An Eye on the Competition

Writer: Lunais Editor: Syani

With Aion’s NA/EU release getting closer - being estimated at sometime within the first half of next year (with closed betas expected this year) – a large amount of Aion’s success or failure in the western market will be decided in the coming months with the actions of its competitors. In the highly saturated Western market for MMORPGs, the release of any new product needs to make a strong impact upon release to get widespread recognition. For this article I’ll take a look at some of the big upcoming titles for the MMORPG market due to be released soon and give my totally relevant and important opinion on whether or not they have what it takes to thrive, and what effects they will have on Aion. For the sake of my sanity (or what’s left of it) I’ll concentrate on the big players: Age of Conan (AoC), Warhammer Online (WAR) and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (WotLK).

First off, the already released Age of Conan. Not a day goes by where I don’t hear some horrific detail about how awful this game is supposedly meant to be: Negative comments being conveniently wiped from the official forums, billing issues leading to customers being charged against their will, a lack of content at higher levels, Funcom employees eating babies, severe bugs still present in the game despite being released to retail, fabricated reports of subscribership numbers, graphical issues that plague game performance on different settings, terrible class balance (or should I say lack thereof), terrible attempts to fix said class imbalance, missing PvP gameplay that was supposed to be a big feature – I could actually go on but I think you may have caught the gist.

I don’t think all of this is necessarily the 100% truth, but it might be that the biggest problem with this game is that it seems to have been released just a little teeny-weeny bit too early. I feel bad for Funcom – consumers push for games to come out faster and faster, their impatience rising with every moment, and when they do decide to release the game (after two separate delays announced during 2008) they are told that it is not done yet and to take it back. Difficult to win, huh? I get the sneaking suspicion that some of the mass negativity surrounding AoC is in fact just the wheels turning on the typical MMO life-cycle, as many people try out the new game on the block (possibly because they are bored of grinding BGs in WoW) and then a large amount coldly pack their bags and leave again, which gives you the remaining players - or in my opinion the ‘true subscriber amount’.

Personally I believe AoC’s premature release has weakened the longevity of the product, and by the time 2009 comes around, where it will have become largely obscured by the bigger and better releases, I can see it settling into subscription numbers somewhat similar to the 150k active Lord of the Rings Online accounts.

WAR. What is it good for? PvP apparently. Initially I couldn’t help but think “WoW clone” -Dwarves, Orcs, Elves, Dark Elves …this game is really pushing the boundaries. Doesn’t help that it seems to be going for the ‘multiple races that have allied with each other to form two factions’ route, either. Hmm.

WAR seems to be trying to go for some sort of PvP-orientated spin on WoW, which to be fair isn’t necessarily a bad idea - except from a creativity point of view. WoW seems to have introduced a lot of new players to MMORPGs, and more recently those new players have gotten a taste of some PvP. Many people in WoW now seem to like PvP quite a lot (whilst simultaneously hating it with every fiber of their being, funny that) but WoW doesn’t really have much in the way of L2 style castle sieges or some sort of persistent area which gives purpose to PvP, it’s all a bit detached like the service at a McDonalds Drive-Thru. WAR is trying to change that with this ‘RvR’ system they’ve been talking about. Basically different ‘tiers’ of conflict are present in all areas with all different kinds of actions (including some PvE) effecting the outcome - with the grand prize being some degree of control over the enemy race’s capital city. That’s all very well and good but it’s ended up being too ambitious a project for their current time constraints. They’ve recently taken out four cities and four classes from the game, and they’re meant to be releasing WAR in a couple of months (which should be roughly when WotLK is released by the by). That’s a lot of work that should have already been done (to some extent) to be dropped out of release.

Personally I am expecting either a delay or a less than perfect release. Not only that, but will it really all matter if the colossus that is WoW releases its latest expansion at the same time? Regardless, I still think WAR could be a bit of a dark horse, and could impact Aion quite negatively. The RvR of WAR actually makes Aion’s Abyss PvP look a bit plain and simple, and there’s no denying the fact that PvP is meant to be a big factor in people picking up these games and playing them. Aion is going to need a lot of polish and flair to stand up to the extensive yet slightly rough-around-the-edges PvP offered by WAR.

Last but not least (far from it) is Wrath of the Lich King. This game is bad news for Aion (and pretty much everything else) if it can dominate people’s attention for long enough. The good thing is that we have a few months (hopefully) from WotLK’s release before Aion will be granted upon us, by which time the hype should have died down enough for Aion to hopefully, have its time in the limelight. People in WoW right now seem to be getting a little fed up (probably why WotLK has been scheduled for release quite soon) and with all these new MMOs coming out I suspect WotLK may not be quite as successful as The Burning Crusade…Of course it’ll still sell like hotcakes, though. I don’t know how Blizzard are doing it but they should really stop succeeding at the whole ‘world domination’ thing, it’s really becoming quite inconvenient.

But will Aion be able to rip people away from WoW with all the new expansion content? Personally I believe Aion’s Asian style may not be quite as effective at poaching players from Blizzard as say, WAR will be – but Final Fantasy XI is another story.

In my past experience with the FFXI playerbase their players are hard to sway, however, when Phantasy Star Universe, another online game with a predominantly ‘Asian theme’ to it came out, there seemed to be quite a lot of interest. Of course PSU sucked and everyone went back to FFXI, but it shows that FFXI players may be willing to make the jump for a quality MMO with Asian influences – good news for Aion indeed. FFXI was pretty successful in the Western market and if Aion can use this to its advantage we may see Aion getting some pretty nice subscription numbers. Here’s hoping.

In this issue of the Noble Phantasm Chronicle, I was chosen as the Spotlight Artist for one of my poems. Ryn, last issue’s artist, decided that this poem was worthy of such praise and so I humbly accepted the offer to have it published. Though I’m fairly new to writing poetry, all of my poems have been inspired by past experiences. With this poem, I was up late one night thinking about my childhood and how my perception of life has changed since then. Basically, it’s about growing up. Without further ado, I present to you my work. Enjoy!

~Delthis

My Happy Ever After

Writer: Delthis

With trembling hands, I hold this mirror.

Bloodshot eyes glare back at me.

Tears smudge the image of someone I once knew.

My childhood seeming nothing more than a dream,

Believing fairy tales were reality,

Everything ending happily ever after.

This dream protecting me from the cruel truth.

Betrayed by close ones,

Rejection from the cold-hearted,

Seclusion from the world,

All providers of clarity.

Countless nights spent pondering my purpose.

What’s my meaning in life? To wander hopelessly?

Is this all I’m meant for? To be alone?

Am I being punished? What for?

All questions flow through my mind.

My life now spent seeking answers…

Kattrina’s Interview

Writer: Syani Editor: Ancaladar

Syani: How did you find Aion?

Kattrina: Hahaha, well… a while after I had sworn off ever playing an MMO again after WoW, I was driving and while my mind was wandering, I was thinking, “How cool would it be if there was an MMO with last names? And I could name myself something corny like, Kattrina the Seraph of Salvation. Oh! Theron could be, Theron the Seraph of Retribution. Our legion of Kattrina could be a legion of Seraphs. How cool would that be?” So, I go home and I go to MMORPG.com even though I’d sworn off ever visiting that site, but I thought, “It’s just to check.” On the #3 most anticipated games’ list there was Aion, “That’s a pretty cool name,” I thought. I click it and start reading, just to see if they allowed last names and wow, I started falling in love. You don’t have to name yourself after a Seraph, you can be one! The graphics were stunning, the gameplay seemed amazing, the PvP aspect seemed intense I fell in love, and told all my friends about it, who’d also sworn off MMOs with me, and we all immediately decided Aion was the one, The perfect game! The one game to rule them all!

Sy: What are you most looking forward to aesthetically and gameplay wise?

Katt: x_x Um… hawt girls? XD. The most interesting feature for me in the gameplay is going to be the siege based PvP aspect. I played a game called Shadowbane as one of my first MMOs, and it was a game where you could build, manage, upgrade, and defend your own stronghold as well as siege others. The problem is that the game was immensely buggy and lacked any other content besides just that, the graphics were terrible and my character was butt ugly. Since then, I’ve always been wishing they’d come out with a fixed version, some game with siege gameplay that wasn’t a horrid game in all other areas. When I found Aion, and saw it offered immense siege based combat, but also has incredible character models, environments, dungeon content, and gameplay I was star struck.

