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Aion: Balancing the Linear and the Sandbox
MMORPG.com Aion Correspondent Brandon Stiles writes this look at the way that the game's developers mix the design philosophies of a linear themepark with ideas taken from a more sandboxy approach.
Editorial By Brandon Stiles on September 01, 2009
The other day, I was reading through some of the forums and I noticed an interesting thread about Aion being too linear in its game play. I thought this was an interesting topic as some people were saying that it should be more of an open / sandbox style game. While on the other side, people were expressing that they were fine with having some structure and guidance in the game. This got me thinking about what I feel an MMO world should be like.
advertisement Looking at traditional pen and paper role playing games and how a story unfolds, there might help in understanding about the right way to have an MMO story play out. Standard RPGs usually have between three and six players and one game master. The players create their characters and control their actions by telling the game master what they want to do or where they want to go and how to interact with non player characters (NPCs). This is pretty much the same with MMORPGs. Players create their characters and use the keyboard and mouse to tell the character what to do. The game master's job, in a nutshell, is to create a story or goal for the characters to accomplish. They can use a pre-made adventure as the setting for the characters. These games lead the players from one encounter to the next to tell a story in a fairly linear fashion. Game masters that create their own world may have a game that is more of a sandbox style. Players are able to explore the world and learn about it as they go along. Both could be fun to play in their own way. With a linear style game players experience the entire story, but may not see the whole world. In a sandbox style game players may be able to see everything but not feel that they are doing anything other than killing monsters.
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In my opinion, Aion is somewhere in between a linear and a sandbox game. From the opening cut scene, I got the impression that there was an interesting history that leads up to the current time in the game. As your character completes quests, you discover more pieces of the story and learn that you played a bigger role in the struggle between the Elyos, Asmodians and Balaur.
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The campaign quests that you pick up through the game must be completed in order and reveal more of the story. I would agree that these quests are linear and are designed to get a character from point A to point B in the story.
For example, when your character first wakes up in the initial zone of the game and you complete the first few quests, you see that they lead you to your first campaign quest. The campaign quests, in turn, lead you to your ascension quests. Much like the pre-made adventure in a pen and paper RPG, the game is leading you through the story. If this didn't happen you would just be running around killing Kerub and Zaifs or collecting Angelica. Yet you are not limited to just going along the path from one quest giver to the next. I like to wander around an area and see where I'm able to get to on the landscape and what areas are just backgrounds. I discovered that there were some areas of the map that I couldn't get to, but for the most part you can explore the areas that are opened on it. Not a complete sandbox, yet roaming around was interesting.
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While wandering around the different zones, you'll find a fair number of side quests to pick up from quest givers and some random NPCs that also give out quests. For me this adds to both the sandbox part of the game and expands on the history and flavor of the story. Let's say that I just completed one of the campaign quests and on my way back to the NPC, I kill something that drops an item that starts a side quest. I can go do that side quest, which may lead me to an area that I have not been in. I am not forced by the game to complete it. If I don't do that quest, does it impact what happens to my character? Not really, other than maybe not getting some extra experience points or some other reward.
But these quests give the NPCs lives of their own outside of being just a quest giver and add flavor to the story. One might have you stealing a robe from a nymph that is swimming in a pond in the middle of the night while another has you collecting flowers for a fisherman's secret love. I feel these are more of a sandbox part of the game since you do not need to complete them. Another feature that I think would fall into the sandbox side are the Flight Transporters. You do not have to walk to a new location that has a Flight Transporter in order to use it. A more linear approach to them would require that your character walk to that new location before you can use the new Flight Transporter. In Poeta there are only two Flight Transporters, one in Akarios Village and the other at Melponeh's Campsite. When you get to Akarios Village if you want to fly to Melponeh's Campsite you can.
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I feel that the development team has done a good job of making sure that there are enough areas to explore and discover hidden things while making sure that you always come back on track so that the story of Aion progresses. For me, this creates a fun experience that will keep me playing and be watching for updates to the game that may add new content and hopefully open up areas that were unexplorable. Could it be more open, it's possible. Is it to linear, my opinion is no.
This could have been any MMORPG out there. Yes, I'm playing Aion for sure.
