I’m trying to go into Aion with as few preconceived notions as possible. I read a few blogs on it (honestly I do Rer!), but I’m really trying to keep my hype level at a minimum. I believe that having no high hopes for an MMO when going into it is what helped me last so long in Warhammer Online. That, and the fact that it took me 7 months to get into tier 4, otherwise known as “Unsub City”. This weekend (September 6th to be exact) will mark the start of Aion’s Open beta. So, I figured I might as well face fact that I’m going to hear stuff about the game one way or another. Unless I don’t log onto my computer for the next couple weeks. Seriously, that’s not going to happen. So starting today I will be embracing more information on the game, and relaying back all the bits that I think are bananas, as well as those that are janky.

Starting off light, I just want to state that I love the fact that Aion has movement buffs while in combat. Freeking movement buffs people! Fighting a mob while standing still, you will be at “normal”. If you move while in combat, you’ll see these little arrows pop up on the screen to indicate which directional buff you are receiving. While in the last closed beta weekend, I saw these, but wasn’t super concerned with what they were. Now, thanks to fellow blogger Winin who posted it in the forum, I know what they mean.

Here’s what stats change while in motion;

Forward movement:

• +10% Physical Damage
• +10% Magic Damage
• -20% Physical Defense
• -20% Magic Damage (this is probably a typo)

Backwards movement:

• +500% to Parry
• +500% to Block
• -70% Physical Damage
• -40% Movement Speed

Strafing:

• +300% to Evasion
• -70% Physical Damage
• -20% Movement Speed

For anyone like me who has wished that combat in MMO’s was reflective of your actions, the dream is closer to a reality. That’s not to say I don’t see some potential faults with this sort of system. After I came down from my hype cloud, I questioned whether this meant we’ll be seeing people running circles around each other like whirling dervishes. Someone playing the Chinese version right now may be able to tell us for sure, but I’m guessing people will be too busy with everything else that fighting entails that the movement speed will be almost irrelevant. Save maybe for people on the verge of death, backing up to get the defensive bonus in an attempt to hold out for heals. Either way, it’s another layer to this delicious Aion cake (could’ve said onion, but seriously, I don’t see people raving about a delicious onion they had).

For more information on Aion’s combat, check this out.