AION PTS 2.0 Thoughts!

Well what do you guys think of aion 2.0 so far? The Aion PTS servers went back online about 12 hours ago with aion 2.0 brought in. As for me, I think it looks beautiful. The new login screens give it a diversity (thought I'll miss the original one) and makes it very exciting considering there's 5 different scenes you can be greeted by when you open your game. Always fun to open your game of Aion and have a chance to see a giant dragon roaring at you while waiting for you to log in.. (HE'S GONNA EAT YOU!)

I also happen to think that the new character select screen is very nicely done. YAY NO MORE SITTING AT THE BEACH OR FROZEN WASTELAND! We all get our own cozy spots =p
Once again.. really beautifully designed (think we should get NCSoft Korea to design my house)

Lols.. Furthermore the music has changed in a few places. For one you can notice it right away if you have music on and log in. The login screen no longer use the tower of eternity as its opening theme and instead uses a new theme called Annales of Atreia. Also a selection of music from the vision trailer makes its appearance in the game. So yeah.. you might be hearing new sounds while exploring a place you thought you knew so well.. After all, they called in the orchestra to create a new soundtrack just for this expansion! AION PTS 2.0!

In the credits it appears that originally the expansion was titled Advancing into Balaurea.. hmm.. might wanna remember to change that to "Assault on Balaurea" though NCSoft.. lols xD

Anyways.. Kinda sad that the credits song for Assault on Balaurea is just Daeva's Oratorio. Would have been better if Forgotten Sorrows was kept. Oh wells, not complaining since you can still hear it by looking at the Tower of Eternity credits..

Anyways.. I didn't do much but I noticed the map change where it actually just tells you straight off the bat where npcs are will give you quests. That's a rather nice feature. As you can see from the picture, I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTS AHEAD LOL.. If anyone ever says there's not enough quests in Aion, I think these arrows were added exactly to prove them WRONG!

Another useful feature is there's now bulletin boards that has a list of npcs in town and you can just find their name there to have their location marked on the map. A very useful feature for those diving in and even returning players for Atreia is always changing and even veteran players might find this feature as a nice guide to help them quickly find the npc they're looking for.

Of course a cute feature everyone's had their eyes on is pets! These little critters are just jumping around in Sanctum market at the pet shop hoping you'd stop by and buy one. There's many types of pets and each one begins with an egg. The eggs can range from 150k - a few mill so save on money if you want to collect them all =D
In the future there's other ways to get these adorable fellas like events and quests so keep your hopes up if you're always broke

Well as of only level 10 this is already quite some interesting stuff added. Of course this is just the beginning. People noticed that the new hair designs didn't make it in yet and Community Manager, Tamat, has confirmed that they will be adding more in the next week before release so keep your eyes wide open and explore the new world of Atreia. I'll explore more myself later on after I get my gladiator to level 50 and see what else fun stuff I can talk about but anyways.. enough about me.. WHAT ABOUT YOU GUYS? Find anything interesting in aion 2.0? Here For More.

Aion: Assault on Balaurea zone trailer -- Inggison

NCsoft unveils a video tour of Inggison, a new zone introduced in Aion's upcoming expansion, Assault on Balaurea. No longer confined to Atreia on the interior of the planet, players will venture forth to the lands on the outside. Filled with a variety of new plant and wildlife, Inggison is the Elyos foothold in Balaurea.

Even as they bask in direct sunlight (a treat not possible in the sundered lands of Asmodae and Elysea), Daevas in Aion will encounter new foes -- such as the Balaur-worshippers of Undirborg -- and fight old ones, as the Asmodians try to claim the Temple of Scales and Altar of Avarice Fortresses.

After watching the video, Massively asked Chris Hager, Producer of Aion, NCsoft West, a few questions about this new area.

Check out the video after the cut, as well as Chris' comments.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/26/aion-assault-on-balaurea-zone-trailer-inggison/

Massively: About half-way through the video, we see what appears to be an Elyos style city -- are there going to be areas that are settled by the Daeva races, complete with mail, warehouse, and broker services? If so, how many encampments are present, and how much of the area is wild?

Chris Hager: Each of the Daeva races have established permanent cities in Balaurea. These permanent cities are where players will arrive when they first arrive in Balaurea. They will have all of the services that the other cities in the other areas have (how can a Daeva survive without broker access?). There are also encampments throughout the areas that are race specific safeholds (similar to other maps).

If this is a Daeva fortress, how does lore account for it? Is it related to the hint we receive after completing our level 50 campaign quests?

The fortresses for each of the races are new to the Assault on Balaurea expansion. If you want to get really into the lore, the Elyos Inggison fortress is actually an illusion fortress maintained by the Wisplight Legion with aid from Kaisinel (Lord of Illusion). The Asmodian Gelkmaros fortress was made on the ruins of an old Balaur fortress that had been destroyed in the past by Marchutan.

Will the Balaur have a home base/city where they reside? If so, can it be invaded? Will there be any Balaur NPC's that can be interacted with?

The Balaur will own the two fortresses in each of the new zones. Aside from that, you'll find the Balaur scattered throughout the areas and in the new instances, but they won't have a home base or city that is constantly Balaur controlled.

The land was surprisingly lush in most of the video, although there were definitely some barren areas as well. How many different zones will be available for adventuring right at the launch of the expansion? Are there more zones planned for the near future?

At the launch of Assault on Balaurea, there will be two new persistent zones as well as a zone that adjoins them. Inggison will be the Elyos side, Gelkmaros for the Asmodians, and Silentera Canyon will join them both together. Within the two race controlled zones, there are a lot of different and unique areas to explore. With this being the home of the Balaur, a previously unexplored area, you'll see brand new creatures, surroundings, and an environment that looks unique to other areas in the game. Right now we don't have any information to share on any future zones.