Sy: How have you enjoyed Rohan so far? And how do you feel it has benefitted the legion to play together?

Katt: Rohan has really shocked me. For the past nine years, I’ve only played P2P games. Rohan is my first F2P game and I have to say I’m very impressed. It’s no Aion, but the graphics are nice, the gameplay is fun, and the combat is pretty exciting. I’m really happy that so many members of Noble Phantasm have chosen to play as well of course, because it’s not Aion, Rohan participation is optional. It’s really brought many of our guild members together and allowed us to interact with each other on a better level. We’ve been able to see how we handle working together, we’ve been able to gain an excuse to talk on vent a lot more, and have overall just become a closer community

Sy: Which of the Aion classes reflects your personality the best? And are you actually playing that class?

Katt: Oh man… here comes another: let’s rofl at Katt question! ^^ I think a cleric really fits my personality the best; I’ve always been a team player. I don’t want to do anything that doesn’t help my teammates I want the ability to take care of my friends and I think the cleric fits that role perfectly. x_x That and I’m a carebear and hate PvP… so just healing people instead of hurting secksy Asmodians I want to make out with is better for me… But you dun have to add that in. Why do I hate PvP and think the siege combat is the best aspect of Aion? I dunno… I’m a psychopath I’m pretty sure

Sy: Were you surprised by how well-known Noble Phantasm has gotten?

Katt: O_O omgosh yes! When I started Noble Phantasm, I was pretty sure that we’d be a small group. I was thinking, “Who actually wants a casual family friendly environment with high end raiding.” After playing World of Warcraft long enough, especially on my server, I had concluded that anyone who wanted a family environment didn’t have time to play and anyone who wanted to raid high end material is obviously a hardcore, less-than-eloquent machine. Nonetheless, I couldn’t have fun in Aion if I wasn’t in a good solid guild with friendly people who all sought to attempt end game content, that’s why I made Noble Phantasm, willing to roll with whatever I got.

Sy: Did the rate at which we grew surprise you at all?

Katt: It’s funny; I estimated that Noble Phantasm might have 30 members tops by the time Aion was released and just “maybe” 70 members after 3 months of the game being released. O_O now we have 76 members in our guild several months before release ^^ and, what’s amazing, is that every single one of them is incredibly friendly and fun to hang around.

Sy: Aside from gaming what else do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Katt: I’m currently a student of the White Dragon School for Choy Li Fut Kung Fu of Encinitas. I’m a big fan of martial arts, and I enjoy watching Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events like the UFC.

Sy: Recently in Noble Phantasm there was a switch in officers and you took on the responsibility of guild leader, how has this altered your view on the bigger picture if at all?

Katt: o_O Um… I planned this hostile takeover from the start. Today, Noble Phantasm, tomorrow, the world! Unfortunately, Nikias, one of the founders of Noble Phantasm, found himself way too bogged down with full time work, full time school, and real life issues, for that reason he felt he needed to back down from his leadership role. This left Noble Phantasm without our Military Strategist and General, and we needed someone else to fill the role. Our guild leader, Ewe, offered to take the job since he has by far, the most experience when it comes to PvP raids, tactics, and events and we decided that if he takes the role, I would fill the role of guild leader since I seemed to have established myself as more the “figurehead” of Noble Phantasm anyway. One of our other officers, Sekine, offered to take care of Luna. It was a little bit of musical chairs for the officers, but I think Noble Phantasm as a whole is really good at rolling with new circumstances. Everything’s been really smooth since then and I’m thankful for how everything turned out.

Sy: How did you come up with the name Kattrina?

Katt: My past names were Xarvik and Seijin. I’d always played male characters until elvaan males in FFXI were so horrible and ugly. After that, and attempting a male night elf and male human in WoW, I swore off ever rolling another male again for the rest of my life, too ugly! So, I went to a baby book, and tried to pick out a name and what’s silly is that I’m only Kattrina because Alexandra was taken on my server. I tried Alexandra first and it was taken but Kattrina was free, so for the next three years, everyone came to know me as Katt. I’m just sticking with the name everyone’s familiar with.

Sy: Is there anything that you would like our readers to know about you?

Katt: Just that I don’t want anyone to think of me as some distant elitist pompous jerk. I actually really enjoy making friends, and I really have fun getting to know people and talking with people. The only thing I dislike about being a guild leader is the “status” which makes some people unwilling to talk to me like a regular person. ^^ I appreciate everyone who’s joined and everyone who’s supported Noble Phantasm. I’m looking forward to playing Aion with everyone! =D

Tylendel, The Great

Writer: Murakumi Editor: Syani

What would you think of if I said Awesome? A cool game? Sweet car? Maybe, but us here at Noble Phantasm think of one thing, Tylendel. The only word to describe him is awesomesauce! He joined us in April of 2008, since then he has been promoted to full member status and been a great member and asset to the guild. Tylendel has provided NP with translated skill lists and descriptions for every class, updates, closed beta info, class stats and attributes, dye and stigma info, along with a wealth of other information, some even not available on Aionsource! Not only that, he’s always so quick with things that we usually get new info before anyone else does. He is fluent in Chinese so the translations weren’t too much of a challenge for him, the skill lists took him around 1-1.5 hours to do each one, other translations varied… Now I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about translating, but that to me sounds pretty darn fast. At one point I asked him, what was your motivation to do all this? His answer? Well, it speaks for itself to tell the kind of person Tylendel is.

“Well, I was reading all that info and decided that since it wouldn’t take me much time, I would just translate all the relevant info so that the legion and other players would be able to get more info and learn about the game that has held the interest of so many people despite its continued delay in release. Besides, I <3 you guys, so I thought that this would be an ideal way to contribute to the legion in my own way.”

We can’t thank him enough for the work he has done, from everyone at Noble Phantasm, we send out a gigantic THANK YOU to Tylendel. ^_^

Since Tylendel is the generous person he is, he has allowed us to post his skill lists, so here they are!

Warrior of Old, Murakumi

Disclaimer:

All information was taken from http://aion.gametsg.com. All translations were done by Tylendel with assistance from Leonheart and Destrado. All information regarding skills is not final and is subject to change as more data is obtained.

Stealth and infiltration, together with the ability to utilize poisoned weapons to carry out sudden attacks, dealing massive damage instantly, the Assassin also has a number of poison and restriction skills, allowing him to interfere with the enemy and deal damage on the battlefield. The swift Assassin has many chain skills, allowing him to deal multiple damage to the enemy. In addition, his special ability of imprinting tattoos allows him to imprint a maximum of a level five tattoo curse on the opponent and then trigger the tattoo as circumstances dictate, turning the enemy unconscious for a long period of time before disappearing in the background, cementing his status as a terrifying killer.

Main Equips

Leather Armour, Single handed sword, Dagger

Secondary Equips

Bow

Special Abilities

Dual Wield - Holds a different single handed weapon in each hand for attack

Increase Magic Defense - Increases magic defense

Emergency: Increase Chance of Critical Hit - When HP is below 50%, chance of critical hit increases

Normal Skills

Focus Evasion - 100% of evading a physical attack successfully (Self)

Stealth Attack - Attacks from back of target, increasing damage (Single)

Infiltrate - Moves without detection for 20 seconds, during this time movement speed is decreased by 40% (Self)

Concentration - Increases physical attack (Self)

Sudden Stab - Attacks target from afar and causes target to be stunned (Single)

Protection of Light - Increases physical evasion for a set time (Self)

Apply Poison - Applies poison on weapon, has 30% chance of poisoning target when attacking target, for a set time (Self)

Power of Wind - Increases one’s movement speed when attacked, for a set time (Self)

Penetrating Powerhit - Increases the chance of critical hit for a set time (Self)

Air Arrest - Hits target into the air and locks target in mid-air (Single)

Serenade of Peace - Decreases enemy’s hate (Single)

Ambush - Attacks from back of target, causing massive damage and stunning target (Single)

Increase Killing Mentality - Increases damage done by physical skills for a set time (Self)

Observe Enemy - Allows one to spot any targets using ‘infiltrate’ for a minute (Self)

Wind Knife - Evades and attacks surrounding targets (AoE)

