NA Beta Event 2 - My Summary
Greetings My Fellow Elysium's',
I thought I would write up a blog about Xiri an I's experience in the Close Beta 2. Please keep in mind this is only a personal representation of what we thought/found about the game as well as the Legion inside of the Beta Event.
Legion Overview:
Let me say that on Friday, the day Beta Opened, there was great work by members of the Legion to get to level 10 and create the Legion. Within 2 hours of the servers being opened, Elysium was created. I believe this to be the first, if not one of the first, Legions on the Asmodian side to proudly wear our colors.
Legion Shining Moments:
From the very beginning, Elysium communicated where we would all be at as far as channels go (channel 10) via Teamspeak. We got to run around and see all our family (after all, that is what a legion/guild is. Dysfunctional or not.) members fight their way to the Level Cap. It would have been even better in my opinion if we had posted this information before, or at least right as it launched, onto our website so everyone would know! Maybe a Calendar would have helped with this.
I would have liked to have grouped up with everyone to enjoy the experience, but no one seemed interested in doing so. Xiri an I pretty much just grouped with each other and went about our day hacking and frying creatures we found. I thing as a group, or two groups of all guildies, we would have felt more of the legion closeness. Since there were no offers, we went along our way.
By Friday night, we were on the Elyos Server and about 10 of us created an Alliance and took over the Coliseum which was a blast! It was amazing to pretty much own the whole thing until we got bored and went on to do something else. This was about the only time we actually grouped up with anyone. Anytime there was a Coliseum group, we would go and have some fun.
Turnout for the Beta event appeared to have been going pretty strong on the first day with everyone chatting it up. Esso was missed greatly though by me personally... It's that witty sarcasm that you just can't live without! Moving into Saturday and Sunday though, it appeared that even though some people were on Teamspeak, there were not a lot of folks chatting. Personally, I enjoy it when people are more conversational.
Much though can probably be blamed on the fact that of course we are still in Beta, and most are not on or are exploring on their own. My hopes are that we will become more organized and more communicative when the game actually launches!
All in all though, I believe our Legion had a great presence and started a name for ourselves.
The Game
If you have not played Aion, then your really don't know what a great looking, polished, and smooth MMO looks like. The graphics in this game are amazing. We found ourselves just stopping to gaze in awe at the water effects, the things flying over head, the ambient sounds and animals there for nothing but to immerse you into a game. That is what an MMO HAS to do to keep someone playing past the levels and questing.
Logging in was a breeze and we experienced NO crashes or bugs from the client whatsoever. Quest Bugs? None. Graphic Bugs? None. Lag? None. Grind? None. This has got to be the most polished "beta" we have played to date. I cannot think of a single game that I have played that had all the quests complete, all the graphics complete, all the moves and effects complete, and so much content. Right from the beginning of beta you have crafting, PvP, quests, social engagement, working auction houses, personal stores, and plenty to keep yourself busy.
Character customization is better than any MMO on the market, let alone a beta! I mean, Vanguard boasted when they were coming out about it, but you did end up looking a lot alike. And, The removed a lot of it later on! Clothing and Armor look AMAZING right from the beginning. No need to look like a homeless person when you start out! and do you have the same set as Bob over there? Well, go the your main city and dye it! Yes, DYE IT... IN BETA! Sometimes we forget that games that have been out for awhile still have issues with customization. Not Aion. And if things only get better from here; This game will be amazing.
Combat is a lot of fun from the beginning depending on the class you choose. Later, when you specialize almost all the classes have great combat animations. I think in the future there will be balancing issues as people cry about the Templar and the Cleric... Freaking juggernauts! Sorc can lay waste to things pretty good as well. All of these issues are more a PvP issue than PvE one. But they are minor and I am sure will work themselves out.
Weapon customization is great as well. You are able to add Manastones, Enchantments, etc to make them more powerful (same with armor). Crafted Weapons and Armor are better than most drops also!
All in all this is looking to be an amazing game right at launch and I am excited to be one of the first NA players to play the NA release (as I know some of you have done the CH release).
In closing, I know a lot of people have stated this technically isn't beta as they have had it out over seas for awhile. I get your point, but also understand that the game had to be localized and run on local servers. There are always issue that can happen when changing codes, text, and hardware (any good developer will tell you this). So it is to me amazing to see a company launch a game in the region and have it actually living up to its hype. How often can you say that about MMO's you waited for, played beta in, and launched? Not many I am sure!
Conclusion:
I think when we launch, we should as a legion be ready and well prepared for where we are going, what we are doing, and try to work together as a group as much as possible (and I am sure this will be the case). I hope we have our Communication issues (Teamspeak etc) worked out by then as well.
I also think that this game will be one of the funnest games Xiri an I have been a part of in quite some time. I also hope that the Legion becomes the family that her an I have been looking for within the MMO world!
- Neowulf's blog
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Tue, 2009-06-23 11:10
2
Yes, we really need to get the "old" members out of the click that is "persived" by some of the new members. My biggest issue I have is that I can not hear everyone on Teamspeak as some are low and others loud. Which makes no sense but that is what is.
You are more than welcomed to quest with Xiri an I. We love a good group. Makes the time more enjoyable for sure. the more the Merrier!
Also, not sure who said "that questioned was already answered". That doesn't sound like the folks I've run into. I hope that isn't the attitude of others in the guild. I would hope we all try and help each other as much as possible!
I defintely look forward to playing with you and everyone else in game!
