Introducing Aion, for the Wowheads out there.

This is my first public blog.

Or maybe the more accurate description would be blog with a purpose. But maybe I should introduce myself first: I am a girl gamer in her mid-twenties whose mostly been playing the MMO World of Warcraft during the last few years. And even though this blog will focus on a different, new MMO, you guys deserve to know where I'm coming from, because my target audience comes from this game.

As you read this, we WoW gamers are twirling our thumbs waiting for the 3.2 patch. At least, I am. My guild has been farming Yogg Saron for a while (server first, thank you), and while we are (were?) positioned to be the server-first kill of Algalon, summer has brutalized our ranks and left our raid... wait, what raid? OH. There is barely a raid left! Does this scenerio sound somewhat familiar? I'd like to know how many people are in the same situation. This blog is created for the Wow gamer who is looking for a little excitement in their MMO's again. As I said, this is my first blog, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them. Without further adieu, let me introduce you to Aion.


So... I'm a little burned out with my current game of choice. My Fix? A few months ago I saw a beautiful trailer for a game called Aion. This is a Korean MMO (brand new to the western world) brought to us by NCSoft (responsible for such games as Lineage, Lineage II, Guild Wars, and City of Heroes). Aion introduces us to the celestial wartorn world of Atriea, and when the game debuts on the North American market on September 22, 2009 you can jump in as an Elyos (an angelic looking breed) or an Asmodian (a demonic looking breed). Neither side is 'good' or 'evil'. In fact, they were once the same race; they have been radically evolved over thousands of years, adapting to the part of the planet where their ancestor's survived a great cataclysmic event.

I decided to go out on a limb and try for something exciting, so I pre-ordered the collector's edition from Amazon.com. One of the pre-order perks is access to the closed beta events (VIP, anyone?) along with a bunch of goodies:

All pre-orders come with the following:

• Access to Aion Beta features:
• Early head-start access to Aion live game [48 hours of powerleveling!]
  
• Access to Aion server and character pre-selection ["I dub thee Nemo.. er.. Neo.."]
  
• In-game items available after the game releases:
• The Ancient Ring of Earth (exclusive to Amazon.com)
• The Black Cloud Helmet (stat boost)
• The Lodas Amulet (XP boost)
• Beta Event access for the following dates:
• June 19-21 (explore the Elyos race and select zones)
• July 3-5 (explore the Asmodian race and select zones)
• July 17-20 (explore the Asmodian race and select zones)
• July 31-Aug. 3 (explore the Elyos race and select zones)
• August 14-17 (explore both races & the abyss)

This blog is going to be my experiment on how well I can grasp this new game, and to see if I can give you, the reader, a factual guide or answer to help you on your way in Aion. It helps if you are familiar with World of Warcraft, because I'll be referencing it a lot. For now, I invite you to check out the video (High Def, people!). I am beginning the Aion Closed Beta tomorrow. I'll see if I can put up some footage!