Wind Formation - Higher level infiltration skill unable to be spotted by “Observe Enemy” (Self)

Wounding Knife - Attacks target and poisons target (Single)

Blinding Explosion - Attacks surrounding targets and causes them to be blinded (AoE)

Sudden Powerhit - Attacks and poisons a target and causes target’s evasion to fall (Single)

Poison Knife - Attacks and poisons a target, continuous attack can increase poison damage (Single)

Evil Thoughts - Increases chance of critical hit (Self)

Dimensional Shadow - Enemy is unable to attack self for a short time (Self)

Chain Skills

Fast Stab - Does a physical attack to target (Single); Hurtful Stab - Does a physical attack to target and causes stun (Single)

Imprint Tattoo - Attacks target, has chance of imprinting tattoo on target, can reach a maximum of level three (Single); Shackle Imprint - Attacks target, has chance of imprinting tattoo on target, can reach a maximum of level four (Single)

Beast Roar - Attacks target, has chance of imprinting tattoo on target, can reach a maximum of level five (Single); Beast Iron Hooves - Attacks target, has chance of imprinting tattoo on target, can reach a maximum of level five (Single); Tiger Hit- Attacks target, has chance of imprinting tattoo on target, can reach a maximum of level five (Single); Tiger Claws- Attacks target, has chance of imprinting tattoo on target, can reach a maximum of level five (Single); Tiger Fists- Attacks target, has chance of imprinting tattoo on target, can reach a maximum of level five (Single)

Situational Skills

Knockdown - Attacks a target that is bound in mid-air and causes damage to target (Single)

Whirlwind Stab - Does a counterattack after a weapon block (Single)

Counterattack - Does a counterattack after evading an attack and causes target to be stunned (Single)

Tattoo Burst - Triggers and removes a level four imprint on target and stuns target in the process (Single)

Tattoo Silence - Triggers and removes a level five imprint on target and silences target in the process (Single)

Tattoo Fallen Attack - Triggers and removes a level five imprint on target and causes target to fall down (Single)

The role for a healer, simply put is to restore health, aside from providing support in terms of healing and resurrection, he can also provide some defensive buffs. In addition, the healer also has battle capabilities. Obviously, healing is the special characteristic of a cleric but when he is not required to do so, the cleric also has an interesting battle ability. He can communicate with nature, summoning a special crystal derived from elemental sources, aiding his battle capabilities to a certain extent, much rather like setting up an automatic mechanical cannon on the battlefield prior to battling with the enemy. As such, with attacks from two sources battling a single enemy, this will bolster the cleric’s weak battle capabilities.

Main Equips

Robes, Single handed blunt weapon, Shield

Secondary Equips

Leather Armour, Plate Armour, Staff (Double handed)

Special Abilities

Strengthen Healing - Increase effect of heals

Block Attack - Increases resistance to falling down or being sent flying by an attack

Decrease Hate - Decrease amount of hate generated by an attack

Normal Skills

Bless Life - Increases the HP of a target for a set time (Single)

Bless Defense - Increases the physical defense of a target for a set time (Single)

Contract of Wind - Increases the critical damage done by one’s attacks for a set time (Self)

Light of Resurrection - Resurrects target (Single)

Bind - Causes target to be unable to move (Single)

Ultimate Defense - Allows one to take a set amount of damage from enemies without decreasing one’s HP for a set time (Self)

Light of Rebirth - Heals party members instantly and increases their HP regeneration for a set time (Party)

Purify - Removes all (physical?) debuffs on a target (Single)

Flash - Causes target to be blinded (Single)

Wind of Healing - Instantly heals all party members (Party)

Summon: Divine Power - Summons a divine power to aid in one’s attack (Summon/Single)

Pilgrimage - Increases one’s magic attack quickly but decreases one’s HP continuously, both for a set time (Self)

Purification - Removes all mental debuffs on a target (Single)

Healing Embrace - Heals target for large amount of HP (Single)

Bless Calm - Decreases target’s hate for self (Self)

Prayer of Strength - Increases the HP and defense of all party members (Party)

Wounding Curse - Damages the target over time and decreases effect of heals on target (Single)

Wind Formation - Increases party members defense to wind and water attacks, while decreasing party members defense to fire and earth attacks for a short time (Party)

Reflect - Reflects damage done by enemy on enemy for a set time (Self)

Wrath of God - Causes surrounding enemies to be damaged by a holy attack (AoE)

Far Heal - Heals target (Single)

Light Formation - Increases party members defense to fire and earth attacks, while decreasing party members defense to wind and water attacks for a short time (Party)

Iron Wall Defense - Absorbs part of enemy damage while increasing effect of heals for a short time (Self)

Lock Intelligence - Increases one’s casting speed for a short time (Self)

Wind of Blessing - For 30 seconds, every time you attack you have a 100% chance of dealing wind damage. (Single)

Summoning Resurrection - Summons a dead party member from afar to self and resurrects them (Single)

Tremor - Allows one to have a chance of stunning the enemy when attacking enemy at near distance (melee possibly) (Self)

Group Instant Heal - Instantly restores HP of all party members (Party)

Summon: Divine Cross - Summons a divine power to aid in one’s attack. During this time, one’s life is continuously decreased. (Summon/Single)

Adjust Magic - Swaps one’s life and magic attack (Self)

Group Resurrection - Resurrects all party members in the area (AoE)

Chain Skills

Revenge of Earth - Earth based continuous attack (Single); Lightning - Wind based continuous attack (Single); Electric Shock - Wind based attack (Single)

Break Guilt Attack - Does a physical attack to a target and decreases target’s attack speed (Single); Lightning Strike - Wind based attack (Single)

Light of Healing - Heals a target (Single); Shield of Defense - Allows target to absorb part of enemy damage for a set time (Single)

A chanter has the ability to cast many buffs to increase the statistics of party members, increasing their battle capabilities. Also, his ability to wear plate armour gives him a substantial defense allowing him to be able to play like a melee character in close combat if he wishes. Simply, a chanter is the equivalent of a battle monk, unlike the weaker buffers in other games. He has a complete set of attacking skills, with his chain skills increasing his attack damage. In terms of support, he is a mix of a buffer and a singer (I’m not too sure exactly what but my guess is a mix of an individual buffer and a party buffer class - refer L2 prophet/warcryer/overlord and swordsinger/bladedancer combination), having songs, chants and blessings that increase the statistics of other players. In parties he is sure to be the most popular as all parties would want buffs to help in battle.

Main Equips

Plate Armour, Staff (Double handed)

Secondary Equips

Robes, Single handed blunt weapon, Shield

Special Abilities

Increase Elemental Resistance - Increases defense against elemental attacks

Increase Chant Radius - Increases the radius of effect of chants

Normal Skills

Bless Life - Increases the HP of a target for a set time (Single)

Bless Defense - Increases the physical defense of a target for a set time (Single)

Contract of Wind - Increases the critical damage done by one’s attacks for a set time (Self)

Light of Resurrection - Resurrects target (Single)

Persist Recovery - Continuously recovers HP over set time (Self)

Chant of Victory - Increases physical attack of party members (AoE)

Binding of Earth - Chance of decreasing enemy’s attack speed when attacking enemy (Self)

Chant of Haste - Increases speed of party members (AoE)

Bless Life (2) - Increases the HP of a target for a set time (Single) [No significant difference noted on the site]

Chant of Defense - Increases shield block rate, weapon block rate and evasion of party members (AoE)

Concentrated Defense - Increases weapon block rate (Self)

Chant of Intelligence - Increases MP recovery rate (AoE)

Chant of Life - Increases HP recovery rate (AoE)

Extinguishing Sound - Attacks surrounding enemies with a soundwave attack (AoE)

Chant of Speed - Increases attack speed of party members (AoE)

Chant of Accuracy - Increases chance of critical hit by party members (AoE)

Song of Concentration - Increases chance of double attack on target when attacking for a set time (Single)

Song of Strength - Increases physical attack of party members for a set time (AoE)

Song of Defense - Increases life, physical and magic defense, elemental resistance, evasion, and weapon and shield block rates of party members for a set time (AoE)

Chant of Resistance - Increases elemental resistance of party members (AoE)

Song of Inspiration – Increases ? attack, magic attack, attack speed and accuracy of party members for a set time (AoE)