Tue, 2009-06-23 19:11
3
![Elysium [Elyos] Legionnaire](/sites/default/files/badges/Elyos.png "Elysium [Elyos] Legionnaire"){kind=small}
Yea my biggest thing has to be in agreement with you on the Communication about what server what guild faction is goin to be on , I know Night was out due to b day things but the officers could have been more on top of that then they were. I had to ask several times in ts to even get an idea of what was goin on so for some of our more shy members they got left out and that should not happen. Period.
Beta or not.
Tue, 2009-06-23 21:05
4
The servers Elysium plays on tripped me up as well....from what I gather from different posts through the forums Elysium Elyos legion is on Siel (the first server) and the Elysium Asmodian Legion is on the second server (name??) for beta so far.
Maybe a sticky in the forums with the legion/server info and also the names of characters known to play in each legion (Elyos/Asmodian) or at least the players/characters to contact in-game for an invite into the legion would help.
If you all dont mind grouping with a "n00b" (only got 2 days exp 
) add me as a contact/friend in game for the next betas (metaphrax)...will be playing as Asmodian on the second server now that I know that is where Elysium's Asmodian legion will be at least for beta ("and knowing is half the battle!")
Tue, 2009-06-23 22:07
5
GI JOE!!!!!! and the second server is Ispharea (something like that lol). I played both causes I wanted to experience both sides. so far I found that asmos side was easier to follow in terms of questing/leveling up. then again when I was playing elyos I drank close to 12 beers so that could have impacted my questing @_@ lol..
Wed, 2009-06-24 11:25
6
haha drunken questing FTW!! 
+ 
= 
Wed, 2009-06-24 16:20
7
Well I have to agree with the lack of communication as far as what server we're going to be on, etc. Muerte and I made characters Friday night on the wrong server for Asmo. :/ I happened to read in a post where everyone was, so we made new characters Sat afternoon but didn't see anyone around on the Asmo side. Our TS wasn't working til Sunday so weren't talking to anyone either. I will say that since Muerte and I are in the same room and haven't really used TS before, we will probably be a bit quiet for awhile in TS since we're talking to ourselves. Feel free to poke us if you think we're sleeping lol.
And if anyone wants to group up we'd love to! We always party together and would love company :D
On the asmo side I'm a templar, Riazerra and he is a cleric, Thyyme. We'll be on in the evenings (after 8 pm central time) for the next beta event. See you all then :)
Wed, 2009-06-24 20:07
8
Well, I woulda helped with the "communication issue" but Amazon was being a pile of shit and didnt send my key til the beta was half over, my apologies but I had no clue about what everyone was doing myself~ Also I wouldnt expect every question that someone ask's to be answered right away or on the first time, I saw the numbers in vent, and it is very understandable that the officer playing, and the legion master playing, I believe there were only 2 people in this particular beta early on, could not answer every question fired at them. TS counter was at 35+ for members on those days, I'm sure that people didn't intentionally ignore questions from their fellow legion members.
Thu, 2009-06-25 09:20
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well said meta.. well said 
Thu, 2009-06-25 10:04
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Not sure how teamspeak works, but you could do it in vent.
Instead of nameing the channels for teamspeak with a generic name. You could name it elymos/asemodean(server) and then create the sub groups in them to avoid confusion in the first few days.
I'm still trying to decide between elymos and asemodean. I tried using the beta to kind of help me decide, but the day I was playing it was terrible weather and I had to log off. I was dropped about 5 times getting from 1-10 and lagged like crazy. Next day serveral trees and branches were knocked down. Some piles of branches as big as a Ford F-150.
I'll have rely on zone trailers to help me make my decision, but even then both sides have their own charm. Also a tip for mages dealing with those pain in the ass ghost that use hide. Use your fire nuke first and then your ice nuke. Your ice nuke will cancel out their hide.
Thu, 2009-06-25 23:47
11
Yes, Sakei is right in saying that while the masters and officers were on TS, it was difficult for us to answer all questions being asked (especially when there are 35+ people's voices we don't know yet and many people sound the same at first). They key is to be patient and ask us directly (say our names when adressing a question). Of course as we get to know people's voices and as the beginning of game questions are answered, things will be MUCH less stressful in TS.
As for the servers, I announced it in a thread, in shout box, and in TS. I am currently unable to sticky threads in the forums, so if anyone has any questions such as these in the future, feel free to pm me here or ask me on TS. even when playing a game I try to check my pms here frequently.
I apologize for any communication issues and will try my best to correct these in the future.
Tue, 2009-07-14 01:09
12
Very solid, thanks for the read.
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neo I feel ya with tyring to work thru the game together as a group more. I didn't group up with anyone until sunday and didn't get into the legion until sunday as well. saturday morning I finally got to start beta and was beat tired coming from working a 12 hour shift @_@. i was on TS and tried to be in good spirits and tried chatting it up, but all my energy was geared to just staying up too play lol. me and azwar finally hooked up and quested a bit on sunday unitl we both got to do our ascension quests. we split then. i wish i could have hooked up with more players of the legion and feel more part of the legion itself. there was one point when the legion was at the arena in pandemonium just pvping and messing around. i asked on TS where everyone was at and the response that I got was, "that question was already answered." after that, I gave up trying to strike up conversation or questing/grinding with those of players of the legion. not to be a cry baby or drama king or whatever you want to call it.. but after that, it put me into a mood of not even wanting to play anymore. i was very excited to finally get to play beta since i didn't get to play the first one - i was excited to play as a legion/group. =*( guess there is always next beta eh.
great review of the game btw and next time i'll look for you and Xiri - @ least you can share my pain lmao