Need a bit of advice/help with a new game.

[Tygamoon]

So I've got this birthday coming up. Hun wants to get me the celestial steed (Ive moaned about lack of Pegasuses for years haha) and I still kinda want to try out Aion. Now that Aion has a reduced price I was thinking of going for it but if I were to do that I'd miss out on the mount. I'd really hate to drop $30 on something I might not like. Dose Aion have a trial that I could try or am I outa luck?

[Mania]

My husband has an Aion account and seems to like it. More to the point, he can send you a trial key. (If you end up buying the game, he gets a free month. That's not the point, though -- I just thought you might want a trial key.) Shall I send you one?

[Tygamoon]

That would be lovely! Now.. how do I receive this trial key?

[Mania]

Is the e-mail you use here correct? As admin, I can see it and send the key there.

[Tygamoon]

Oh yes, it is. I had to make sure I remembered the password but I got it thanks so much.

[Rhyela]

I've played Aion and while I like it, there's something about WoW that keeps me coming back. I will say that Aion is not WoW. When a mob is elite, it's freaking ELITE (unless they've changed that recently). Leveling can be slow and tedious, especially when you get new skills every three or four levels instead of every two (and leveling in and of itself is a bit slower once you get around 20). Rangers are not hunters and start out with minimal skills that almost make you feel like a rogue with a bow. Last time I played, professions are difficult to level as they require tons of time and money.

HOWEVER, all that aside, the game itself is really fun. I love the combat and the visuals. Flying is unbelievably fun. The professions give you a chance at an improved item. Take for instance a gun in WoW's engineering. Without fail, you will make this green-rarity gun. In Aion, at the very least you will make the green-rarity gun (if you don't fail, that is - and yes, you CAN fail at making something and lose your mats), but if you're lucky, you have a chance to create a blue-rarity gun for the same mats as the green. It's really cool (but also can be frustrating). PvP doesn't depend on gear as much unless you're severely out-leveled. A few twenties can easily take down a couple thirties (oh and btw, you cannot see the opposite faction's level, only their name and rank). Groups matter much more in Aion if you're going to be questing in contested or elite zones. Rifts spawn (portals into the opposite faction's zones), but you're warned ahead of time, in case you're not in the mood for PvP.

All in all, I'd say it's a very entertaining game, but be aware that it does have its flaws that will either make it or break it for some people.

A few months ago I watched a sneak peek of upcoming changes called "Aion Vision" (or something along those lines) and I must say, that has me eager to try it out again. I've had my subscription just sitting around unused for a couple months to play WoW again, but Aion's one of those things I hop to when I'm totally bored with WoW (which is where I'm getting to lately, can't wait for Cata so LK seems so bleh). In fact, I may hop on Aion again tonight.....

[Tygamoon]

Thanks for the insight Rhyela. I figured that if I did pick it up to play long term I would just forgo professions all together till much later. I know in just about every mmo that I have played they were nothing but a time and gold sink.
I do enjoy playing my paladin in wow so I was thinking of taking on a templar. I know a ranger would be very different from the hunter but this one gear set I saw just made me drool! I needs that set....
As to the pvp, if it is as entertaining as it was in Warhammer then I might just stay with it. Wows pvp makes me an angry person in RL and that just isn't good with small children home with me.
I finally tamed Krush and Loq, just about got my Huns retired mage the insane title. I need a change
Thanks agine Mania!

[Mania]

My pleasure. Let us know how it goes.

[Dragonpuff]

I played Aion for a couple months when it first came out, and the biggest downer was all the Kinah Sellers. I think it's called Kinah anyway, if my memory serves... Eitherway, it's the equivalent to WoW gold. Back then, the devs hadn't quite figured out how to effectively lock out the sellers yet, so it was very irritating. I don't know if they've fixed the problem to date though.

The character creation in the game is really amazing, as are the visuals and soundtrack. While there is a Ranger class, the closer thing to a WoW Hunter is the Spirit Master, though, it's more like a Warlock then a Hunter. It's the class with pets anyway. I had ALOT of fun with the SM class. It's flashy and fun and you get a pet! You get four types of pets that serve different functions, two of which you learn from your trainer and the other two you need to find a book drop to learn.