Vampiric Song - Allows a party member to recover HP when they attack the enemy for a set time (Single)

Chain Skills

Break Guilt Attack - Does a physical attack to a target and decreases target’s attack speed (Single); Divine Punishment - Attacks enemy with magic, with chance of stunning the enemy (Single)

Break Guilt Attack - Does a physical attack to a target and decreases target’s attack speed (Single); Echo Strike - Does physical attack on target (Single); Thunder Shock - Does physical attack on target (Single); Echo Attack - Does physical attack on target (Single); Echo Force-strike: Does physical attack on target with chance of causing enemy to fall (Single)

Soundwave - Does physical attack on target (Single) [Chain unknown, might be similar to previous one]

Situational Skills

Chasing Hit - Attacks target on ground (Single)

Break Block - Counterattacks enemy after weapon block with chance of causing stun

Situational Chain Skill

Strike of Victory - Does physical attack on target who is stunned (Single); Break Stance - Does physical attack on target and decreases defense of target significantly (Single)

The traditional warrior, armed heavily and compatible with various weapons, the Gladiator is able to utilize a large number of attack skills and is considered a primary attacker in game. He is also the class with the most number of weapon masteries, aside from dual swords and polearms, he is also able to engage in close combat wielding dual short ranged weapons. Possessing many physical attack skills, with many allowing him to knock down or restrict the enemy, together with area of effect attacks and his high health points in heavy armour, make the Gladiator the ideal damage dealer in the battlefield.

Primary Equipment

Heavy Armour, Dual Swords, Polearm

Secondary Equipment

Shield, Single-handed Sword, Dagger, Staff (Double handed)

Class Specific Passive Abilities

Increase Hate by Attack - Increase amount of hate target has for self during attack

Dual Wield - Holds a different single handed weapon in each hand for attack

Strengthen Weapon Block - Increases the chance of weapon block

Emergency: Strengthen Defense - When HP drops below 50%, physical defense will increase.

Rage Explosion - When HP drops below 10%, one can activate the rage attack skill, with a chance of causing target to be stunned.

Normal Skills

Self Shield - Stance, Increases shield defense and resistance to all negative effects (Self)

Provoke - Provokes enemy (Single)

Armour Destruction - Attacks target with a physical attack and decreases target’s defense (Single)

Holy Energy - Sacrifices HP to increase attack (Self)

Shatter Shockwave - AoE physical attack skill (AoE)

Attack Stance - Stance, Increases attack and decreases defense (Self)

Defense Stance - Stance, Increases defense and decreases attack (Self)

Flying Blow - Does physical attack on target from afar (Single)

Whirlwind - AoE physical attack skill that can cause multiple targets to fall to the ground (Aoe)

Strengthen Life - Increases one’s HP for a certain time (Self)

Threatening Roar - Decreases physical attack of surrounding targets (AoE)

Shock of Heaven - Attacks and paralyses surrounding targets (AoE)

Binding Attack - Does physical attack to target and seals all physical attack skills of target (Single)

Agitated Stance - Stance, Increases attack and movement speeds (Self)

Attack of Arrogance - Causes target to be stunned with 100% effectiveness (Single)

Strengthen Body - Recovers HP continuously (Self)

Floating Air Strike - Hits target into the air and locks target in mid-air (Single)

Resistance Stance - Stance, Increases resistance to all negative effects (Self)

Strength - Greatly increases resistance to all negative effects for a certain time (Self)

Chain Skills

Power Strike - Does physical attack on target (Single); Focused Heart - Increases one’s physical attack and ignores part of enemy’s damage (Self)

Power Strike - Does physical attack on target (Single); Focused Heart - Increases one’s physical attack and ignores part of enemy’s damage (Self); Breaking Strike - Does physical attack on target (Single)

Power Strike - Does physical attack on target (Single); Destructive Strike - Does physical attack on target with continuous damage for a set time (Single)

Power Strike - Does physical attack on target (Single); Destructive Strike - Does physical attack on target with continuous damage for a set time (Single); Strike of Fury - Does physical attack on target with chance of causing target to fall to the ground (Single)

Power Strike - Does physical attack on target (Single); Destructive Strike - Does physical attack on target with continuous damage for a set time (Single); Wild Charge - Does physical attack on target with chance of confusing target (Single)

Single Blow - Does physical attack on target with chance of stunning target (Single); Double Blow - Does attack on target from afar, and has chance of increasing period of stun (Single)

Situational Skills

Shield Counterattack - Uses shield to attack target after shield block (Single)

Chase Attack - Attacks target that has fallen on the ground (Single)

Quake Chase Strike - Attacks a faraway target that is stunned and has fallen on the ground (Single)

Impact Strikedown - Attacks a target that is bound in mid-air and causes target to fall to the ground (Single)

Expert at using bow type weapons for ranged attacks, or using daggers for close range combat, or setting traps to distract/affect the enemy, these abilities allow the Ranger to adopt a varied playing style when attacking the enemy. Not all the Ranger’s bow skills are aimed at bringing down the enemy, some are targeted at restricting the enemy. Using both ranged attacks and trap setting abilities skillfully allows the Ranger to restrict his main target with a variety of methods, hence not only acting as a damage dealer in a party but also an effective crowd controller. Also in the battlefield, the Ranger has great observation skills that allow him to track enemy movements and do ranged attacks effectively and is expected to be the main defense against enemy ambushes.

Main Equips

Leather Armour, Bow

Secondary Equips

Single handed sword, Dagger

Special Abilities

Dual Wield - Holds a different single handed weapon in each hand for attack

Weapon Block Strengthen - Increases chance of weapon block

Normal Skills

Focus Evasion - 100% of evading a physical attack successfully (Self)

Stealth Attack - Attacks from back of target, increasing damage (Single)

Infiltrate - Moves without detection for 20 seconds, during this time movement speed is decreased by 40% (Self)

Concentration - Increases physical attack (Self)

Protection of Light - Increases physical evasion for a set time (Self)

Shackling Arrow - Attacks target from afar and decreases speed of target (Single)

Power of Wind - Increases one’s movement speed when attacked, for a set time (Self)

Backstab - Attacks target and causes target to turn unconscious and causes target to turn 180 degrees to have its back facing self (Single)

Serenade of Peace - Decreases enemy’s hate (Single)

Thorny Arrow Formation - Attacks target from afar and causes target’s visibility range to be reduced (Single)

Breath of Nature - Recovers HP continuously for a set time (Self)

Increase Range - Increases range of bow weapons (Self)

Observe Enemy - Allows one to spot any targets using ‘infiltrate’ for a minute (Self)

Erupt Shot - Does physical damage to target at a distance (Single)

Circle of Lightning - AoE bow skill (AoE)

Hard Hitting Stance - On entering stance, attack range increases dramatically (Single)

Whirlpool Tremor - Attacks target from afar and may cause target to bleed or be blinded (Single)

Spread Shot - Does damage to target at a distance (Single)

Rapid Shot - Dramatically increases attack speed for bow weapons for a short time but if attacked, one will be stunned (Self)

Sweeping Shot - Attacks surrounding enemies and does added damage to enemies who are affected by bleed (AoE)

Trap Skills

Sticky Trap - Places a hidden trap that will cause target to be unable to move when triggered (Trap)

Exploding Trap - Places a hidden trap that will cause AoE damage when triggered (Trap)

Thorny Trap - Places a hidden trap that will cause target to bleed when triggered (Trap)

Mine Trap - Places a hidden trap that will cause target to be hit into the air and locked in mid-air when triggered (Trap)

Sandstorm Trap - Places a hidden trap that will cause target to be silenced when triggered (Trap)

Stun Trap - Places a hidden trap that will cause target to be stunned and blinded when triggered (Trap)

Needle Trap - Places a hidden trap that will cause damage to target and binds target when triggered (Trap)

Chain Skills

Fast Stab - Does a physical attack to target (Single); Hurtful Stab - Does a physical attack to target and causes stun (Single)

Hard Hit - Attacks target from afar (Single); Binding Arrow- Attacks target from afar and confuses target (Single)

Power Hit Arrow - Attacks target from afar (Single); Break Soul Arrow - Attacks target from afar and confuses target (Single)

Situational Skills

Counterattack - Does a counterattack after evading an attack and causes target to be stunned (Single)

Freedom Arrow - Attacks a distant target that is bound in mid-air and causes target to fall to the ground (Single)

Summoning the elementals of Wind, Fire, Water and Earth to aid in battle, the Spiritmaster can choose to act as a second warrior or as support for his elementals. Depending on the elemental, one can deal damage to the enemy differently, choosing to deal heavy damage or weaken the enemy and affect its combat ability, allowing for various play styles. The Spiritmaster is a very versatile class due to the ability to summon different elementals, however as the player has to control two characters, it is a little more difficult to control compared to other classes and is very suitable for players who want a challenge.

