The Aion Experience

Those who follow me on Twitter occasionally see me talking about “Miss S”, my daughter. A lot of things change when you have kids, I’m sure everyone’s aware of that. What I wasn’t expecting however, were the different ways I would view movie scenes, some commercials and even, in-game story lines. I mean, who would think that having a child would make you all weepy over something that’s in a game, ie something that’s not real?!

Now some players complain about how much quest text there is and that they just want to know the basics and move on. While I agree that in some points it feels like you do more reading/clicking through quest text than actually doing the quests themselves, some of the reads are totally worth it.

For Asmodians, there’s a quest that begins with Arekedil when you hit Altguard. He informs you that the first sound he can remember is the cry of the Daru in the Moslan Forest and that he was an abandoned child. Hunters found him wrapped in a blanket and brought him back to the village where he was raised by the Priest and he never worried about his real parents.

When he ascended, the priet gave him two gifts — a blanket and a necklace. The blanket of course, was the one he was found in. The necklace, was buried inside. Now, Arekedil can’t get the necklace out of his mind, especially as it was clearly valuable and he doesn’t understand someone who could afford such expensive jewlery could also abandon a child…

This is where your journey begins. You are asked to take the necklace and discover the identity of his parents. After stopping past a few people to begin with , you eventually end up in Pandaemoniu and find Annemari, who is shocked to see her necklace. She askes how you came in posession of it and you inform her that it belonged to a friends mother. Annemari informs you that you must be mistaked as she and her husband have no children. She had always thought the necklace to be stolen and declares that one of the boys parents must have been a thief.

Clearly the necklace means a lot to the boy, so she not only allowes him to keep it, but informs you that the necklace and a box she hands you were orginally a pair — that they belong together. She gives you both to return to Arekedil.

When you open the box, you find a letter inside…

The Letter

My dearest baby boy.

I pray to the Five that you are blessed with the strength and courage of your father and the cleverness and determination of your mother. If you are, you will survive the perils I have placed you in and you will grow to one day take the fine necklace I left with you and trace it back to me.

I’m writing you this letter so you will understand why I have to deny you when you confront me with the necklace and why we can never meet again, nor talk as mother and child.

You deserve to know about me and your father and why you had to grow up without us. This secret I have carried silently for decades.

I can only imagine the struggles of your childhood and how much you hate me for abandoning you. Perhaps you will forgive me after reading this letter, or perhaps you will hate me more after discovering the things I have done.

But understand I love you. I abandoned you to safe your life. Grief stabbed my heart when I left my baby in the Moslan Forest, but I had to tear myself away. The Five Shedim Lords would take care of you, I prayed.

I am the daughter of a high priest. Everyone thinks because we are well off, our lives are simple and easy. While I suffer no physical or financial hardship, the emotional toll on my life has been hard. My family arranged for my marriage into another family of priests when I was very young. For years I had duties to both my father and my betrothed. I carried out those public appearances being the person they need me to be and burying my own self deep inside.

My life was routine and regimented. While I attended countless banquets and lavish feasts, I was always shunted to the background. Even at those celebrating my father or fiance, I was not allowed to garner any more attention than a plate or a piece of furniture.

Your father, Jefaln, was born in Morheim. He had no Daeva nor nobility in his family. In Pandaemonium, no one really thinks much of a Daeva from humble beginnings, but Jefaln was a fighter of great renown. He distinguished himself for his skills in combat and his ability to lead large alliances in the Abyss.

Many nobles tried to ignore Jefaln. However, they eventually had to respect and promote him, as he kept winning and distinguishing himself in the war. My father and I first met Jefaln at a feast celebrating one of his many victories. As the dancing began, I sat to the side with my eyes downcast at the floor.

Then, Jefaln approached me. He gently put one finger under my chin and lifted my face until our eyes met. His broad smile was infectious. I couldn’t help but smile back. “This beautiful lady doesn’t seem to know how to enjoy herself. Let me show you.”

He took my hand and pulled me to my feet. Everyone seemed to be shocked while my father just looked angry. Jefaln was the hero of the feast, it would have been unseemly to reject him.

I expected the big burly warrior to be clumsy and rough, but he wasn’t — his touch was light and tender, his handing smooth and graceful. His hands were warm where they touched my skin. Dancing with him made my heart pound so hard I was sure he could hear it. He certainly only seemed to have eyes for me. Until that moment, I had realized how unappreciated I had felt — how my father and fiance had taken me for granted.