The problem that I have with Aion, though it is the only game I am looking forward to playing and can easily imagine playing it for quite some time, is that the world seems so deliberate.
there isn't any sense of exploration.
in a game like Lineage 2 or Vanguard the worlds are large and there is a sense of "oh wow, what is that". Of course Vanguard takes it to a far greater extent than L2. But in aion, at leas up to the point that I got, lvl 22, the areas are carefully crafted so that there is no, hey, I think I'll go that direction for a while and perhaps I'll see something new.
I suppose what I"m trying to say is that the areas are very theme park. Very well constructed but with the idea that "this area supports these quests and here is a path to another area".
My preference is a far more open world. I'm essentially looking for the morrowind or obivion type of game world.
A good article. I like when you guys address the debates on the boards. :D
I played till 30, Aion is so linear it makes WoW look like sandbox.
WARNING: Having to play same zones over and over for your 1-20 gameplay with all your alts WILL cause projectile vomiting.
Aion being a sandbox...right.
Personaly, I would be more carefull about credibility loss due fantasizing staff.
Just my 2 cents.
Nothing he called a sandbox element, was a sandbox element...
dude i like u articles, but i think NOW u done too hard on those mushrooms
_
Maybe I misunderstood what sandbox meant but to me AION isnt it
Sandbox to me is not a large area to walk off into..but
- diverse range of activities to do not just fighting mobs
- ability to contruct and or alter the landscape in some way ie a city etc as if you were playing in a sand pit making sand castles
- a lot of customisation choices
if it doesnt meet those its not a sandbox to me..some games do or did..pre NGE SWG, UO being the most obvious..tale in the desert and probably even Second Life for extreme sand box
This article is nothing but advertising for Aion. I hope the author has been paid well. You need every single quest to not grind your way up. When doing every single quest and repeat 1005 with every single alt, this is as far away from a sandbox as you can be.
A sandbox would be a bunch of choices, which you simply don't have in Aion so far. You can choose to do all the quest or to grind grind grind. You don't have the choice to level here or there, doing this with you sorceror and come back later to do something else with you gladiator. You will do exactly the very same thing with you second, your third, your fourth and you fifth charakter.
There is no such thing as a sandbox in Aion. It might be somewhere in the future though. We will see. Why I talk about a fifth char? Because there is a hidden quest, you can only do, when you level five different chars up to lvl 30. When you have done that, come back and tell us about the sandbox.
Aion is a nice game though, much better than the article we discuss here.
Sad to see such comments that indicate they only read the title :( ( for the simple minded: never was mentioned that aion is pure sandbox ). Many even seem the misunderstand the concept of sandbox :s
It was a great read and more of an insight in the possibilitys of the sandbox type integration in mmorpgs.
Keep up the great work :)
It doesnt matter what MMOs u play m8 u will always to the same thing with 2nd char then 3rd char and so forth.
DAoc for example I had 8 lvl 50 in one realm and still and more in other realms
Its not the point that u have to do it all over again, the point is what u do when u get max lvl. even u Wow fellas have done the same thing loads of time maybe not the first 10 lvls but then u remembered u did get good xp in that zone over there, and u start doing same zones.
Daoc started when u hit 50.
Looking forward for loads of lvl 50 pvp/siege and slaughter and some pve raids from time to time. Point of this game is to beat the opposing faction into the ground.
Seriously hope for faction pride and hate, as the good old days of daoc
Ppl just nag to much imo
What an odd article. I've taken time to read up a bit on Aion and absolutely nothing whatsoever in that games strikes me as sandbox style. I will freely admit that it does appear to be a bit more feature rich than wow, but not by much. Crappy crafting, no player housing, no player cities, linear quest progression (althoug the middle cataclysm zone or whatever the heck it's called sounds quite interesting), and the wow type resource system. Nothing about that says sandbox to me. So you can skip some quests? Or find some side quests? You could in wow too.
I realize that not everyone's idea of a sandbox is the same, so I'm not going to be a complete jerk here. However, I will say this is probably the worst mmorpg.com article I've read and frankly I don't believe the author has much of a clue of what a sandbox is. Let's just leave it at that.
Never played a sandbox, eh? Or even a game outside of linear progression? There *are* mmos that do not force you to level, you could even become a crafter and never leave your home city and never fight one mob. Or become a politician and never fight one mob and never leave your player city. Or you could be a fighter who never does one single quest but simply kills what it wants to. In old pre-cu swg you couldn't even have a second character unless you bought and paid for a second account. In eve, you can do missions, or join a corp and never do a mission, or become a miner and mine your way to riches without ever doing one mission.
