

WoW wasn't very engaging for me, perhaps Aion will be a different story.

On my never ending quest to find an MMO that hooks me as much as Phantasy Star Online for the Sega Dreamcast did, Aion is looking like a strong replacement candidate. I'm willing to bet that the gameplay style, and design as well as the Asian influences in it's aesthetic will make Aion a winner.

See ya online!

No guarantee Beta key from Gamestop Aion Pre-order

EPIC FAIL LACK of Beta Keys at GAMESTOP! Unreliable, especially the one on 457 W. 8th Ave, Unit 10, Vancouver, BC V5Y 3Z5

That's right, I'm posting the address to the exact location of the shitty Gamestop, which for no good reason, is unable to secure Beta Keys for Aion events. I pre-ordered the game back on June 19th, and as this weekends Beta event kicks off, I'm left again out of the fun, all because Gamestop doesn't have Beta keys!!!

So I complained via TWITTER to aion_liv, Community Manager of Aion, and she tells me "@albertart You need to contact Gamestop about this. They were given enough keys to cover preorders."

Really? If they were given enough beta keys, why haven't they got any to give to the customers who pre-ordered weeks ago??? And with this latest event, why haven't they got any now?

What annoys me greatly, is when I asked the staff of this Gamestop in person, "where are all the beta keys?", and they told me, they put the order in, but haven't got any word on where they are. They then proceeded to talk about the previous Beta Event, how much fun it was, and how amazing playing Aion is. Rubbing it in. They gave me their stores business card, and said "Call us."

So wait? If the employees can get Beta Keys, why can't the customers?

JUST WHAT THE EFF IS GOING ON HERE? I WANT MY DAMN BETA KEY!

Hey, I'm not the only one who thinks GAMESTOP SUCKS.