When the music ended and we bowed, Jefaln gently tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear and whispered, “I’ll wait under your window just to gaze upon your beauty once again.”

Upon arriving back home that night, my father burst into a rage. An insolent Daeva of humble origins dared to ask his engaged daughter to dance. While his rage was boiling over, I could think of only one thing: “I have to go open the window.”

It was hours before my father settled to sleep and I felt secure enough to approach the window. Jefaln was still standing under the window just as he had promised. As soon as I opened the window, he flew up to me. He took my hand and asked, “Do you trust me?” At my nod, he spread his wings and turned to fly off. His battle-strengthened wings were beautiful and I stood awe-struck until his gentle tug on my hand urged me on.

We flew very far and more than once Jefaln had to pause and wait for me. But he was never impatient about it. Eventually we arrived at the remove canopy of some grove. I could never find that grove again, even though I have tried on occasion.

Nothing untoward happened that first night. We sat in the tree-tops and talked all night. We talked about our parents, our childhood, our ascension. What touched me the most was his frankness about his worries and fears. As a Legion leader he couldn’t show his fear to his troops, but that didn’t make him immune to is. As we talked, he held my hand. And the more we talked, the more I liked him. I guess he felt the same as well.

I arrived back home just as the household was awakening. The lack of sleep should have exhausted me, but instead I felt exhilarated and more alive than I had since childhood.

We never planned our meetings. Every night I left my window open hoping to spend some time with Jefaln, and as his duty schedule allowed we would meet in the very latest hour of the night. To evade others’ eyes and ears, we’d fly off to a different location every time — a waterfall, an abandoned theater.

Over several weeks of meetings, our friendship blossomed and grew strong. He became my best friend. Some nights we’d talk non-stop. Some nights we’d sit silently all night long. Either way, we were happy being together.

I met each day joyful, energetic and full of life. Eager for the chance to see him each night. My family noticed a difference and learned I had a new friend, but didn’t know whom I had befriended. When I accidentally let it slip that my friend was a man, my father and fiance both flew into a rage. I was angry and obstinate — I wouldn’t give up an innocent friendship over unwarranted mistrust or jealousy.

More secretive and clever than ever, we continued meeting. One night Jefaln was deeply troubled. As I listened to him talk, he gently tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, like he had the first night on the dance floor. But this time, his hand lingered on my neck. He caressed my neck and shoulder and leaned in and kissed me. For the first time in my life I cursed my privileged life and obligations. But I didn’t resist. I kissed him back.

We awoke the next morning in each other’s arms. Other mornings like that followed. Our friendship had changed by neither of us regretted it. With my impending marriage and his work, we both knew and talked openly about how our relationship could not last forever, but I always hoped it would.

His duty sent him to the Abyss. Weeks went by without a word or meeting. I missed his touch and conversation terribly. I then I overheard tavern patrons talking of how Jefaln had died on the battlefield in the Abyss with no Obelisk to insure his own immortality. Upon hearing that he was killed, I became so distressed that I passed out.

In the midst of utter despair, I found myself pregnant with you. Upon confirming my pregnancy, I packed up a few clothes and all my money and left Pandaemonium. Knowing my father would not allow me to bear Jefaln’s baby, I had to run away to protect you. I could not let them find me. I had to keep on the move.

After travelling all across Asmodae, I finally gave birth to you in Altguard. Soon after, my father caught up with me there. To keep you a secret, I abandoned you in the forest before I was caught my by pursuers.

I believe my father somehow learned about my friendship with Jefaln and had something to do with his death in the Abyss. If he was capable of that, he is capable of destroying a small baby. Because my father might kill you, I have kept your existence secret, and so must you.

I left you the necklace in the hope you could find me some day and learn the truth. But that truth is fgor you alone. Nobody may learn the truth of our past.

I was hauled back to Pandaemonium in the end. Most people believed it was just wedding jitters.

Married now, I have returned to my old life — a puppet of society. My husband is a good man and doesn’t server the pain this truth would bring him. But my love goes with you. I still live in the hope of letting you know about me and your father.

For your own safety, I could not raise you but have always prayed that you would grow into a fine man and live happily.

Looking back at the regrets in my life, I don’t regret my time with Jefaln. I don’t regret the fruit of our love. I only wish I had secured you a safe home instead of leaving it to fate. In the end, all I could do was abandon you in the Moslan Forest.