Main Equips

Robes, Orb

No Secondary Equips

Special Abilities

Increase Curse - Increases the success of curses

Normal Skills

Fiery Sentencing - Attacks target continuously (Single)

Fiery Power-Strike - Does physical attack to target (Single)

Bind - Causes target to be unable to move (Single)

Corrode - Causes target to be damaged continuously (Single)

Iron Warding - Allows barrier to absorb some enemy damage, reducing damage to self for a set time (Self)

Recharge - Recovers a portion of MP (Self)

Summon: Fire Elemental - Summons a fire elemental (Summon)

Command: Threatening Pose - Causes summon to attack a target and increase target’s hate towards it (Summon)

Divine Song - Recovers 70% of MP (Self)

Summon: Wind Elemental - Summons a wind elemental (Summon)

Elemental Strengthen: Recover - Heals summon (Summon)

Remove Buff - Removes a buff from target (Single)

Summon: Earth Elemental - Summons an earth elemental (Summon)

Summon: Water Elemental - Summons a water elemental (Summon)

Spirit Roar - Strikes fear in an enemy and causes it to run away (Single)

Command: Combust - Enables a divine power allowing summon to attack a target, causing elemental damage to the target and decreasing target’s resistance to element of summon. (Summon)

Curse of Courage - Removes some buffs from target and damages target based on the number of buffs removed (Single)

Curse of Fire - Damages the target with fire magic and forcibly transforms target into a fire elemental, increasing target’s fire resistance and decreasing water resistance for this period (Single)

Heaven’s Might - Does divine damage to surrounding enemies (AoE)

Bloodlust - Greatly increases attack speed of summon but decreases HP regeneration of summon (Summon)

Command: Elemental Power - Causes summon to buff itself [Fire - Reflect damage, Wind - Increases speed and evasion, Water - Physical Ultimate Defense, Earth - Magic Ultimate Defense] (Summon)

Curse of Water - Damages the target with water magic and forcibly transforms target into a water elemental, increasing target’s water resistance and decreasing fire resistance for this period (Single)

Group Removal - Removes a buff from each of the surrounding targets (AoE)

Command: Power Combust - Causes summon to unleash an powerful AoE attack [Fire - Fire damage + continuous damage, Wind - Wind damage + bleed, Water - Water damage + silence, Earth - Earth damage + stun] (Summon)

Terrifying Spirit - Strikes fear in surrounding enemies and causes them to run away (AoE)

Chain Skills

Fiery Embers - Attacks a target with fire magic from afar (Single); Explode - Does magic damage to a target (Single)

Ice Shackle - Attacks a target with water magic and reduces target’s speed (Single); Ice Wave - Attacks a target with water magic from afar and may cause confusion (Single)

Summon Wind Strength - Uses strength of wind to damage target (Single); Summon Hurricane Strength - Uses strength of hurricane to damage target (Single)

Earth Bind - Does continuous damage to target and reduces target’s speed (Single); Earthquake - Does damage to target and causes confusion (Single)

Command: Thunder Fury Claws - Increases summon’s physical and magic attack (Summon); Command: Vine Claws - Increases summon’s physical and magic attacks and chance of critical hit (Summon)

Elemental Strengthen: Protect - Increases summon’s physical and magic defense and resistance to debuffs (silence/stun/etc.) (Summon); Elemental Strengthen: Defense Ward - Summon ignores part of enemy damage for a set time (Summon)

Traditionally weak in physical attack, the Sorcerer utilizes a variety of magic spells to attack the enemy, be it a powerful singular attack spell or an AoE spell. The Sorcerer needs to take note of which of the four elements he wishes to use in attack as the large number of skills allows him to do chain damage without a need to use chain skills. Aside from dealing heavy damage at long range, the Sorcerer can also crowd control effectively, casting sleep, silence, stun/bind. He can also use his powerful magic to open a dimensional portal, summoning party members to the battlefield, bolstering one’s forces during battle.

Main Equips

Robes, (Magic) Book

No Secondary Equips

Special Abilities

Increase magic attack - Increases magic attack

Normal Skills

Bind- Causes target to be unable to move (Single)

Corrode - Causes target to be damaged continuously (Single)

Iron Warding - Allows barrier to absorb some enemy damage, reducing damage to self for a set time (Self)

Recharge - Recovers a portion of MP (Self)

Fiery Ember Explosion - Uses fire magic to damage target and target’s surroundings (AoE)

Divine Song- Recovers 70% of MP (Self)

Slight Unconsciousness- Attacks target with magic and causes the target to become unconscious (Single)

Binding of Winter - Attacks surrounding targets with magic and causes them to be unable to move (AoE)

Flame Strike - Attacks target with fire magic and causes continuous damage (Single)

Dimensional Portal - Summons a portal that can access the capital (Summon)

Fiery Ember Burst - Attacks a target with fire magic from afar and may cause confusion (Single)

Air Arrest- Hits target into the air and locks target in mid-air (Single)

Time Differential Hurricane - Attacks a target with wind magic from afar (Single)

Lullaby - Puts target to sleep for 30 seconds (Single)

Dimensional Warp- Instantly moves from current location to another location some distance away (Self)

Magic Shield - Uses one’s MP to offset enemy damage for a set time (Self)

Fiery Ember Rain - AoE fire magic spell (AoE)

Increase Magic Frequency - Increases the chance of magic critical hit (Self)

Rock Attack - Attacks surrounding targets with rocks (AoE)

Body to Mind- Sacrifice HP to restore MP (Self)

Tree of Protection - Transforms into a tree to offset enemy damage but is unable to move (Self)

Frost Mist - AoE water magic spell (AoE)

Fiery Shield- Reflects enemy damage for a set time (Self)

Frozen Soul - Attacks target from afar and causes silence (Single)

Increase Casting Speed - Greatly increases one’s casting speed but decreases one’s accuracy (Self)

Mist of Sleep- Causes surrounding targets to fall asleep (AoE)

Comet Hurricane - Powerful AoE magic attack, has chance of decreasing targets’ speed and causing them to fall down (AoE)

Chain Skills

Fiery Embers- Attacks a target with fire magic from afar (Single); Explode - Does magic damage to a target (Single)

Ice Shackle - Attacks a target with water magic and reduces target’s speed (Single); Ice Wave - Attacks a target with water magic from afar and may cause confusion (Single)

Current Attack- Attacks a target with water magic from afar (Single); Wave Hurricane - Attacks a target with water magic from afar (Single)

Time Differential Attack - Begins to attack target, with target only beginning to receive fire magic damage after 4 seconds and causes target to be confused (Single); Attacking Embers - Attacks a target with fire magic (Single)

Time Differential Attack - Begins to attack target, with target only beginning to receive fire magic damage after 4 seconds and causes target to be confused (Single); Attacking Fire Cannon - Attacks a target with fire magic and stuns target and causes target to fall down (Single)

Situational Skill

Wave Attack - Attacks fallen target with water magic (Single)

Sword in one hand, shield in the other, the Templar wears heavy armour during battle and is able to use some defensive and healing skills. The shield can also act as his second weapon to attack the enemy at the appropriate moments. The Templar does not only emphasize on defense but is also able to counterattack effectively to paralyze the enemy. Also the Templar’s basic build is that of a Warrior and has several dual sword skills and chain skills, and can change his play style when necessary to a warrior with high attack abilities using dual swords to deal heavy damage or counterattack.