There *are* other options. It's a shame you're not familar with them.
i have played sandbox mmos, latest it was Darkfall but that game aint exactly sandbox imo
Also played EVE for around 2 years so yeah i know what a sandbox game is
ive played alot of MMO's and IMO .... i see things this way yes it could of been a bit more not so much flying time in the abyss are areas to get places im happy with a sweet teleport class or a scroll or a totem them port me all over as long as i am a certain lvl or something of that nature
" it's too Ethereal flying rings! "
sand box
is WoW
!
enough said
we all understand your comment !
Have you quested in WAR? I felt the same about that game, and would like to know if it's similar, because I didn't like it in WAR.
Aion isn't a sandbox game...in MY opinion, a sandbox game (of which there really AREN'T any right now - with EVE probably the closest) is a game that allows you to go anywhere, and do anything, and (this is important) CREATE anything.
Galaxies had many sandbox aspects, and some games that have come before and since as well (there was one in particular that is on the tip of my lips but I forget what its called)...even FE has promised a more sandbox experience through a complex crafting system...but all of the games are still limited by WHAT you can do and WHERE you can do it.
A true sandbox game would give the player a world in which they can create and destroy cities, build an empire, recruit an army, build any item that could be found in the game (or object, ect.), and actually still function...which would require very dynamic gameplay in order to keep the young-ones happy and entertained.
In short, we should stop hoping for a real sandbox mmo experience and just take what we can get... =/
aion is not a sandbox
Where do you get these wing ding correspondents? I mean come on, Aion is about as far from a sandbox as fire is to water.
Dear Mr Stiles, sandbox games do not have classes and levels. Aion does. Next time look up the definition of a sandbox before you make yourself look silly discussing nonsense.
Aion is a well done theme park. Let's leave it at that.
in that one episode of shaman king that bad guy turned his fire element into a water element to defeat the x-laws.
so clearly that episode of shaman king proves aion is a sandbox >_> or something.
im glad freebasing is allowed before coming up with an article idea. MMORPG.com is an equal opportunity employer.
Sandbox. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Hmmm the classes and levels have nothing to do with whether it's a sandbox or not, it's the structure of the game.
Please post this game definition that says omiting classes and levels makes a game sandbox.
No, I don't think AION is a sandbox either, not even close on a bad day.
Classic! tyvm!
Are you sure you know what a sandbox game is yourself? Because it's not about classes or levels.
Regardless of our definition of sandbox, I think we all agree AION isn't a sandbox, the reviewer is either well paid or retarded.
After reading the article myself, I don't see how Aion has the sandbox elements that the article describes. The author is talking about the difference between main quests and side quests, claiming that side quests possess some sort of sandbox element. I don't think I can agree to that. You could have a game in theory full of side quests, in other words, quests without some sort of progression towards a main PvE goal and still not have a proper sandbox "experience". Daily repeatable quests come to mind, I don't think that somebody can argue that they contribute to the sandbox experience of a game.
On the other hand, if said quests appear (or disappear) through a more dynamic element (perhaps due to a player's action, like overhunting in a certain area), then these quests could contribute to the sandbox experience. I don't think that Aion possesses such kind of quests (from my very limited exposure).
I think the author was trying to describe an experience similar to what Oblivion (single player rpg) was giving. In other words, a main quest plot that contributed to the main story, but also enough content outside the main quest, that a player could theoretically ignore the main story indefinitely and do his own thing. Under this light, one can argue that a lot of games possess "sandbox elements". Unfortunately, while it is ok for single player games to diversify in this way from the main plot, most MMOs become very thin games once you strip them from their linear main story driven line. What's left for the vast majority is mob grind, and I don't think that one can argue that at this point in MMO evolution mob grind can be considered a sandbox experience. From my limited exposure to Aion, in the PvE side of things there isn't much one can do once you stip the game from the main linear quest and the mob grinding. Bottom line, Aion PvE has very little (to none) PvE sandbox elements.