I would never ask you to forgive me for this. But please, remember something for me.

Your father was a wonderful and respectable man who did much for Asmodae. He died without knowing about you.

You are his legacy to Asmodae.

Did you know you can purchase scrolls that will teleport you to major hubs in game?

Purchaseable from Nekai in Pandaemonium, you can use the scroll above to teleport back from anywhere in game. It costs 1,782 Kinah so can be a little more expensive than flying back, but if time is more important to you than holding onto a few extra Kinah, then this scroll could become your new best friend. I always carry one on me, and when used, I simply purchase another. They do stack of course, I just do it that way to create a habbit. Hopefully it will become second nature and then I won’t ever be without a scroll.

You will find Nekai in the Market Street, along the left hand side if you are running into the city. You can purchase scrolls for Altgard Fortress, Beluslan Fortress, Morheim Fortress and of course Pandaemonium.

The official Aion Facebook page shared this, however the original location of the file is at Catbones.com. Not sure about the image. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very skilled image, but it just doesn’t seem… “right” to me. Something about the head gear I think…

Click image to see full sized version

I figured I’d give the morons of Aion a bit of a break this week and jump back to the beautiful scenery that surrounds us all…

The first one is the roof of the observatory in Altguard. Really cool. You can see how the roof starts here. The image below was taken standing on the platform that rises up and down. The 2nd image is of that very same platform, but looking down.

Familar with Black Claw Village? Then you’d know this totem…

This guy’s from earlier on, but so far is one of the coolest creatures I’ve had to interact with.

Seen a really cool scene or mob in your travels? Feel free to email it through to me along with your characters name and server to have it included in a Screenshot Sunday post!

If you’re Asmodian and you’ve hit your high teens, you’re most likely familiar with the quest that has you locate a book in the Library. I can’t remember the name of the exact quest, but it doesn’t tell you which book you need to find (psst it’s the one at the far end of the left balcony if you’re facing into the Library =p), and instead you are left to open any book you can find that’s sticking out or otherwise obviously different.

During my travels of opening EVERY other book instead of the right one first, I came across on titled Interesting Asmodae which, when opened, showed a really cool cut scene. Hubby mentioned that he never saw/found that book when he did the quest, so I decided to capture the cut scene and share it here for him and anyone else who might have missed it.

It also follows on with some text (the actual book) after the cut scene finishes:

*****

The Invasion is a pivotal moment in our history. After centuries of isolation following the Cataclysm, it was the first time the survival of any of the missing Five Empyrean Lords or their followers was confirmed.

The existence of the Elyos society on the opposite continent cast our experiences into shard relief. Comparing our lot with our soon-to-be enemies allowed us to appreciate our true strength.

The story of the invasion begins with Deltras and the Storm Legion.

Lead by Deltras, the Storm Legion was one of the most elite Legions in Elysea.

The prevailing opinion is that their mission was strictly a reconnaissance. They never intended to confront our forces, and certainly not Lord Zikel himself, which explains their lack of preparation for the event.

Had this incursion not been discovered, it seems likely that the larger Elyos force would have followed, perhaps achieving complete surprise. The capture of Deltras and his Legion was a fortunate event for the Asmodae.

Credit for detecting the invasion goes to a desert scout of Morgeim whose name has sadly been lost to history. Noticing movement in the terrain, he approached and was surprised to discover slender, milky-skinned warriors with neither manes nor sharp claws.

Seeing the Elyos for the first time, he was more curious than worried about them.

However, the Elysean language was incomprehensible, and when Deltras grew weary of the effort to communication, he ordered his Legion to dispatch the dutiful Asmodian Archon.

When the Archon resurrected at an Obelisk, he reported these vents to incredulous superiors. Shamefully, they were slow to act on his initial incident.

In the meantime Deltras and his men crossed the Salintus Desert, seeking the rift through which they had traveled to Asmodae so they could return with the information they had gathered.

However, their grace period was short-lived. When they reached the rift, Lord Zikel and his Shadow’s Guard Legion were waiting for them.

Lord Zikel was in a four tempter, as his scouts had never returned from the Abyss, and he saw reason to believe that the Elyos had intercepted them.

According to his attendance, Lord Zikel was so upset than even Lord Azphel hesitated to speak to him.

Archons advised Lord Zikel to kill the Elyos immediately, but he rejected this suggestion. He wanted answers.

