Shes talking about the Fighting and PvP System of Aion.
Anyway its very informative and you should check this out.
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PräsentationUS, March 27, 2009 - Away from the prying eyes of the Moscone Conference Center where GDC 2009 is being held,
revealed a new glimpse into its upcoming MMORPG : The Tower of Eternity. Aion launched in Korea last fall, but there is still a lot of mystery surrounding the project for Western audiences. The meeting was held in a dark conference room with two large screens adorning opposing walls. They each displayed a character hovering in place as their giant wings held them afloat. Shortly thereafter, Brian Knox, one of the game's producers, and Lani Blazier, the community manager, entered the room to discuss and show all the latest updates to the game. We were then treated to a play test with some of the developers.
Aion is set in the world of Atreia. One thousand years ago, the world crumbled because of a great war which ended in the planet shattering into two halves: Asmodae and Elysea. The "top" half, Asmodae, is shrouded in darkness and the people there have grown pale and developed an alien glow about them. The lower part of the world, Elysea, is just the opposite. It's bright and populated by an arrogant race of people who look down upon their topside neighbors. The intriguing aspect of the game world is that the populace lives "inside" this broken open world, like running around in a cracked eggshell. Aion, in the game, is an ageless deity that created and sustained the world. It is the Tower of Eternity, and it ran through the middle of the world, but after shattering, it only remains in pieces, no longer connecting the two sides.
Players begin by siding with either the Asmodae or Elysea faction which then opens into a robust character creation menu. Rather than choosing a race, players are able to completely design their character's appearance from radical height and weight changes, to over thirty individually editable facial traits. So if you're dying to play a dwarf, you can still create such an appearance by dropping down your height, adding some weight and a hearty beard to compliment the familiar archetype. Elf? Change your skin tone and make yourself skinny. The creator gives you the ability to make a dead on match for the standard fare found in most MMORPGs. And chances are, you're never going to bump into an identical version of yourself.
Once you settle on an appearance, you are then able to choose one of four classes: warrior, scout, mage, and priest. Once you hit level 10, you can then specialize into a new subclass. The warrior has the choice of becoming a Gladiator or a Templar, a scout becomes either a Ranger or an Assassin, a mage becomes a Sorcerer or a Spiritmaster, and a priest can turn into either a Cleric or a Chanter. So options open up as you progress.
After the information on creating a character, Lani and Brian dove into an explanation of one of the game's most anticipated features: flight. Upon hitting level 10, all characters are eligible to, quite literally, gain their wings. In the gameplay demonstration, the onscreen character was glancing around the striking scenery and then without hesitation leapt off an enormous cliff, arms flailing. As the ground shot rapidly towards the screen, a giant pair of wings popped open from the character's back and they sailed back upwards towards the heavens. It's an impressive game mechanic and sure to keep things interesting. You aren't able to fly in every area of the game world, but enough that it remains an important tenet of gameplay.
The skill comes with a meter showing how much longer you can sustain flight. It starts off with a comforting green glow, but as the time ticks away, it turns to red which is a direct warning that you're about the fall out of the sky. It's powered by a magical force in the world called Aether. Depending on your location in the world, your Aether can recharge at different rates. The game has keys wired to fly straight up and straight down, which is useful to get yourself out of sticky situations. There is also a glide option, which allows you to survive a tall leap by popping open your wings and coasting down to the ground.
The next key aspect of the game that the team shed light on was The Abyss. It's the rift in the middle of the world where PvP comes into play. The Abyss is riddled with fortresses in which players can compete against each other for control (and also the AI controlled Balaur faction). Armies of 200 to 300 players can rally to attack and take over these fortresses, from which they can receive some high-end loot and other bonuses while in control. And with the ebb and flow of the game, any given fortress can change hands several times per day. According to the developers, the weakest stronghold can be overtaken with as few as 24 players while the toughest will take hundreds. The game will keep running leaderboards for players' performances in The Abyss and the area is sure to keep the endgame intriguing.
Lani and Brian discussed some other systems that will keep things interesting in the world. First, many weapons will have what's called Manastone Sockets. So if you have the same rare weapon as someone else, you can augment its power by adding in different Manastones which will affect the stats of the weapon, thus giving it a different function than other players. Being an individual seemed to be a key part of the Aion world.
Another interesting system is that of the Stigma Stones. Let's say all your favorite friends are warriors and you want party together; with a Stigma Stone, you can temporarily gain abilities you wouldn't otherwise have such as healing. So there's no need to leave a voicemail for your healer friend who isn't online. This should aid both class lacking parties and solo players.
In combat, you can run a skill chain which involves timing attacks based on new skill logos popping up. So if you launch a slashing strike, a small logo will appear offering you the next step in the chain which you must select before it disappears. The chains lead to a devastating amount of damage and can cause a "knock down," which can leave the enemy prone to attack from someone else in your party.
The game also features real-time stat changes. So if you decide to switch on your wings mid-battle, your defense is going to drop dramatically. Or depending on your distance from an enemy, your defense goes up if you back away or your attack rises if you get closer. This directional combat is sure to come into play the most in the PvP world.
We asked the team what they felt would make this title stand out from everything else in an increasingly overcrowded MMO market. In their opinion, it was the story that will really give the title lasting appeal. From the lore surrounding the setup, it certainly does sound fascinating. But for me, I don't think I'll tire of jumping off cliffs and spreading my wings at the very last second to save myself... not for a very long time.
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It’s probably not common knowledge that I’m not a huge MMO player. I could never get into the idea of playing a quest based multiplayer game, mainly because of the monthly subscription fees. After seeing NCsoft’s Aion, a Korean MMO being localized for the West, I may just upgrade my computer and start.
The first thing about the game is the amazing graphics. Using the Crytek engine, it’s amazing what NCsoft was able to do. The character models are highly detailed and have the Asian-influenced art. The higher level armor and weapons they showed in their presentation all have small animation attached to it and only add to the character designs.
I had a chance to play a bit through the two races, along with seeing the customization options in the character creation screens. The amount of customization that Aion contains is staggering. The facial options are either based on a preset or slider option bars which possess a diverse array of possibilities.
There are only four character classes in the game, but along with the character customization possibilities, the general warrior can look like a stealthy quick fighter or just appear as a tank. The world itself is beautiful as well. The environments around the Abyss, the center of the world, are detailed and since characters can attain the ability to fly, gliding around levels illustrates the beauty that Aion contains.
While during my playtime, I was only a level 2 character and basically a worthless fighter, the farmland setting fit the stereotype of many other MMOs. The main difference is that the environments were diverse, but still following the theme of the set environment. The water effects were great, courtesy of the engine, but just running around the environment was enjoyable because of the great detail.
NCsoft showed a video of massive battles between two of the races, with characters flying in from above, while others ran forward on the ground. The NPC enemies contain a lot more detail and don’t seem recycled at all. One enemy had a sword which looked close to the Soul Edge, but much more deadly.
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Game Developer's Conference
thanks for the vid
![[N]emesis's Avatar](https://www.elitepvpers.com/forum/customavatars/avatar505862_10.gif){kind=avatar}
(okay zu viel gelabert )