PvP is another beast though and it's there where the expectations for a sandbox experience in Aion reside. The world conflicts always had more uncertainty than the more structured battlegrounds or arena grounds. In this regard, yes, Aion can potentially possess a lot of sandbox elements (there is still no total freedom, like the ability to build some permanent fortifications from scratch for example). That's the main reason people are more exciting talking about PvP than PvE as far as Aion is concerned, even if both those two elements (especially with patch 1.5) are equally strong.
If you actually read the article, he is saying that Aion has sandbox elements. Not that it is sandbox. I acutally like a more linear game anyway. It really makes you feel like your toon is connected to the game. Were as in WOW its all about haow many alts you have have because you can't raid tonight :P
That is very often true of the DikuMUD-styled MMOs, but not of all MMOs.
One of the distinct benefits of sandbox design in an MMO is that each character can have a unique history - no two characters follow the same path unless you really make a concerted effort to do so. More importantly, each community and each server develops a unique history, as well.
I agree with you on your points that Aion is a well made theme park and that the correspondent doesn't seem too familiar with the topic he is discussing, but I'm not sure about that level/sandbox point.
Shadowbane had levels, yet it was very sandbox focused in its design. Whether the presence of levels and levelling was a positive feature or a detraction from core gameplay is another story entirely. :)
Aion is about as theme parked as an mmo can get. The idea of it mixing the best of theme park and sandbox is laughable since there is nothing remotely sand box about it.
Lets keep it simple.
Sanbox: Open, free to do almost anything and go anywhere.
Linear: speaks for istself, led (via game mechanics) from a beginning point to and ending point.
The only thing I can say for now is that ncsoft is one of the few companies that added bunch of dungeons,quests in a patch when it's about to get out in NA and EU.
I wouldn't be surprised if they added more content from patches if they find it necessary instead of always waiting for an expansion like most games do.
Aion is as sandbox as i am a fish
How did this person become a correspondent? Has to be a bad joke.
If you want to see a sandbox, go back in time and play SWG, or try second life for example.
Looks like most people just read the title, without looking at all at the article itself.
In the article he mentions sandbox elements. He doesn't claim that Aion is sandbox. Whether one agrees or not of the game has sandbox elements is open to interpretation, but the title alone does not do justice to the article.
We did read the article but you can't blame us for author's inability to understand the difference between game design and game feature/content.
Also, I would be very much interested in what a 'sandbox element' is supposed to be.
Sandbox is a game design and as such, any part of it alone is meaningless.
What 'element' he talks about is a mystery to me...
While the author lists some of the reasons why the leveling in Aion may be actually enjoyable (at least for the first playthrough) I dont think these things are sandbox elements.
If there is any kind of sandboxing in Aion it'll be in Abyss.
If Aion is sandbox, then every freakin' korean F2P is sandbox, cause you can grind mobs for xp everywhere you like :D
I stand corrected you can have levels in a sandbox game and not detract from it's sandbox qualities, but you most certainly can't have classes, they restrict your ability to develop your avatar the way you want to.
Sandbox games are generally highly dependent on a crafting system to provide everything in the game, Aion's crafting is an afterthought at best.
Even associating the word sandbox with Aion is absurd, but this is a forum and I guess even wacky ideas have to be discussed.
I understand what the author is saying, I don't know if it is correct, because I haven't played Aion.
But what I think he means is that you have more freedom to explore and quest or grind than in other mmo's.
I can give a similar example :
DAoC is not a sandbox, but the RvR in DAoC is more sandboxy than the RvR Campaign in WAR.
In DAoC you had the choice to attack / claim any keep, or pass them all up and go straight for the Relic keep and take the Relic. Or only take enough keeps to open up Darkness Falls. If you took the Relic and placed it into your own relic keep it would stay there until an enemy realm took it back. This could be hours, weeks, months or even years.
Point is, the choice was yours, the world was open ( not instanced ) and there was no magical timer to reset the relic back to another realm.
Now in WAR everything is alot more on rails. You have to take a certain amount of keeps, you need your part of PVE or Instanced PVP, you need 2 of 3 forts ( which are capped in numbers for the defenders ), then you have to win a couple of instances, and then you can get into the city. If you conquer the city, you will automatically get booted after a while.
The whole campaign is on rails, there is little choice and alot of instancing, the RvR areas are small too, so small gangs always run into zergs.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that DAoC felt more "sandboxy" than WAR because you had more freedom to chose your path.
And perhaps this can be said as well about Aion vs WoW ...