They found common ground in an ancient Human tongue, and Zikel made an offer. He’d spare their lives if Deltras would confess his mission to spy on Asmodae, and deny his Empyrean Lord Nezekan.

Typical of the pride and self-absorbed Elyos, Deltras cursed this generous offer, dooming himself and his Legion.

True to his word, Lord Zikel vanished most of the Elyos where they stood. Some cowards killed themselves rather than face his fury.

From that moment forward, we have been at war.

*****

I’ve never been a huge lore follower in the past – my partner can attest to me having never read a single quest in WoW and simply looking for enough information on what exactly I had to kill/collect and how many. For some reason, I’m finding the Aion lore quite engaging and am enjoying it thoroughly. I think the cut scenes really help with that… it’s like picture books for those who don’t like a lot of reading lol.

It is with great disappointment, and a little sadness than I have to announce I made the switch last night from a Ranger to an Assassin. The switch is not permanent, and I am by no means giving up my Ranger completely, but it still makes me upset to not be playing my Ranger as my primary character. Especially as I so love the ‘bow and arrow’ play-style so much.

I kinda knew this was coming even if I didn’t want to admit it to myself. My first impressions as a Ranger were not fantastic, but I stuck it out a few more levels as everyone told me that post 16 is far better. What frustrated me however, was that in order to get to level 16, I had to group with my husbands Chanter which honestly, was nothing more than a pity party. He didn’t need me. In fact most of the time I ran around gathering while he solo’d… I did nothing more than leech experience. What bothered me more was that I had to “stick it out” in the first place – no character should have to play through gritted teeth and clenched fists for 16 levels before you reach the fun times. And in fact I know a few players who haven’t – choosing to abandon their Ranger long ago.

While I am fortunate enough to be able to group with my partner to at least level 16 should I then wish to attempt the rest solo, is the fact I have lots to do outside of just playing Aion – I have this blog, which I love, as well as another blog based around The Sims which I also play. In Aion itself, I want to take my time leveling up and getting to really know my class well which all takes time. This all slows down a partner who doesn’t have as much on his plate and is happy to just play and experience. Then again, since I am the researcher of the family, he can just ask me anything he needs to know lol, he doesn’t spend the hours I do researching, reading and googling information.

All of this combined means that I slow down his leveling. He tends to bum around on alts while I do my stuff so he doesn’t out-level me, but then I feel guilty for making him wait around or not be able to play his character of choice because I chose to do other activities. During the week I told him to not wait for me any longer, just go out and level and I’ll give it a go on my own… after all, I was level 15 by now, surely it had to be somewhat easier than when I was level 10 and just finding my feet?

Wrong! Last night I jumped into game, solo, and went to fight some Nimble Aracha. Now yes, the game was laggy, but due to our location, and the fact Telstra likes to f#$% all their customers over, I’m always going to have lag of some sort. Last night’s 2,2000+ ms was particularly bad to start with, but by the time I was ready to actually play it had eased up some. Regardless of the lag factor, the Mosbear mobs I was fighting through to get to the Nimble Aracha were taking me down by at least half health each time. When I finally found my first Aracha, it freaking killed me!!

The death was the last straw and my camel’s back was well and truly broken. I couldn’t stand the fact that I had to sit and heal, or bandage, or use my Odella Powder collection to heal via my Herb Treatment after every mob I killed. I also don’t want it to take 5 minutes to kill a single mob that leaves me half dead! That’s just not fun.

So I cracked it! I threw a little tanty and rerolled.

When I first ascended, I struggled with the choice between Assassin and Ranger. I had planned to go Ranger prior to even stepping foot in game, yet the enjoyment and pleasure I received from the close combat fighting caused real internal conflict. In the end, I decided to go with my original choice of Ranger and ignored the slight glimmer of regret that would later fester and eat away at me.

I’m not deleting my Ranger, and I’m certainly not ready to give up on her yet, but I just can’t solo with her at the moment. For now she will remain my group character as I do love the damage she can do with her bow and arrow given the proper distance. And I still have some hope that I will be able to master her, but for now, I need… I need… A little less conversation, a little more action please. All this aggravation ain’t satisfactioning me. A little more bite and a little less bark, a little less fight and a little more spark, mobs need to shut their mouths and open up their guts… satisfy me…. satisfy me yeah.

*clears throat* Sorry. Proof reading what I wrote originally, I couldn’t get Elvis out of my head lol.

