A New Perspective or The Same Ol’ Grind?

by Rer

Yep, I’ve decided to give Aion another go.  I suppose it was a large combination of reasons, mainly consisting of: I already bought another three months of playtime, I still haven’t hit the max level or “Officer” rank, and perhaps, just maybe, actually playing the game I podcast about is a smart thing to do.  However, after having pronounced my leave of my guild on Vaizel, I came to the conclusion suddenly reappearing amongst the comrades I left probably wouldn’t be a smart idea.

So, instead I decided to just give Aion another go with a completely blank slate.  No more Rer the Sorcerer, or even Asmodian for that matter, I created an Elyos Chanter on Triniel named Lulzhellokitty… okay fine, Rer.  With my character complete, I was plunged into Poeta and WHAT IN THE %*(&?!!  Oh… that’s the Sun began exploring.  Surprisingly enough, I was astonished to find that Poeta is not all that different from Ishalgen.  Sure, there’s cheery music, Kobolds, and Sunlight, but the quests are 90% carbon copies of the Asmodian beginning zone, simply with different monsters and items.  This was a bit of a downer for me, but I decided that I needed to continue on and really try to take in the whole Elyos experience (not to mention that the Tutty quest put me in a cheery mood real quick).  As with everyone else, I saved the day from the wrath of the Balaur and became a Daeva.

Onto Verteron Fortress, which seemed eerily familiar to Altgard’s… I became concerned quickly.  Luckily, after finishing the preliminary quests within the Fort itself, I finally began to notice some original Elyos content.  I began really enjoying myself, and now I am level 18 and have almost completed Verteron.  This is probably due to my awesomeness the fact that the Chanter is an amazing solo class, which gives me the ability to adapt to any situation I may find myself in without dying.  I can safely say that not dying has not only earned me a hefty sum of Kinah, but also saved me many hours of walking.  Speaking of which, no Elyos better be complaining about having to walk far from place to place, in Asmodae we had to walk 15 miles uphill both ways to our Quest NPCs.

Anyways, I’m now faced with a puzzling question.  Just how long will this fling with Aion last?  Part of my brain can’t help but think that I’ll simply succumb to the grind once more after reaching level 35 or so.  On the bright side, unlike before when I was playing my Asmodian, I now have many things to inspire me to persevere.  I’m beginning to make new friends in Ataraxia, the guild hosted by this site, though lacking said hosts currently… *Gives Multiplaying Crew the Puppies Eyes and Lower Lip Quiver*.   I can just watch the Visions of the Future Trailer whenever I’m feeling down about the game, and of course there’s the constant reminder that I need to bullshit my way through be knowledgeable about Aion for the podcast.  All of this combined with the fact that I’m just plain having fun has put me in a really positive mood about Aion.  Are there still glaring issues with the game?  You bet your last Lodas Amulet there are, but as of right now I’m not concerned with that.  I don’t care about being behind the leveling curve, or if I’ll ever be one of the more influential players on the server.  All I’m concerned about right now is enjoying the game, and as long as I stick with this mentality I’m confident that I will finally reach 50.  With any luck, someday I’ll be posting an article about how awesome Aion’s endgame is, along with all of the new content that everyone is drooling over.  Speaking of which, make sure to listen to the 7th Episode of the Epic Elyos Podcast for an, in my opinion, excellent discussion of the future content.  The show should be out on Thursday.  In conclusion, my MMO fling with Aion continues, perhaps this time towards a happy ending.  It’s nice to finally be writing about Aion again.