I have to disagree with the definition of 'sandbox' as it is used here in this article. The whole idea of leveling in Aion requires one to reach a certain experience level and move on... whether it involves the campaign or side quests. This, to me, is not the definition of a sandbox. Unlike EvE Online, where one can stay in the High Security Areas for as long as one wishes and still accomplish something; in Aion, one has absolutely no reason to stay in the lower level areas after they have done all the quests and reached the max level for that area. In Aion, one's whole purpose is to level up by going through the various level defined zones. One has no choice but to move on to the next area and forced to play the grind game, which to me is not the definition of a sandbox. In something similar to EvE Online's design, one is not required to go anywhere unless one desires to do so.
So, my opinion is that Aion is not a mix between the grind and the sandbox design, but purely a grind game to get to the end game... whether in PvE or PvP. Aion is not a sandbox game at all, because it does not support doing something based on the results... only gaining experience to move on. Aion does not have the depth in its design to make it a sandbox game... again, in my opinion.
...and yes, I have played several of Aion Beta weekends, so I have experience with the game.
I think Aion is a PvPvE themepark game not much sandbox at all.
Now FFXIV has a nice blend of character advancement from a sandbox with the world of a themepark. Also Heroes of Telara looks to be trying to blend Sandbox and Themepark from a PvE perspective.
One key way to tell the difference between a sandbox and themepark is looking at how they expand. Sandboxes often expand by expanding their features, systems, and core game while themeparks expand with content tacked onto the end of their game.
Aion does expand a tiny amount in systems, features, and core game, but most of it is content.
I find it funny that this person is already making claims about FFIV and there are only a handful of vids of the game at all so far lol....
Anyway, Aion leveling up is definately theme park based. But the end-game is RvR focused, which is far from a theme park and more along the lines of a Sandbox.
I thought this article was going to be about Themepark leveling up and Sandbox end-game... would have made more sense that way.
These comments are not neccessarily true.
For the first comment - Eve's ships are more along the line of classes - they justify your general movement speed, your amount of firepower, the "weight" of your weapons, the possible special mods you could have such as cloaking, and were specifically focused towards a certain "job", yet do not detract from the sandbox qualities as they are highly customizable.
Second comment - crafting is not necessary in a sandbox game. Asherons Call is one of the best sandbox MMO's that have been released and the majority of items were not crafted. Although a few years in they did add an awesome system that let you tinker your gear pieces and weapons, which fit in with the sandbox gameplay perfectly.
I read and wached a lot about Aion, but this article is the first time that the thought "Aion" and "Sandbox" were somehow brought in connection in my brain. Aion got nothing of a sandbox game. I mean writing articles is great, but writing an article saying how much Aion got of a sandbox game and how great Aion is... what is that article good for? Fodder for fanboys and advertisment for the game, but nothing else.
What sandbox? the game isn't even explorer friendly. From all the info i've gathered the game world is about 20% the size WAR.
The article seems to be written with the assumption that sandbox is synonymous with open-ended. I think that's a bit too narrow a definition to be a good basis for an article, but that's just my opinion. However you choose to look at it, the game is mostly linear. More so than many competing themepark MMOs, and the sandbox elements are few and far between. If it gives enough illusion of freedom to keep the target audience happy, they got the balance right, though. AoC is a good example of a game that was too linear even for the themepark crowd at launch. WoW got the balance about right, even if it is very far from being a sandbox game. Aion may do the same.
Linear was not the issue of AoC, and not being linear was not the strength of WoW.
AoC lacked polish, and lacked decent content.
At release, if AoC had polish, a decent end-game, a decent progression of gear, and something to actually do at end-game, people would have played.
Linear isnt necessarily a weakness in the MMO game, as long as there is good progression, and a "carrot on a stick" in front of you. In games like AoC, it's very hard to push yourself to keep playing, if there is nothing to look forward to at the end of the tunnel. That's how theme park games survive - most people dont enjoy the leveling in theme parks and typically cant wait until its over, but they have an end-game to look forward to.
Just think of when you play a rerolled char in a theme park MMO and cant wait to get those last few levels over with...
As long as Aions endgame works properly, and is fun, people will put up with the linear progression, just like they do in every other theme park MMO.