Moving on. I’ve heard great things about the Assassin, I thoroughly enjoyed the pre-10 levels before my Ascension, and am once again, at level 7, enjoying the play-style of surprising mobs from behind and then slitting their throats. One of the good points with an Assassin is I don’t need to constantly switch between ranged and melee weapons and this should alleviate at least one gripe right off the bat. That’s correct yes – I don’t need to switch weapons do I?

Having never played an Assassin style class before this should be an interesting journey. I loathed the repulsive, vile, inexcusably annoying Rogues of WoW. God I hated them, I mean really despised them as a class and all who played them. No matter what class I was on, they always induced cussing to run through my head that would make a sailor to blush should he have had the unfortunately experience of hearing it. But who knows, I might just grow to enjoy a new play-style with Aion’s Assassin…

So without further adieu, I present to you, Dewinter named after Milady de Winter, from the novel The Three Musketeers. A capable and beautiful spy, Milady was remorseless and unrepentant for her countless “misdeeds” and I feel my very own Dewinter will follow in those perfect little footsteps. Thankyou to my good friend Ebonclaw for the name… Shadow, Midnight, and all other “hiding in the dark” names were already taken. Damn you unoriginal character namers for taking all my other ideas!

Dewinter - Aion Assassin

That’s right, I ascended! Warning: Ascension is a big deal in a Daeva’s life, so this blog post ended up a tad longer than I expected lol. It does contain what actually happens during the quest line though, so if you’ve already done it, then you can just skim over those parts…

I was aiming to ascend last night, however our Internet is beyond shocking sometimes and I spent the first half of the night trying not to break my keyboard. I then spent the second half of the night putting my daughter back to bed as a possessed toy with a ticking clock decided to just start ticking on it’s own which freaked her out. Just quietly, it didn’t help my over active imagination either. All of a sudden I realised that I couldn’t let my mind run wild and freak me out with thoughts of ghosts in the house playing tricks as I have to keep calm and convince my daughter that there’s nothing wrong lol. If you knew my imagination, you would know what a feat that was.

Between resettling her, and the lag, and then the server down time, I didn’t make it very far. I would like to take this moment to thank Aion for the 60 second warning for the server down time. I mean really, you couldn’t have given everyone a bit more of a heads up? I’m just thankful I wasn’t out fighting and could quit straight away. I’m sure not everyone was so lucky.

As you can see in that image, I was already working on my Ascension quest line when the servers went down. I was not a happy camper lol. I would have been further along if it wasn’t for the lag we get. Not only do we have the “Aussie connecting to a US server” lag, we also have the “!@#$% Telstra sucks” lag, accompanied by the “moved to one of the fastest growing areas in the state and it can’t handle the pressure” connection lag. Basically – we’re screwed.

That’s every night prime time at the moment, although the second one was only at 4pm. Early mornings aren’t that much better, even 9am is getting up there…

Then again, I’d happily settle for 600ms at night time instead of almost 2 seconds behind everyone. The ‘rubber-banding’ as it’s been named by the players is enough to do my head in. Last night I would be trying to get to one mob who was only 5 feet away, and instead, I would rubber band for 15 to 30 seconds and watch five people pass me and kill it. The worst part is, there is nothing we can do about it – Telstra hold the monopoly on Australia’s internet system and until that changes, we just have to eat the crap served to us.

Today however, during the midday nap hour, with internet running smoothly and possessed toys safely stashed under the bed, it was time to get my rear end out of the starting area and ascend!!

The quest series itself is pretty cool and like everything else so far, very easy to follow. You get to deal with this guy called Munin, who has been detained deep within the Ishalgen Prison Camp. Trapped within a crystallized prison cell which looks very cool, Munin is your key to Ascension.

This Daeva can discern the future, even from within his cell. This expert fortune teller is able to tell your future and how you will ascend to be a mighty Asmodian. But first he needs some items to help piece together your past – 3 cards of fate.

I’m not going to ruin it for you by posting the entire quest outline here – I can’t see anyone needing a ‘walk through’ for it. All the people involved are people you have already had dealings with through other quests, so just read the dialog, use the built in location helpers and you’ll be all set.

Once you have collected the cards, returned them and done all those steps, the real fun begins. As Munin reads the cards, he begins to weave patterns in the Aether, and suddenly you are transported to an outer-worldly realm, wearing a full set of Asmodian armor (very cool). The sky is a mix of dark, blood-like colors, and scattered about are several giant, swirling vortexes – Portals.

