TenTonHammer.com - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Questions by Cody “Micajah” Bye, Managing Editor
Answers by: Charles ‘kieron’ Dane, Community Relations Manager

During last summer’s conference season, the Ten Ton Hammer team had the opportunity to view Aion: The Tower of Eternity at a number of shows, including E3 and the Leipzig Games Convention. Visually, it blew our socks off. Literally. However, it’s been nearly a year since those initial offerings, and we’ve been lusting for more info to be divulged from NCsoft. With the hiring of their latest Community Relations Manager, Chares ‘kieron’ Dane, NCsoft has finally broken their silence and are eager to chat with the general media about the future of Aion. Ten Ton Hammer’s Cody “Micajah” Bye recently sat down with Charles and had a nice conversation about Aion, its features, and what to expect from the title when it’s released!

---

The visuals in Aion are absolutely breathtaking.

Ten Ton Hammer: It’s been quite a while since we’ve heard anything about Aion: The Tower of Eternity here in North America. Why has it taken so long to start getting information out? What’s been holding the NCsoft team back?

Charles ‘kieron’ Dane: Aion has been undergoing development for a couple years now and the Aion Development team wants to do the game right.  Our intention is to release a game we feel is what the Aion community deserves; something visually stunning, polished, full of content for all play styles.  Essentially, we want to appeal to a global market by including in Aion what are considered the best game play and features of the MMO market.

Now that the Korean closed beta testing has been completed, we’ve looked at what we have to offer with Aion.  Our expectations have been met; now it is time to exceed them and due to the state of Aion’s development, we feel now is the right time to start showcasing the game.

Ten Ton Hammer: Character creation has always been an important part of the new player experience in MMOGs, yet Korean-made MMOGs are notorious for not allowing players many options when they’re first creating their characters. Will Aion continue along the same path as its Korean brethren? Or will we see a shift to a more detail oriented character creation system where players can truly adjust every part of the way they look?

Charles: We think you will find Aion to be a departure from other titles developed overseas in many ways and the Aion character creation process is just one of them.  Creation is very detailed; players can change a wide variety of both facial and body features.  There are body customization sliders allowing for a wide range of height, weight and build.

Facial customization is even more detailed with options for different underlying bone structures per gender and more facial sliders.  The creation process also allows a player to preview their character’s appearance in three different equipment styles: basic, mid-level and high-end gear.

All in all, it is possible to create a unique looking character with little effort.

Ten Ton Hammer: Advancement is another key portion of massively multiplayer games. How will players progress in Aion? With the PvPvE system, will players be able to earn experience through PvP battles with the other races?

Charles: Character advancement is not limited to killing massive amounts of monsters in the wild; Aion is far from being a grind game.  Completing missions and quests help advance a character’s level while providing immersion in the rich game lore as does defeating any NPCs that join in a Player versus Player (PvP) battle as a result of the Player versus Player versus Environment (PvPvE) feature.  While PvP itself does not provide experience points for leveling, it does grant access to better gear as well as titles that give game play bonuses.

Character advancement in Aion isn't all about killing massive amounts of monsters. It's not a grind game.

Ten Ton Hammer: Although there are only four introductory character classes in Aion, players will eventually be able to choose a specialized class at level 10. Why did the Aion developers decide to go this route rather than simply allowing players to choose their class right from the beginning of the game?

Charles: Rather than force a player to make too many decisions at the beginning of the game and potentially lock a character into a class at the onset, the development team decided to give players a chance to experience the early stages of the game first.  Hopefully, this will reduce the number of times a player has to recreate a character.

Also, level 10 is the first major milestone in a character’s development; this is the point where the character ascends to divine status.  In addition to traveling to the character’s faction capital and being able to fly for the first time, picking the class specialization at this point reinforces the game’s lore.

Ten Ton Hammer: The most unique feature in Aion is the novel aerial combat system. Will players be able to adjust to the idea of facing combatants that are attacking from any angle? How will players on the ground be able to defend themselves from aerial based PvPers?

Charles: The flight system isn’t just limited to PvP, there are high end mobs that will take both tactics, strategic planning and an aerial assault to defeat.  Aion’s players will be able to adapt, missions are available to help introduce players to flight mechanics.  Later missions will further develop a player’s flight skills, preparing him for later PvP and Faction versus Faction combat.

Players will have to use both skills and ranged weapons to be effective in aerial PvP.  A wide variety of attacks and debuffs that can bring an aerial target to the ground are also available to classes without a class primary ranged weapon.

Flight will play a major part of the Aion experience, both in and out of combat.

Ten Ton Hammer: In general, NCsoft has had a varied approach to official message boards. While some games – like Lineage II – have had official forums, others have not. Will we see official forums for Aion? If so, when might they appear?

Charles: The decision of whether to have forums hosted on the official site or to designate a fan portal’s message board as the official forum presence has not been made yet.  In either case, an announcement should be forthcoming before the end of the year.

Ten Ton Hammer: For the last few years, the media around Aion has been typically focused on the amazing graphics in the game. That said, the game play obviously is the fundamental factor that will make gamers continue playing. What sort of combat system will we see in Aion? Will it be the typical hot-key ability type of combat, or will it be a faster paced type of action that we’re just now beginning to see in other MMOGs?

Charles: The game plays just as good as it looks.  Hot-keys will make up the majority of target engagement and party assistance; skill chains provide even more depth and the flight feature will introduce a new element to the already robust game play.  Even this far out from the projected 2009 release, Aion already looks like a complete and polished product.

Ten Ton Hammer: Alternate avenues of advancement are also an important part in MMO gaming. Players often want different types of activities to enjoy; what sort of activities will players be engaging in? Will there be crafting? Sieging? Arena combat? Social-oriented activities?

Charles: Players will be able to participate in all the activities you mentioned.  Crafting and mercantile interaction will be available in the early stages of game play; players can participate in arena combat shortly after their character’s ascension.  Siege combat in the Abyss is limited to characters in their mid-twenties or higher.  Players will have areas where they can interact with each other and a wide variety of emotes.  Just as NCsoft will host events for the players, we are sure the Aion community will also hold player generated events and activities.

Aion was created for an international audience.

Ten Ton Hammer: In your opinion, what’s the most intriguing portion of Aion: Tower of Eternity? How is it going to set itself apart from the rest of the MMOG crowd?

Charles: Aion is being developed for a truly international player base with game play elements that appeal to both Eastern and Western play styles.  The entire package is a unique blending of these elements and this combination is not only what we believe to be the most intriguing, but also what will make Aion stand out from the rest.

Ten Ton Hammer: Is there anything else you’d like to tell the Ten Ton Hammer readers and Aion fans?

Charles: If you want a chance to play Aion and sign up for the Exclusive Preview events to be held in the future, the Penny Arcade Expo will be the place to be this year.

Ten Ton Hammer: We’ll be there!