Main Equips

Heavy Armour, Single handed Sword, Shield

Secondary Equips

Dual Swords, Single handed blunt weapon

Special Abilities

Increase Attack Hate - Increase amount of hate by target during attack

Weapon Block Strengthening- Increases the chance of weapon block

Shield Strengthening - Increase the shield defense

Increase Elemental Resistance - Increases resistance to all negative effects (Not sure if site is correct on this)

Normal Skills

Self Shield - Stance, Increases shield defense and resistance to all negative effects (Self)

Armour Destruction - Attacks target with a physical attack and decreases target’s defense (Single)

Touch of Life - Restores HP of target (Single)

Will of Persistence - Increases chance of increasing one’s defense when attacked by enemy, for a set time (Self)

Curse of Destruction- Absorbs enemy damage and converts to one’s HP (Single)

Protect Friend- Take a portion of damage dealt to party members for a set time (AoE)

Will of Revenge- Increases attack power of dual swords after being attacked by enemy, for a set time (Self)

Pride of Darkness - Attacks surrounding targets (AoE)

Breaking Ligament Power-Hit - Attacks a target and greatly reduces target’s attack speed (Single)

Shield of Focus - Increases one’s resistance to negative effects to the maximum for a short period of time (Self)

Shackles of Earth - Binds the movement of a target at a far distance (Single)

Maximum Limit Strike - Attacks target with dual swords dealing heavy damage (Single)

Protection of Heart - Reduces enemy damage by a certain percentage and removes all negative curses (curse effects) on self for a set time (Self)

Shield Sight - Attacks target and causes target to be blinded (Single)

Chain Skills

Power Strike - Does physical attack on target (Single); Focused Heart - Increases one’s physical attack and ignores part of enemy’s damage (Self); Fainting Strike - Attacks target and stuns target (Single)

Power Strike - Does physical attack on target (Single); Destructive Strike - Does physical attack on target with continuous damage for a set time (Single); Iron Defense - Increases physical defense and increases shield defense by two times for a set time (Self)

Shield Attack - Uses shield to attack target and stuns target (Single); Light of Recovery - Heals target from afar (Single)

Shield Attack - Uses shield to attack target and stuns target (Single); Muscular Attack - Attacks target and decreases target’s physical and shield defense (Single); Shield Sudden Attack - Attacks target with shield and causes target to fall down (Single)

Punishment - Uses dual swords to attack target simultaneously and causes target to be confused (Single); Blessing of Blood - Sacrifices HP to increase the attack power of dual swords (Self)

Punishment - Uses dual swords to attack target simultaneously and causes target to be confused (Single); Lightning Strike - Does physical attack on target and causes target to fall down (Single); Judgment - Does heavy physical damage on target with dual swords (Single)

Provoke - Provokes enemy (Single); Provoke Shackle - Provokes surrounding targets and causes targets to move to self quickly (Single)

Provoke - Provokes enemy (Single); Shield of Protection - Reflects surrounding enemy damage for a set time (Self)

Provoke Roar - Provokes surrounding enemies (AoE); Attack Wave - Attacks surrounding targets and causes them to be slowed (AoE)

Situational Chain Skill

Shield Counterattack - Uses shield to attack target after shield block (Single); Punishing Strike - Attacks target and decreases target’s attack speed (Single)

Behind every group, nation, or empire there is a story. One that tells of past trials and tribulations that were endured, a story that shares with its members, how the establishment they give their allegiance to came to be. For us in Noble Phantasm, our leader Kattrina begins this tale with the creation of a smaller group that would soon manifest itself into something much greater.

~Ancaladar

Prologue: The creation of the Legion of Kattrina

Who is the Legion of Kattrina?

The Legion of Kattrina are all the people who’ve really stuck it out with Kattrina through thick and thin. The Legion of Kattrina, right before it’s disbanding consisted of Kattrina, Nikias, Theron, Nana-pie, Kessie, Sekine, and Piro.

The Legion of Kattrina had always played an important role of each guild it joined. Each member of the LoK tended to be extremely dedicated, loyal, and skilled at the profession they played. In any guild the LoK joined, multiple members would obtain positions of leadership due to the capability each member possessed. Typically, the LoK never created their own guild. While the people all possessed excellent leadership qualities, each person was a little hesitant to bear the responsibilities guild leaders typically dealt with.

How the LoK Began

The Legion of Kattrina began with a family. Kattrina always played MMOs with Kessie and Nana-pie (Mom and sister). Few people knew what to “call” our group, besides “the family”. However, after the Legion of Kattrina expanded into non-family members, a new name was needed. Kattrina pressed for “The Legion of Kattrina” while Nana-pie pressed for “The Strudel Co.”. Ultimately, Katt’s idea stuck.

Where is the Legion of Kattrina Now?

The Legion of Kattrina has been disbanded. Or, perhaps rather expanded to encompass all of Noble Phantasm. The title, “The Legion of Kattrina” was meant to set our “group” apart from other members of the guild. However, with Noble Phantasm feeling so much like family, there’s really no reason to set us apart from anyone, and we’d like to consider every member of this guild as apart of our extended family.

Chapter 2: The Birth of Noble Phantasm

From Guild to Guild

As mentioned in the prologue, members of the Legion of Kattrina weren’t much for starting our own guild. As we moved from FFXI to WoW, we continued to jump from guild to guild. All our guilds typically ended because the guild leader would decide he’s burnt out from leading, and try to pass the responsibility onto Kattrina. Kattrina, of course, would politely refuse, and leave the burning guild.

Our ideal guild would be a nice guild, full of good people we can become friends with. Always, we’d become officers at the guild leader’s request, but always, the guild leader would become stressed out, and dump the guild.

One guild in World of Warcraft, was the final straw. The guild *was* a nice guild, with a strong and sturdy foundation of leaders. However, the guild leader (it had been passed three times) decided that he was done with our guild being a nice guild, and intended to make it into a hardcore guild with little concern for behavior and environment. The Legion of Kattrina needed to get out of there. The problem: The Legion of Kattrina was now 8 people large, and I needed to find a home for all of us.

Noble Phantasm is Born!

While seeking a new guild, I became rather distressed. I found two camps of guilds available: Hardcore guilds with no care for environment or the quality of people it brought in, or Casual guilds with no care for ever raiding or progressing through any content.

Becoming rather upset at the situation, the Legion of Kattrina finally decided that if we wanted anything done, we needed to do it ourselves. We had discovered that Katt was fairly good with people, Theron was dependable, and Nikias had a lot of experience leading other guilds and running guild raids. The three of us created, and for the most part, ran, by ourselves, this new guild.

Noble Phantasm’s Foundation

We were a guild determined to be run like a big group of friends. We were tired of the “work” involved in raiding, and we wanted all guild events to be a casual friendly environment. We pursued high end content, and did fairly well, but what people loved most about our guild was that the entire time, we were laughing and having a lot of fun.

During this time, Kattrina became increasingly concerned with the happiness of people. Katt often likes to think of any way a guild can be improved, and from seeing other guild models, realized that people are too often treated like numbers. A lot of people have ideas, things to say, and someone they need to talk to, and all too often members feel the officers are “too far away” to speak to candidly. Also, these “far away” officers would often seem far away because their work load would be so great, they had little time to think of things besides raid, gear, alliances, progression, and the guild economy.

One day, Kattrina recieved divine inspiration, and a full idea just popped into Katt’s head. From that, Noble Phantasm implemented the Departments of Internal Affairs and Inquisition. The Department of Inquisition’s job being to focus on progression, and the Department of Internal Affair’s job being to focus on the needs of the people. This not only develops a team to focus on the two most important areas of the guild, but also frees the guild leader from needing to worry so much about micromanagement, and lowers the burden of stress on each individual officer.

Ideally, Noble Phantasm was to be a guild specializing in being both friendly, and progressive, with equal focus given to the guild’s success and it’s people. The officers, ideally, would not get burned out, as the distribution of power was both wide and fair.