I used those two games as examples because they are both extremely linear themepark games similar to Aion. Noone in their right mind would call either a sandbox game, but like all other MMOs they do have some sandbox elements (optional content, multiple paths to the same goal, etc) to take away from the tedium of levelling.
In AoC, levelling to 80 would be the exact same experience every time except for your class being different. Even those who wanted, and expected to play an extremely linear game were not happy with the levelling process in AoC. Because of the plethora of other problems the game had at launch, this might not be the one problem most people remember, though.
In WoW you have some choice at most levels, and you can work on tradeskills at any level. Levelling an alt or two to see content you missed out on the first time around is entirely possible, and WoW players seem generally happy with the amount of freedom the game gives them. They don't want more choices.
Based on that WoW got the "balance between linear and sandbox" right, while AoC did not. Aion may be more like WoW in that regard, but it doesn't even have a fraction of the sandbox elements it would take to please those that are vocal about the lack of sandbox games on the forums.
'Sandbox element' is meaningless term, a nonsense.
To make a game sandbox, you don't need any specific features or content, it is how those two interact between each other, towards players and vice versa.
EVE's complex crafting is no more 'sandboxy' if you do not include death penalty, POS wars, research, mission running, plexing, etc.
It is how crafting works within wider frame. You remove the frame, you remove the idea.
If you actually read the article, he is saying that Aion has sandbox elements. Not that it is sandbox. I acutally like a more linear game anyway. It really makes you feel like your toon is connected to the game. Were as in WOW its all about haow many alts you have have because you can't raid tonight :P
And many of us are saying that the "sandbox elements" he mentions do not qualify as "sandbox."
1) He thinks that the quests given from npc's that are optional = sandbox-like because something is happening in the game world other than the campaign quests.... ummm... the whole notion of a quest-giving npc is THEMEPARK and linear, whether the quest is optional or not... To add insult to injury, one of the lesser points of an otherwise great games is its cookie cutter "kill 10 XYZ's" quest formula... which hearkens back to the THEMEPARK as well.
2) The article crows that exploring Aion's zones give it a very "sandbox" feel. I don't know what game the author is playing, but the zones are *hardly* open to me and I sure don't have an aching desire to explore considering how the zones are constructed. I agree with another poster that the zones are very functional, in that you walk along a path and that going left might take you to some npc's while going right might take you to where you kill mobs for those npc's (frequently the mobs and npc's are in the same place). I guess it's just that the zones are beautiful, they feel somewhat large, but they are not something to point to as far as something that makes you thirst to explore.
With choke points, hills/trees/bolders, clever use of angles... the zones are actually somewhat claustrophobic. Even in the "largest/most open" areas, I feel like I'm in the center of a gym. Sure, there is a lot of open space around me, but I still perceive the walls along the perimeter. I think they did an okay job giving you a sense of space in Aion, but anybody who feels like the zones are very open and invite exploration is smoking some good shit.
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I'm sorry if what I've said seems negative. Believe it or not, I really enjoy Aion and will gladly devote myself to it. I find the world immersive, enjoy the music, and think my legionmates are good sorts and that I will have a great time adventuring with them. However, I don't delude myself into thinking some of the core components of its linearity (standard quest format+a fairly preplanned zone design) are "sandbox elements."
As others rightly point out, the PvP will likely provide some true sandbox elements... but, c'mon. The article seems like "ad copy" to me... especially given the cheesy screenshots (which have what bearing on the writing again?). It feels like a hack job, as if the author was paid off to spin the game as something its not ("hey everybody! check out this game with a good balance of themepark/sandbox!). Or, maybe he's just a fanboi. I don't know. I still find the claims/examples outrageous.
It's a good game with great polish as far as art direction and music goes though. The gameplay is tight, grouping is enjoyable, and the world draws you in. Notice, nowhere in that description have I mentioned that it has sandbox elements. The PvP will likely prove dynamic (i.e., "sandbox-like"), but anybody who feels Aion has a "good balance" between Themepark and Sandbox either doesn't comprehend what those words really mean, is a fool, or has other motives for portraying the game as something it's not.
I kind of agree, but it's just semantics. As I said in a previous post, I think the article just discusses open-ended versus linear game design and what is done in Aion to make the game feel less linear. Introducing the sandbox term to this discussion just leads to misunderstandings.