This is the Abyss, the nether region nestled between the two shattered halves of Atreia, and you’re standing on one of the many small, floating rocky islands that dot the Abyss. You see a line of wounded Asmodian soldiers before you, and the apparent leader — Archon Legionary Hagen — beckons you forward.

I had to stop for a minute and bathe in all the “Alexan is here, huzzah” commentary lol. That was just too cool. Yay me!

The Asmodians are in a desperate struggle to attain the floating island of Narsass. Standing in the way of Asmodian success
however, is the leader of the Elyos known as Hellion. It’s time for you to step up! You must fly to Narsass and defeat Hellion personally — that is your destiny.

After you accept the quest, you immediately spread your wings and spring off the island, passing groups of Asmodians and Elyos engaged in aerial combat. All of this is out of your control so just sit back and enjoy the view. Eventually you get knocked to the ground and take control of your character once again. When this happens, you are immediately greeted with the welcoming party – 4 Elyos soldiers. Don’t panic like I did though, you have a 15 minute buff which makes you near indestructible against them. You won’t (shouldn’t) die…

After defeating the Elyos soldiers, you come up against Hellion himself. For still hold control over your character and do the best you can. however, the battle will not go well. You are soundly defeated after a blinding assault. At this point you once again sit back and enjoy the cut scene…

Suddenly you seem to recover, but you’re back in your old armor again, and the form of Munin appears nearby. “The future is not fixed,” he says, and he reveals that trying to change the future is why he was imprisoned in the first place. You agree to mutually help each other — Munin claims he will need help in the future, and in return he will help save your life down the line — but first you must become a Daeva and pick a class.

This is where my dilemma kicks in. I had planned to go Ranger before I even acquired the game. Coming from the Hunter class in WoW, I knew I loved the pew pew pew. The problem was however, as I was leveling up to ten, I got to have some fun with the ‘assassin’ style abilities – hide, backstab, really big crits, etc. I really, really loved all the close combat moves and the damage that the backstab attack did. I was having way too much fun. So much so that I was starting to question my Ranger choice…

When I was finally presented with the choice of the two, I didn’t know which way to go. Feeling ’stuck’ in that I couldn’t really just walk away and keep playing while I decided, being put on the spot didn’t help the decision making process. My mouse kept wavering back and forth between Ranger and Assassin.

The biggest cause of my confusion was actually due to my time in WoW. Prior to WoW even entering the closed beta I knew I was going to be a Warlock. I planned everything around it, including a class website just for them. In the beginning I did love them, dearly. But as time passed, it felt more like a requirement to play one than any choice. In the end, I fell in love with the Hunter and there I stayed. So I sit here asking myself if this will be the same thing? What if I end up loving the Assassin but don’t find out until later because I went with my first choice, the Ranger?

In the end I figured it didn’t matter. So what if I change later? By that stage I won’t really care about reading all the quest text like I am now, I’ll just zoom through the first 10 levels and take it from there. Right?

So Ranger it is! It wasn’t an easy choice I must admit, but I’m happy that I’ve made it. I still have that “what if I love the Assassin style more” thought loitering in the back of my mind, but I can always make one later and find out. For now though, I’m sticking to my pew pew heritage and ready to shoot some arrows into Elyos arse!

Oh yes, a little tip for all those still waiting to ascend – don’t keep holding off the quest line that makes it happen because you want to finish all the other starting area quests first…

Because I ran around finishing up all my quests so I had a clean quest log, I was only 1/4 of a level away from 10 when I handed in… bugger.

I had already read over at another blog I follow that Aion was extremely beautiful. However like most things, screenshots really don’t do it justice and it’s not until you actually get in game that you see just how magnificent everything looks. I mean really, really pretty.

Hubby, who watched over my shoulder last night for ooooh all of about 15 seconds before sliding back to his PC to order the digital download of Aion (he lasted long huh?) commented that it resembled that of the EQ2 graphics. I personally never played EQ2 so can’t really compare, but I’ll take his word for it. It’s similar to EQ in that if someone jumps in and starts whacking a mob you’re already hitting, they get partial XP which comes out of your XP pool. Meaning you get less. That’s one thing WoW really got right – the ability to tag mobs!

There’s a few other similarities here and there while I’m sure I’ll mention as I remember them. For now though, I’ll stay mesmerized by the beautiful surroundings in game, which if you remember, I’m Asmodian so it should be all dark and gloomy. If these are the sort of graphics I’m surrounded by, I can’t imagine what the Elyos are being blinded with!