I was given the opportunity to sit down and pose some questions to a man we all know and respect. He has provided us with a forum where we can find information about Aion, get to know each other better and form a real community. I had a wonderful time speaking with Mark and I hope this interview provides everyone with insight into the man behind the name.
~Syani

Interview With Mark

Syani: When did you first learn about Aion?
Mark: I had just finished reading a bunch of .hack// stuff (dot hack) over the summer and I thought the idea of an MMO that reacted to players’ actions would be awesome. I went to go check the magazine rack of the bookstore I frequent; I was with a friend at the time. I was flipping through the pages of some magazines and eventually picked up PLAY Magazine, forgot what month/volume/issue. I think it was the August 2006 issue. Here’s the digital version of the article I read: http://www.playmagazine.com/index.php?fuseaction=SiteMain.showGamePage&Game_ID=314

Syani: What made you decide to start Aionsource?
Mark: I thought Aion showed incredible promise. The article was pretty much a copy/paste job of a Press Release by NCSoft. But it sounded incredible, so I bought into it massively. I left my friend behind at the bookstore after reading the article and bike rode home. I asked the webmaster of HuxleySource.com, a fansite for the MMO I was anxiously awaiting at the time, if I could copy his name idea. He said it was fine with him and I bought the domain the same day.

Syani: When did Aionsource first go live?
Mark: I created the AionSource.com domain on July 28th, 2006. That very same day I set up a really crappy front page. In the next few weeks I got up a copy of vBulletin, given to me by HuxleySource.com’s webmaster. AionSource.com ran off that for a month or two before Jelsoft’s copyright police sent my host at the time, Servage.net, a notice to shut down the site until I removed the software. I had no idea it was an illegal copy; the guy at HuxleySource.com had installed it for me. I was such a noob! The same exact day the site got shut down temporarily I bought a real license of vBulletin for $160 or something with my mother’s credit card. Paid mom back, of course, and started setting up the forums once again. In the span of a few months, from about September to January, we had nearly 1000 members.

Syani: Did you ever imagine Aionsource would become as popular as it is today?
Mark: Hmm… I always hoped and dreamed it would, but I didn’t expect for it to happen as it has. Each time a new beta phase or big news item is released our growth becomes…kinda explosive. I mean, I should have seen this coming, but somehow I didn’t. It still manages to freak me out every once and a while, but I’m a people-person in real life. I’d love to talk to every single one of AionSource.com’s members in person at least once, put a name to a face and all. But I doubt that’ll happen anytime soon, unless Aion is big enough to earn itself a convention. There have always been a few competing fansites for AionSource.com’s members, AionLib was the best. But it died a little while after its admin, Ayase, was hired by NCsoft itself as Aion’s English Community Coordinator.

Syani: What are your plans/goals for Aionsource especially now that it has won its first award? Are you planning to keep it up and win some other ones?
Mark: I didn’t even know that there WERE awards for fansites until we won one. And I didn’t know there’s MORE. But I guess we’ll just keep doing what we do best and hopefully we’ll earn some more. Our moderating team has grown a lot and we’re a bit…heavy-handed now. It’s a necessary evolution; we’re not as forgiving as we used to be. As for future plans, Curse has factored in to those heavily. Now AionSource.com has some clout to toss around. NCSoft is beginning to pay a bit more attention, I believe. We have some really cool stuff planned, but I have no idea when it’ll happen. Curse is a very busy place and they’ve got a lot of things going on all the time. It was quite crazy when I visited, so when it happens, it happens. Hopefully some cool things kick in soon, but I can’t guarantee anything. I’ll probably send out mass emails when interesting things happen at AionSource.com, but in case I don’t I’d recommend people to check back often. There’s always something to chat about if you’re bored.

Syani: After all we’ve seen and read about CBT2, what do you think of Aion’s development so far?
Mark: There are a couple facets to that question. Development in Europe/NA is completely dependent on Korea. From what I can gather, all that Europe’s doing to Aion is localizing it line by line, adding voices, and other things. A quite tedious and involving process, to be honest. But in Korea they’re working on the actual mechanics. I think they have a LOT more areas designed and ready to deploy than what we’ve seen in any of the Closed Betas. The fact that most players in the CBs report the game is already very playable/polished is a good sign. There are things they still need to add/fix (they probably already have, or are working on it now), like swimming, for instance. The classes need tweaking the most, it seems. That and the Abyss is probably what CBT3 will focus on, in my opinion. You see these other MMOs and their betas: AoC, WAR, GW, WoW, and L2’s back in the day. They were ridden with bugs and glitches. Aion’s betas have hardly had that kind of stuff, according to the testers. I attribute this to the FarCry engine, the CryENGINE1, and Studio 5’s hard work. It’s a very good sandbox type engine. It’s a pretty stable powerhouse, and sports an ingenious (when it was first released) way to render far away objects and not kill someone’s computer. My personal estimation puts Aion to release in Korea by the end of this year, sometime early next year in NA/EU. People might complain about some promised “worldwide” release. Unless NCsoft Korea wants to delay releasing Aion by a few weeks/months the game isn’t going to release in two places at the same time. NCSoft probably has localization on their high-priority list. I mean, just check the PlayNC.com Europe job listings! There was one recently for a localization manager. Obviously they have a team that needs managing. They also have to find voice actors and such. NCsoft can’t just pull some guys out of their cubicles and make them grunt in front of a microphone.

Syani: Is there a particular piece of information from CBT2 that impressed you more than others?
Mark: Definitely the character creation system. People have seen the results of it but they haven’t touched it themselves. Soon we’ll have a news item up that’ll alleviate that a bit. No, no test, but thanks to one of AionSource.com’s members, Kalean, it’ll be pretty damn close. You’ll have to watch for it since we’re saving it for a rainy day, which will probably be soon, because CBT3’s dates haven’t been concretely announced and NCsoft hasn’t told me anything about an English beta. When there’s no news to report people stop visiting, so we’re going to give them a reason to visit.

Syani: On your Aionsource profile it says that you’re undecided about which race to pick, is there a reason for this?
Mark: Yes. I seriously can’t choose. I really like the Elyos environment, the Elyos characters are pretty normal looking too. Pretty, like playing FarCry all over again. But the Asmodians…their claws and armor look badass, and their environment, while not so Utopian fantastical as the Elyos’, has its own charm. Their manes are kinda cool too, Their wings are “meh” though. It’s their animal nature that stirs me up.

Syani: Which class(es) are you planning to play in Aion?
Mark: I’m definitely going to have a female ranger alt but my main is a problem. If I actually play as “Mark” I think I’d kinda have to make him a Templar, but personally I really want to play an Assassin and solo all the PvE I possibly can. I’m a soloist at heart. It’d be rare to find me in a group, but I might change for Aion. I don’t see myself ever playing a spellcaster. I’m a casual player, too.

Syani: As we get closer and closer to release is there anything in specific that you’re looking forward to?
Mark: Other than playing the game?

Syani: Are you planning to lead your own Legion in Aion?
Mark: Umm…probably. I have a name for one already thought up and domain bought and redirected to AionSource.com but I’m not sure if I’m going to use it. Although a legion called “AionSource” sounds tacky, that’s what most Korean fansites like ThisIsGame have done, at least for their staff. It’s a real predicament for me. Perhaps I should make a poll… But if I did make a guild I’m so casual, I don’t think I’d do a good job of running it. Zyuu would probably have to help me. He’s got a lot of experience with guilds. I’m not a big raid guy, at least judging by what I’ve seen of WoW’s raids and some of Aion’s beta raids. I’d rather run around doing PvE quests or in the Abyss doing RvR. Gotta make this really clear: I’m a casual player, and I don’t think I’ll go very hardcore for Aion, unless someone pays me to do so, of course. ;)

Hello Everyone! Welcome to the first article in the Crafting Section! All of us in Noble Phantasm are really excited about this, I hope we can make this something you all really enjoy ^_^

Gathering Resources

Writer: Murakumi Editor: Syani

Resource gathering in Aion is much like other popular MMOs, the only difference here is that you have a success/failure progress bar, where in other games that is usually done from behind the scenes and not shown to you. You initiate gathering by double-clicking on your target resource and complete the gathering when the success bar fills before the failure bar. Proficiency level between your target resource and the player also plays a part, the difference between them determines your success rate. Here is an example of what it might look like gathering below (this is below level 10, pre-Daeva, I will touch on this later).

Aside from the progress bars, there are a few rules that apply to gathering:

1. Spawn locations of resources do not change in type when they respawn, they are always static, if you find a specific type of resource you want, you will be able to find it again in that same place.

2. The gather skill may only be applied on one target up to a maximum of 5 times, with the exception of gems, as these can only be gathered once.

3. The maximum 5 times a target can be gathered is shared between other players.

4. You may attempt to gather from a target resource up to 5 proficiency levels higher than the player, if the level exceeds that, the name of the resource will appear in red.