That said, there are certain design concepts that are common for most sandbox games, and certain that are common for most themepark games. When something adds to the sense of player freedom in a themepark game, I don't think it's wrong to refer to it as a "sandbox element". Similarly, I don't think it's wrong to describe the introduction of clear goals and guidance to reach those goals in a Sandbox game as a "themepark element". It might not change the overall feel of a game much, but might be enough for a player who prefers sandbox games to enjoy a themepark game, or give a player who prefers themepark games enough guidance to stick with a sandbox game.
I should not have quoted you since it was not really aimed at you directly.
My apologies.
I wouldn't say it is just semantics when you do not use proper terms for description.
Not only it is misleading but it looks ridiculous and unproffesional especialy comming from gaming website staff.
The big thing that killed my enthuiasm for Aion was when I was running quests in the 15's or so. The landscape was pretty, but in many ways it may have as well have been a canyon. The pathing was painfully painfully obvious.
Plus after a while, the lack of flight areas really bugged me, espically in the first zone. You can fly here, now you can't. Just felt weird. Plus it doesn't help that practically any time you read about the game or listen to an interview they are always gushing about flight like it is a brand new innovation. Flight this and flight that, and don't forget flight! Really? Because I can fly in Champions Online or City of Heroes. All the time. Anywhere. As much as I want...
I know flight isn't quite on topic, but in many ways it does lend itself to this arguement. If Aion was more of a sandbox game, then I think you could just fly wherever you wanted. Maybe still have a flight timer, but there is no reason that you ca't fly in the woods off of the Asmodian city, other than they want you to have to fight through enemies instead of traveling to point A fast. You can fly in some spots, but only where allowed. In all the other areas you do not even have an option. In my opinion, flight in Aion is a more linear feature.
Maybe it opens up more in later areas. I would hope that you can fly all over the Abyss for example.
If you want a TRUE sandbox MMO, I point you at Wurm Online. Go play that for a month and then come back and tell me you really want a sandbox. In Wurm you can literally change the landscape. Want to dig a hole through a mountain? You can. Want to build a city, go for it! I found it fascinating...and yet tedious hehe.
From what I hear, the Abyss you can fly nearly everywhere, and you have much longer flight time while you are there as well. The only places you can NOT fly, are when you are directly approaching a fortress during a siege. I hear they have some choke points strategically placed around fortresses to encourage some tactical battles for the forts - which is why you cant fly when you are directly sieging. But 99% of the abyss is supposed to be flight-enabled, and encouraged.
I definately understand the dissapointment with linear leveling though, but these days I do not expect anything else from a game that is not designed as a full sandbox - over 90% of MMO's are linear leveling these days - not just the asian themed ones (like some people in this thread are suggesting).
i agree with Oz "Where do you get these wing ding ideas?" dang Oz ??? You did not have to slap MR So & So... with your own passion filled opinions and aspects on "Aion" i think you enjoyed to give a bloody lashing to the people that can not see the difference between a sandbox game and a more ethereal as AION is in my opinion AION has surpassed every game out there to this day im a BLIZZARD fan but i will not be going to DIABLO lll or SC 2 .!.
and i cant say there ever will be a better game than DAoC.!
"OZ"
Aion is a well done theme park. Let's leave it at that.
I agree Oz... BUT, all in all we do know, there is always going to be a few bugs!
yes you can fly more but not all the time comparing this to COH is like comparing a bigstick to a regular ice-pop... true we can not fly as much... also AION is not a game that give us as much difficulty in campaigns as Dark age of Camelot did, but so what stop crying in time they will fix it you think they want to lose out to D lll or some other MMO!??? NO they do not.
as for the asian themed one's they always seem to be the best one's ! hands down, nough said lol .!. some one also was bringing attention that the lower quests seem simply maped out... i know what you mean but not every one like to go looking for something for 3 hours for a stupid standard quest... and some one spoke of landscape what about it so it seems in areas very open and in others very nice im not here to be the GRFX 'Artist Dick' to say damn we need more details in GRFX in landscapes NO im not into like landscape so much! give me more special effects in spells and spealization to make each person unique in looks as their doing!
although i do wish we got a guide from the company ! it be nice for useing shards and crafting and other things, making a choice on who is what and what they do.
Your right the comparisons are not fair, but since you got in to it anyway...