Ok, so first off the sky. I took the time to look up last night due to a comment left on a previous blog entry about how bright it was. I hadn’t actually noticed that at the time as I was too busy being all excited and giddy at the fact I was online lol. So last night, I did what most gamers probably don’t take the time to do, and looked up. And… it was worth it.

How awesomely stunning is that sky?

I noticed I could see right through to space, and given that there is some sunshine (or at least light) during the daylight hours, it means that the plants are still able to flourish here. I’m not too sure where here is just yet as I can’t figure it out. Last night one of the quests involved an old witch taking a look at my palm to see my future. In the vision she shared with me, there was certainly no sunshine, no trees and nothing ‘pretty’ at all. I can only assume that I am still on some form of earth type location and when I ascend, I will finally be surrounded by my Asmodian like environment.

Can anyone else shed some light on that for me? Where exactly are you levels 1 through to 10?

The good thing with sunshine and all the goodness that helps nature grow, is you get to see spectacular trees like this one.

The tree sits in the middle of a large lake full of clear blue water. Just as beautiful was the tree itself, it was also surrounded by the cutest mobs lol. Yes, I’m a girl, I find the web slinks adorable and I want one as a pet haha.

Not the best shot of one, but I was trying to kill it at the time – hey if I can’t have one as a pet, then no one else could either! I also like the water birds there but forgot to grab a shot of them. Doh.

You do a few quests around the tree so you get to soak it up for a while before moving on. The good thing about Aion that is similar to WoW is that the game shuffles you along from quest area to quest area. There’s really no reason for anyone to not know where you need to go next as you just follow the quests you’re given.

I thought I wouldn’t see much better than that tree for a while… then I got about 10 steps up the road and saw the sunlight streaming through the trees to get this image

Stunning!

I could have taken a hundred shots of the different things I saw last night, I really could. A combination of a new game, and beautiful graphics made it very easy to go “aaaw wow, look at that” all night. Of course, the only thing prettier than the graphics I was surrounded by, was my character herself. The log in screen shots I took the other day really didn’t do her justice. Check out the hotness that is Alexan!

Hooooot. I lost track of how many “any girls online?” questions which was of course followed by the next 15 minutes of “real girls aren’t on the internet/don’t play games” banter that could induce nothing more than an eyeroll from me. I ended up having to turn my chat channels off last night as the sheer utter stupidity that was spilling out of other people’s brains was making mine hurt. I’m not about to dare tell them that a character as hot as that is also a real life female. It wouldn’t be nerd rage that would end up all over me… ick!

Yay! I have my first two Aion characters saved and are not so patiently waiting for the early start program to, well, start. I decided to create my Ranger (currently Scout level of course) and the Cleric just because I had two slots so I might as well use them. I’ll be playing my Ranger first I think, it will be easier to solo. Plus, I keep hearing all the PvP side of game play which, coming from WoW, I have to remember it’s not all going to be an easy run like I’m used to. I’d like to have a bit damage capability under my belt. I want to survive and kill, not just survive and bore my opponent by healing until they give up lol. I don’t want to be like a Paladin! Gah!

Although not up at 5am to create them, I did jump on before breakfast lol. I’m such a geek. My poor daughter was left to her own devices while I fawned all over the pretty graphics and omg unbelievable amount of options to tweak. Of course, her being left on her own equates my lounge room being destroyed lol. Toys as far as you could see…

Ok, so let’s relive the experience of creating your first character shall we? I’m sure there’s at least 3 people out there who haven’t pre-ordered and will have to wait to do this. The first thing you have to decide is what faction you want to align with. As already mention, I’m all about Team Asmodian…

It actually took me a while to be able to see that screen. Since there is only one Oceanic realm assigned at the moment, I was trying to log into Nezekan. Instead of seeing the above however, I just kept getting a rather confusing message that I could not create an Asmodian character. Everytime I tried to proceed, I went straight to the character creation screen and it only showed Elyos. Pretty, but not what I wanted.

What the error message wasn’t clear about, was that there were faction caps coming into play and obviously there had been so many Asmodian’s created already, that they weren’t allowing anymore to be created until it was balanced out with Elyos targets… I mean players. It was only through googling and Twitter did I learn this though which was annoying.