5. Even if you fail to gather successfully you will still gain experience, although at a lesser amount.

At level 10, which is when you become a Daeva, you learn the ability to manipulate “Ode” energy, this replaces your human gathering skill and you gain two new skills.

One is Extract Life Force, which is useable on the same types of materials as you could as human, you gain the ability to extract the essence of the target and reconstruct it into its purest state without harming them, just like humans would with tools.

The second skill you gain is Ode Extraction, which only Daevas are able to perform, this starts at level 1. The main difference with this skill is Ode shards only spawn up in the air. Make sure to watch your flight timer while gathering Ode, if it runs out while you are in the air you will fall and possibly die!

Ode energy is made up of the essence of all substances, so it only makes sense that you can convert the extracted Ode energy into various other substances, this skill is also gained when you become a Daeva. It has no skill level, when you first receive it you only have a few choices, however you can buy additional plans from NPCs.

Here is a list of the types of resources and the crafts they are used in.

Crafting

As with gathering resources, Aion’s crafting / trade professions are pretty similar to other MMOs as well. Items go through three steps: Preparing the raw materials, crafting process and the finished item, be that a success or failure. As with most crafting processes, the chance of success is determined by the players crafting level. FFXI players may cringe at this next statement, but unfortunately we haven’t seen the last of painful crafting.. that’s right, if you fail to successfully craft, you lose [b]all[/b] the materials being used. In the beginning of your trade profession your first few levels will consist of refinement tasks, raw materials have to be broken down before they can be used for crafting. Examples would be: Wood -> Paper Ore -> Metal Bar, Edible Ingredient -> Food (how this works for food, I really have no idea!). Materials for crafting can be obtained from a number of sources: vendors, mob dropped, made by other professions and raw/refined materials.

Crafting/Refinement doesn’t require any special equipment or tools to operate, but you do have to find the correct facility, these can be found inside cities and are usually close to the corresponding NPC trainer.

Aion has six professions, at the start it costs you 3,300 Qina to train, however to reach each new level you have to pay additional Qina to the corresponding master NPCs. Those not new to MMOs may not find these all too exciting, but there are pictures! Everyone loves pictures!

Tailoring

Tailoring provides the obvious, cloth and some leather armor. You can refine leather, create straps, bolts of cloth ect. Cloth armor uses a lot of plant based materials, while leather uses (you guessed it!) leather from beasts.

Armorsmithing

Armorsmithing uses ore-based materials, wires, chains, metal bars, and things of that nature. You can create mail and plate armor; many of the components overlap with Weaponsmithing.

Weaponsmithing

As said above Weaponsmithing shares much with Armorsmithing, they use many of the same materials but with much different end results. You can create any kind of metal weapons, such as Halberd, Maces, Great Swords, Short Swords and Long Swords.

Artisan Craft

Artisan craft is a rather interesting one I thought, you make jewelry, miscellaneous objects and wooden weapons, such as bows and staves. Not to mention, gems and wood are THE most used materials in all crafting, this one may end up being a good money maker, but don’t hold me to that.

Alchemy

Ahh.. good old Alchemy, I wonder if you’ll be able to clap your hands and make things, how cool would that be?! Har Har :p. Anyway.. down to business! Potions, potions, potions, that’s what Alchemy is all about, right? But that’s not all; you can also make spellbooks, the mage class’s choice weapon and charms. Herbs, wood and soulstones from monsters are used in this profession.

Cooking

What can I say? You cook and make drinks! Eating/drinking food in Aion provides beneficial buffs for the player. Getting materials is fairly easy for cooking, like to fish? Fry them up. Hunting boar for a quest? BBQ boar Ribs. Exploring? Pick some fruits and berries along the way to make juice later.

That’s all for now, from all of us in Noble Phantasm we wish you happy adventures and hope to see you in game!

Noble Phantasm has been blessed with many talented individuals, and we have decided to each month shine a light on their work and make their presence known in the Aion community. With that said, it is my pleasure to bring the following poem to you, the reader. Some may know this very talented writer as Ryn and I hope you all enjoy her writing as much as we have.

~Syani

Innocence Questioning

Writer: Ryn aka Ancaladar

Why is the sky blue? Did it get painted?
Why is the grass green? Is it like lettuce? Can I eat it?
Is the moon really made from cheese? And how did the little man get up there?
Why don’t we get dizzy with the world always spinning?
Are the clouds made of cotton candy? Why don’t they melt?
Is the rain really the tears of angels? So what does that make snow?
Why are your hands so much bigger than mine? Will I grow up just like you?

Where do babies come from? And don’t say the stork.
Where did the men take Christie’s mommy? And don’t say vacation.
Why do hospitals make you hurt? And don’t say to make me better.
Are they really killing things inside me? And don’t say it’s just the bad stuff.
Where exactly did mommy go? And don’t say heaven.
Am I going wherever she is? And don’t lie.

Daddy…

Am I going to die?

Innovation in MMOs

Writer: Lunais Editor: Syani

Innovation. It’s the buzzword of today’s gaming industry. All developers seem to want it, all critics seem to judge by it. Yet is it really all it’s cracked up to be? Aion isn’t really pushing any boundaries in terms of innovation. The ability to fly is hardly a new thing in MMOs and in Aion it’s meant to be used as an ability rather than an integral part of the game. The PvPvE system, although an interesting thing to focus on, is hardly going to blow people’s mind. It’s a balancing mechanic between the Elyos and Asmodian races and introduces an element of chance to shake things up. Not to say Aion has no innovation whatsoever, but it doesn’t seem to be trying terribly hard to come up with something new. The Abyss is reminiscent of castle sieges in NCSoft’s own Lineage series and the UI/quest system is very much like World of Warcraft (WoW). But does mean Aion should be relegated to the insulting status of ‘WoW clone’ and ignored? Hardly.

What I propose is that NCSoft has in fact been rather clever about it. With Aion’s focus being towards its Abyss PvP system it’s only fair that we compare it to MMOs known for their PvP systems. When people think of the big ‘PvP’ experiences in MMOs to the two most common names are the aforementioned Lineage and WoW. Lineage’s PvP castle siege system was a key factor to many of its player’s enjoyment yet the game remained fairly inaccessible to a Western player base, due to the large grind required to make character progress to participate in said PvP, and the now slightly outdated engine that Lineage runs on. When people think of WoW’s PvP they think of the detached Battlegrounds, streamlined yet basic instances with objectives like ‘Capture the Flag’, encouraging easy grinding to get ‘Epics’. It may be a giddy thrill with a nice reward, but it perhaps lacks the kind of involvement a castle siege system can offer. If this is meant to be the pinnacle of PvP gaming in large commercial MMORPGs I’d say there’s definitely a gap in the market. So what haven’t we had here? A game with the fluidity and ease-of-use of Blizzard’s WoW combined with the engaging castle siege PvP aspect of Lineage. It may not be ‘innovative’ as such but if pulled off well could make Aion go down a storm with players across the globe.

Why are we looking for Innovation so much when the system we already have is so far from being perfect? This is a common complaint of mine with the game’s industry – people seem all to ready to try and jump to the next big thing (or become it) without taking the time to perhaps make a solid game. When I heard of Granado Espada (localized as Sword of the New World) and its 3 character ‘family’ system I’ll admit the innovation behind it intrigued me. Controlling three characters at a time in an MMO? Interesting stuff! What I wasn’t told was that despite this, the main way to progress in the game was to put your ‘Family’ on auto-pilot and let them grind quickly respawning mobs while you went and took the dog out for a walk/washed the car/actually made contact with the outside world. The game was a large disappointment for me, as the basic gameplay seemed to have been skipped over to add on this wacky new innovation. Of course, there are some innovations that are integral to the success of a product, but this is usually because they make an already good game even better.

I’m happy Aion isn’t trying to be especially innovative. I’m hoping the result of this is a solid, well-made, beautifully crafted PvP-centered MMO that can stand tall in the highly competitive MMORPG market safe in the knowledge that what it does it does well. With this I believe subscribers will flock to the game and make it a success for years to come. Innovation may draw people to a game initially, but it won’t necessarily keep them there. Eventually, any innovation that does comes from Aion should be natural – as a result of making a good system first and improving upon it, not trying to make a good system by forcing innovation.