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Aion - The Chanter Returns
Still travelling, questing...and sick of running. I want a mount, already!
Written by Chris Joyce, 26 January 2010
It has been just over a month since the last entry from my Chanter's Diary, and in that time my experiences with Aion have varied from tedious, and dull, to fairly enjoyable.
AionI will be honest and say that there have been no notable moments where I can recall experiencing genuine 'fun' like I have in other MMOs, such as World of Warcraft, but the game is pleasant enough to make me want to keep playing.
AionI haven't had as much time to play the game since my last entry, due to various things like Christmas, and a certain space-themed MMO, but over the past week or so I've put in quite a bit of time.
AionI decided to see what life was like on the other side of the fence, and created an Elyos character to see how it compared with the Asmodians. I stayed with the Chanter class, as I have the intention to see one character to the maximum level and will avoid creating too many others - I have a tendency to be a bit of an 'altaholic' when it comes to MMOs.
AionAlthough I have been questing in different areas, things still feel very much the same. Visually, there seems to be little variety and many of the zones look similar.
AionThe main difference I have noticed is with the types of player I encountered. Whether it is due to the change in server, or if each faction tends to attract a particular mindset, is hard to say but people generally seem friendlier.
AionI have now left my Asmodian Chanter where he is, and stayed with the Elyos.
AionGameplay has still remained, primarily, a solo affair and I have experienced very few opportunities for group play, and from speaking to other players they often feel like they are in a single player game.
AionAs I progressed through the levels I did pick up the odd group quest, but finding a group for these often resulted in failure, to the point where the quests were dropped once they became worthless from out-levelling them.
AionLevelling progress is still fairly slow, with very little noticeable advancement in my XP bar following a night of questing.
AionThis is a big issue with the Aion community at present, and something NCSoft is keen to resolve. The recent changes to Energy of Repose, Aion's 'rested XP' system, have made a difference, providing an extra 40% XP for a short period, dependant on how long you have been offline for.
The loyalty rewards for players also help considerably, with Lodas Amulets providing an additional 20% XP for an hour. This, on top of the double XP bonus on certain weekends, makes levelling a little easier.
PCGZine Issue 35
For our latest Aion coverage, click here to download PCGZine Issue 35 for free.I have dropped the majority of the crafting skills I had originally chosen, and settled on Armour-smithing for Chanter v2. Crafting can be a slow and tedious task, but at least you are given XP for crafting, so it doesn't cause too much of a setback to your levelling.
I have now made it to level 25, the second key milestone in Aion, when you are sent to the Abyss, a mysterious rift that separates Asmodae and Elysea, and is inhabited by the Balaur.
The Abyss serves as a PvP zone in Aion, with open battles between Asmodians and the Elyos fighting for control of fortresses.
Level 25 was one of my first goals that I wanted to achieve, not for the PvP play, which I can take or leave, but for the games first instance, the Nochsana Training Camp.
One of my complaints, and that of many other players, is that it is too long before you get to participate in an instance run. So far I have only managed to go there once, which turned out to be quite a chaotic experience.
Due to lack of interest from other players it took quite a while to get a group together, and even then we had to go in one man short, with me standing in as healer which was worrying to start with.
Shortly after starting we lost another member, leaving us with three, but we didn't let that stop us and we persevered - and after a very long evening we finally managed to clear the place.
After a lengthy levelling process to get to that point, it was a little underwhelming, but that's not to say it's a bad instance. If it had been introduced into the game at an earlier level it would have fared much better.
After only one run, however, I can't really form a true opinion so will be looking to get more groups there whenever possible until I am locked out at level 29.
Another change to the game, now that I have reached a higher level, is the introduction of PvP.
Rifts open up throughout the world, providing an entrance to the other side of the world allowing you to invade and attack the opposing faction. Upon reaching level 20 and heading to Eltnen I was open to attack from the Asmodians - and have suffered that fate from time to time, but not without giving as good as I got in return.
The next aim is to make it to level 30, and experience more instance action and hopefully get involved in a little PvP to see how well implemented and balanced it is.
So, stay tuned...
Aion coverage available in PCGZine Issue 35 - click here to download it for free!
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