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Post by Morreion on Sept 20, 2009 19:40:28 GMT -5
Waited for ~4 hours in a queue to get in (ouch!), then was in for around an hour or so before getting disconnected. Back in a 2-hour queue now... When I was in-game, things went smooth- FPS was good, just a little lag a couple of times. The interface was intuitive, l-clicking and r-clicking will get plenty of things done. There's no global cooldown on special abilities, which is nice. The graphics remind me of a stylized WoW landscape with realistic characters. The mobs/critters look very...Asian. Sort of like Pokemon-style cutesy things. Not so thrilled with that, I'd rather they look a bit more...threatening. Animations and body language of one's character seems to be good. There are 2 dozen or so emote icons that you can add to your quickbars- very handy. Don't forget to put the rest and loot icons on your bar. As a Scout, I got a first aid type ability right from the start- handy for those non-healers out there. It requires bandages that you can buy. Collecting stuff earns you regular experience, nice! Don't forget to visit your trainer to buy skill books to learn new skills. Here's a picture of my Scout: |
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Post by Morreion on Sept 21, 2009 8:11:23 GMT -5
No queue this morning- I'm happy with the great FPS and general solid performance of the game. My Scout has dual-wield now, as you can see in the above picture. Lots of quests to do. Going into rest mode (sitting on the ground) regenerates your hit points pretty fast, at least at this level. I assume you're vulnerable in this mode. Having the first aid skill (remember to buy bandages at the general vendor!) is handy too. One thing I noticed is that a good amount of players will go afk in personal shop mode (turning their character into a vendor to offer stuff to sell). This is encouraged by game queues I'm sure. There's nothing ground-breaking about the game so far, you do lots of quests as you travel along a path that everyone else does, but it does this approach well from what I can see. There's a definite Asian feel to the game. And just in case you were wondering- yes, general chat is the usual stupidity. And of course since Lumiel is an unofficial RP server, a good amount of people don't know that, and so RP becomes the topic of (often lame) conversation. And though I've seen some good creative names, there are also the Killerklowns and such. I'm playing Elendion the Scout as my 'play at your own pace' character. Morreion the Healer has yet to appear in Atreia- I'll be playing him with friends as a more group-oriented character. |
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Post by EchoVamper on Sept 21, 2009 9:23:19 GMT -5
Managed to get logged in late last night when the queues abated a bit. Gameplay was surprisingly smooth for a roll out day. I was impressed. It does have an Asian feel and the soft, cuddly mobs that Morreion referred to in his impressions. So far I think the graphics are a nice blend of state of the art detail and game play friendliness.
The pace is pretty comfortable. The personal shops dotting the starter city give the whole place a kind of Renaissance feel, a kind of "shire-like" aura. I didn't group up with anyone, since it was quite late and I didn't have much time. There were a lot of people bustling around; probably doing the same thing I was ... familiarizing.
The interface is intuitive. I liked the way chained skills unfold (the interface queues the next skill in the chain on the same quickbar slot) and I like the looting and gathering system (click on the icon on your quickbar). I was playing a Templar (named Paradis) and I did like the animations associated with combat skills quite a bit.
Overall, it was a positive experience for the typical hectic first day. I wasn't really put off by the long queues that much. I appreciated what I thought NCSoft was doing with that (managing the player density in the starter areas). Once in game, the experience was amazingly good for a launch, and I think that was what NCSoft was trying for...a wise choice IMO.
I'll be logging on later this evening...then have a couple of days of work related travel. Looking forward to grouping up a bit and seeing how that goes.
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Post by ariesel on Sept 21, 2009 9:38:21 GMT -5
Hubby and I got in a little after 3pm. Our original plan was to try and play around with a couple of our character duos, but once we were in with the mains, we were afraid to log off!  No lag, yay. Not too much ninja-ing going on, although Grig got laughed at a couple times when we invited others to join for the Scar wolf quest and such. But that won't last too long, I feel. The players that did join us were nice and appreciated the attempt to share. I definitely tuned out channels 1 and after awhile 3 in my chat window. I really hope NCSoft sticks to their guns about banning players for sexual and racist conversations, because there were unfortunately a few last night. Going to get on some time today and create a couple alts. Grigorian and Maiya are 10 and in Sanctum now. I love the Aion character page, even if they have a few bugs to work out! We'll hopefully see some of you in game! Ari |
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Post by EchoVamper on Sept 21, 2009 14:09:11 GMT -5
Grabbed a few minutes at lunch to log in. Will be angling for some online time tonight, but not sure when I can break away for it. Two characters active at this point (holding off on any others for now):
Matreya (Chanter) - Level 5 now, intended to be my main; I'm thinking about a reprise of Kalyce, with possibly a couple of new twists. She'll be a support character with a mean streak; intended for grouping primarily.
Paradis (Templar) - This character will likely be, as Morreion puts it, a "play as you go" character for down times, exploration, and strategic use.
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Post by Morreion on Sept 21, 2009 21:10:12 GMT -5
Let us know how the Chanter plays, Echo. I'm trying to resist the urge to roll one up and find out *laughs* I promised I wouldn't go crazy and burn out on alts this time around!  |
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Post by EchoVamper on Sept 25, 2009 8:59:55 GMT -5
LOL, yea...I'm trying to hold the line too. I've been trying to keep it low key and not get in too much of a hurry. I think I've held the line on characters to three for now. Looking forward to Chanter though.
Paradis (Templar to be) who has been quite fun to play as a Warrior.
Khelfaer and Matreya are Priests and I imagine them being an Enchanter and a Cleric respectively.
I hope to get Khelfaer (and maybe Paradis too) ascended this weekend (maybe even tonight) and we'll go from there. For me the Priest class has been a safer and easier leveling class than the Warrior class so far. The heals are great and they integrate well with the damage spells. For me, I think the subclasses of Chanter and Templar will be a good fit...I'll either be supporting or protecting my groupmates.
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