Sure you can keep flying in CoH/CO, but neither of those games were designed for PvP - they are PvE centric with some PvP in addition.
I like Aion and have played beta and will play when launch, but I do have to say I don't see an actual sandbox feature. I mean you still get to choose what to do outside of fighting and questing, but nothing really push it into the zone of sandbox, actually not even close. I am just being fair here, I don't want Aion to be suffer from too much hype.
I do have to say PvPvE in the Abyss sounds exciting enough. Aion in my view would be a normal linear game that offers more choices than pure linear, but the path stay straight forward. However, the true appeal of Aion would have to be that once you get into PvP and higher boss PvE. The game becomes much more interesting, and the balancing work NCsoft done this time is rather impressive. This is not taking in account of player hacking and all the abuse of exploits, since those are really more of player's own behavior and not NCsoft's. As long as they do better management of bots, I am pretty certain it will entertain me for quite a while if not becoming a stable game for me all together.
You also can't make a mistake with your character as they progress so no real need to re-roll, customization is all based on how you socket and obtain equipments and Stigmas. Only reason to re-roll would be a different class anyways.
The words sandbox and Aion should never be used in the same sentence. It is the easiest and most linear MMO I've ever played. It's a straight line from lvl1 to lvl17 (furthest as I muster the strengh to get to). It's has it's strenghts and I'm sure things will be more interesting in the Abyss, but it just wasn't for me.
All these colors, centered text and large font does not help you getting your points across, I for one am not going to try and read them. Besides that, I find it pretty rude, it is almost as bad as someone typing in all caps.
All these colors, centered text and large font does not help you getting your points across, I for one am not going to try and read them. Besides that, I find it pretty rude, it is almost as bad as someone typing in all caps.
Do i give a rats arse what your opinion is when it is not pertaining to AION or a game topic in general... dude yourself a favor go away !
I guess when someone doesn't have anything of use or interest to say, he uses bright colours and pictures to gain attention.
Still leaves it without use or interest though.
HAPPY NOW?
what is it with you people attacking others, for your own gratification, does it give you a hard on ? you must have a retarded issue in your life iff you need and feel you must point things out on me my GOD this is not what the boards are for ... i'l retract my COLOR use and posting things that don't DIrrectly pertain to AION ... my Lord there goes of speach. DeDeDe!
I haven't posted so far, I'm just doing it to say that the coloured big fonts were actually harder to read, so I kind of skipped them. I'm responding to this uncoloured last response, because it was easier to read. Thanks for that change.
well i thank you for being honest... when the other chaps had their say i thought they were just looking for some one to slap around and disgrace in a forum. i apreciate your post and honest feed back i will keep the AION posts to a issue based topic.
Long live Azmodea!!!
PS: forgive my typos im handicapped.
The author doesn't seem to understand what a sandbox is, and is basically describing your standard theme park mmo, such as WoW and related clones.
Agreed, not only do i think that the author has no clue what a sadbox is, it seems that neither does NCsoft.
Nothing against aion, or theme park games, ill be enjoying aion come launch, but dont call it a blend of linear gameplay and sandbox elements.
The world is very linear in aion, and the campaign quest assure you dont stray too far off the designed path.
Distinct role classes, with distinct and very limited equipment choices.
Absolutly no character building aspects, i cant make a CC mage or a pvp dd mage, i can only make a mage (and then sub class it) No stat control, no skill control, just equipment upgrades and limited skill upgrades via sigils (wait is it sigils or am i confusing that with tcos...whatever they call it in this game)
The fact is, when you create your character, and choose its class, your future in aion is set in stone already, which is anything but sandbox.
I think the sad truth is that no game will ever be really successfull as a true sandbox. kids dont want to be dropped of into a world with no guidence, no path to follow, no quest locators on the mini maps so they dont have to listen to the npcs or read quest text. After all, you cant roll the best pvp class when there are no classes...can you now...
After playing OB, I feel the writer is justified by saying he feels it is balanced. I liked both aspects of the Linear and Sand box as he described. I found in wow and others, you lost the sense of the story and just went around killing monsters and pvp with absolutely no idea why you were actually doing this, which got tedious after awhile. By making sure you continue the storyline thru the mission quests, I felt there was a purpose to the game and a reason for end results. I have created my chars, belong to a great guild, and look forward to pre-start, even tho I know its going to be mass of madness that day.