After half an hour or so, I did get to see the above faction selection and after choosing, was shown to the next screen, where you get to select your class. This screen actually threw me for a second lol. I’m used to the WoW screen where it’s quite clear you’re making a new character. Here you get to see all pre-made examples of each of the classes and you choose from there. It only threw me for a second and it was first thing in the morning lol.

I decided to create my Ranger first, so chose the Scout (F), aka female option. Scout (M) obviously being male…

The first random choice scared the absolute hell out of me lol. I was NOT expecting this to be looking back at me!

Of course, looking at that I also had a momentary freak out and thought “oh crap, do I really want to play Asmodian?” Thankfully, that’s the only real scary face option there. Everything else is pretty sweet and lovely considering the darkness they live in.

Flicking through all the different facial features, I noticed there were a lot of ‘Asian’ hairstyle options, which makes sense given the games origin. There were also some really nice, more western styles I guess you’d call them. The best part though? Is the sheer number of hair styles there were to choose from in the first place. I think I counted through to 39 or some crazy high number!!

This is great for variation among the player base, after all, there’s nothing more annoying that feeling like clone number 469 and seeing so many others that look just like you. Unfortunately, it’s bad when you get to a hairstyle you like, realise it’s number 32 and you can’t remember if you liked that more or less than styles 3, 7 and what about 19? If they could make it so you could say, favourite 3 hairstyles, that you could then view side by side to chose from, that would be much better!

Once you have selected your hair, it’s onto the face. You have the predefined shapes and features, or, you can flip it over to the advanced and use the sliders on nearly every aspect you can think of. Lips, eye shape, eyebrow arch, noise length, nose width, nose point! Just like real life, everyone can be different.

Word of warning however, do not hit reset. It does NOT return your settings to the default before you started fiddling and turned your face into a Picasso. It resets everything to the middle of the slider. I had to exit all the way out and start again lol.

After your face is perfect, it’s onto the perfect body! And you have just as many sliders here as you did before. Hips, waist, arm length, leg width, etc. You can change everything. I chuckled as I turned my pretty little Ranger into a knuckle dragging ape lol. And oh my goodness, shrink their head down just once for a good laugh!

By the time I was done, almost an hour had passed. And that was just one character. My second (the Priest), I was little quicker with as I actually liked the majority of the random options that were presented to me. So you want to see what I have so far?

I introduce to you… Alexan! This is my Ranger…

She looked really good in the character creator. I really really liked what I ended up with. She came across with a little Kate Beckingsale looks, with a similar attitude to her character in Underworld. I liked it a lot! When I was watching her in the character selection screen however, I did get a bit concerned. Gone was the “I will mess you up” attitude and, instead replaced with a bit more “oh woe is poor little pouty me“…

I’m annoyed at myself I didn’t grab a screenshot of her in the character creation as that gets nice and close up. And o
f course, I probably couldn’t replicate her again if I tried lol. Oh well, will just have to see what I can capture in game when it finally goes live.

I also didn’t think to grab a shot of my Priest either. Bugger it. I think I was just having way too much fun and was too excited at the thought of finally being able to play. You can have a quick peek at her – I introduce to you Caelius!

With my two character slots filled already, it was time to get up and start actually doing some housework and other real life things. You can’t save anymore characters once you’ve saved your two, but you can keep playing with the creator to see what else you can make. I might do that a bit later tonight.

I had a quick look over the other class examples that were standing there, and I have to admit, for once, the men of the game are pretty good looking. Normally the females outshine the men with blinding good looks. The men of Aion however, as pretty boy as they might be, look pretty good. Check out this handsome fella…

Yummy…

If you watched the Aion Intro Cinematic I posted, you’ll know that the Asmodians are the other half of the Daevas; the counterpart to the Elyos, stemmed from the human race during the Millennium War. Apparently vindictive in nature, they’ve pitted themselves against the Elyos, who they perceive as at fault for the Epic Cataclysm in attempting to negotiate for peace.

This so sounds like the right race for me! Coming from a Warlock, and the Horde in WoW, the darker side of life appeals to me most. As I’m sure a lot of other long time WoW players looking at Aion will agree, the Asmodians are the Horde, while the pretty little Elyos living in all their sunshine and life are the Alliance. And if Aion is anything like WoW, the Elyos will be the childcare area… too many kidlets pretending to be grown up. No thanks.

Yes, definitely sounds like more my people. So I’ve decided to join team Asmodian on Saturday morning at 5am (my time) when I will be able to log in and create my first character. Now the hard part… what class to play.