Really but not really
I have a dirty little not-so-secret secret to tell you: I was a GM for Aion for about two years. What did I learn in all that time? That gamers can be the most gracious and little pieces of shit on the planet Earth.
One of the main complaints we’d always hear about was how harsh the RNG system was. This is because when you attempted to socket a manastone (basically stat upgrades) in a weapon or piece of gear, if you failed, that manastone and all other stones currently equipped on that gear would disappear.
While hardcore MMO enthusiasts see a system like this as par for the course, today’s modern gamers just don’t have time for that. It was a brutal system. I saw it first hand and I understood players’ frustrations.
Well, with today’s update, it seems Aion wants to change things up a bit and give players more of a chance to succeed. From now on, if you fail a manastone socketing attempt, then only that manastone will vanish.
However, perhaps taking one step forward and two steps back, they plan to counter this change with “a slightly reduced success rate at socketing new manastones.”
Another common headache was the enchantment system. It worked similar to the manastone system and was a continued source of rage for the common player. Aion is looking to fix this as well.
Players will now be able to enchant items beyond +15 using what’s called the Amplification System. With this new system, players can essentially add unlimited enchantments, but there’s still a risk. Once an item reaches +20 it will earn a random skill. However, if you fail after Amplification, the item will drop down to the previous max enchantment level.
Confusing? Yeah, it kind of is until you start to play and get into the game. Once you do, this will all make perfect sense.
If you played Aion in the past, then today’s update also gives returning players some incentives to come back. The game will have areas called Abbeys which have been added to each faction’s main city.
These areas will help you catch up with “gear upgrades, daily and one-shot quests and an Energy of Repose recharge pad.”
If you’ve never tried Aion or haven’t played in a while, then I’d suggest checking it out. It’s not a half bad game and it’s free. So there’s that, at least.