If you do want to try the professions, the best/cheapest way to level is to take the little 'quests' the trainers offer. They provide half the mats for what they need, and the rest are vendor items. Buying those items will eventually get pricey, but believe me, it's a lot cheaper then making leveling it on your own.

[Saturo]

Hmm... Aion, ey...
The lack of a trial made me not want it, since I wasn't to keen on spending 50€ on something I may or may not enjoy. Ah well, I heard flying was overrated too. Still...

[Saturo]

Just got an invite. Thanks Mania, tough I didn't really ask for one.

EDIT: Also, that ain't my main e-mail. I use a fake one to sign up on forums to avoid the inevitable "New PM-Spam". The haiku one is my main.

[Epicfail]

Aion looks real pretty, but I just can't get into the whole "grinding games". DAOC was nothing but grinding but it was my first real MMO, so I was naive. I played Lineage 2 years back and I swore off the genre completely. Then I played Ragnarok Online (ZOMG CUTE! KILL EET! >_<) and a few months later again swore off grind games. Wow was kind of a happy halfway point as I COULD grind if I felt lazy or I could quest. Then it became quest grinding, which is a hell of a lot more interesting than kill, loot, rinse, repeat... If Aion ever developed into a solid well rounded game like WoW, I could be tempted...

Now I play the epidemy of grindless games... Eve. It still has a lot of do with how much time you put into the game, but thankfully, its real time based skill advancement so "dailies" consist of logging in, filling the 24hr skill Queue with skills I need to advance and logging off. One day, I'll attempt to get Galente Battleship to V... takes about a month... maybe take a cruise or some vacation to pass the time... whew... tough grind there

[Saturo]

I'd get the attributetalents first, along with learning to V. Also remember to get good implants.

I made a "gnome" mage.

[Ryno]

good implants.

Quoted just because you know what I thought of when I read it.

Never played Aion, I looked up some things about it awhile back. Not really tempted to play, mostly because my graphics card is already dragging the ground carrying WoW, and I can't exactly afford a new one, so I really try to not get excited about new games for the PC.

[Rhyela]

I played Aion for a couple months when it first came out, and the biggest downer was all the Kinah Sellers. I think it's called Kinah anyway, if my memory serves... Eitherway, it's the equivalent to WoW gold. Back then, the devs hadn't quite figured out how to effectively lock out the sellers yet, so it was very irritating. I don't know if they've fixed the problem to date though.

They have fixed the Kinah sellers, last time I played there were hardly any. I'd say no more or less than what WoW has now. This also means the population in general and the amount of bots has gone down a lot, too. Ever since they fixed that, the game became much more enjoyable. Now all they need to do is make the fluxes have a greater drop rate and we'll be good.

And honestly, I didn't feel it was really too much of a grind. More than WoW? - yes. Painfully slow? - not so much. They have even pumped up the amount of xp from quests, and sometimes they have double (or even triple?) xp weekends. The game really is coming along quite nicely and to be honest, I'm not sure why I haven't played it in a while. Guess I have a hard time doing too many things at once.

[Mania]

My husband has a couple of those invites, and he hasn't been using them. So if anyone else wants one let me know.

Does it matter which e-mail I sent it to? If so, I can re-send, I think. (I wondered why it didn't look familiar. And you know I'd never spam you, but I don't blame you -- this forum is probably slightly less secure than my own sites in those terms.)

[Saturo]

Preferably to Saturic, I'm less likely to read the other one. And the spam is the stuff all phpBB forums send out, the "Subscribed to this", "New PM from taht guy"... You know...

[Saturo]

I just love the amount of customization this game offers. Just posting a picture of my gnomish mage. Well, sort of gnomish...

[Vephriel]

I honestly wouldn't mind trying this game out just to see the customization. I've always loved playing around with stuff like that, even if I never play the game afterwards.

[Rhyela]

:3 Here's a couple pics of my gladiator. I had played the beta so I knew what I wanted her to look like ahead of time. (Asmodians ftw!!!)