Testing the Waters

I think I had a little too much fun putting together the image at the top of the screen for this blog. It's not the image I initially envisioned, but I like it. I'll improve upon the design later, once I can get more camera time in Live. In the meanwhile, I love making attractive artwork entirely with Microsoft Paint.

I'm glad you chose to stop by. But why would you want to stay?

Well, I'm hoping that you're a curious person.

I'm a curious person by nature. I have loads of questions floating through my head, and I do all that I can to find answers to those questions. Here, I'll be answering the questions I have about Aion. I'll do my best to answer your questions about Aion, too, if you share them with me.

I've been playing Aion since the second Closed Beta Event, and Aion has quite thoroughly impressed me with its design and execution. I've therefore dedicated this alcove of the Internet as a display for the results of my explorations in Atreia. My explorations will be manifold:

• I'll be doing a large amount of theorycrafting and testing

• I'll run both solo and group content, experimenting in each

• I'll be actively throwing myself into any PvP or PvE events I can find

• I'll even delve into some roleplay work with the characters I create - I can't help but get attached to them.

All of the characters I'll be playing will be Asmodian. It's a purely aesthetic choice, as there are no racial benefits or penalties in the game, so I won't try to veil the fact that the Asmodian design and culture appeal to me more than the Elyos. I'll save explanations for the RP to come: simply put, Asmodians remind me of stories from my childhood, and so they make me happy.

My primary character, at present, looks to be a Chanter. The concept is stellar in my mind, the playstyle is smooth and forgiving (a handy quality in the lag-plagued betas, at least). They seem readily adaptable for group work. I'm not sure how strong the healing of a Chanter can get, but I'm determined to find out - I'll give Clerics the best run for their money that I can, and still run the mantras and debuffs that my team needs. Perhaps the approach will fail, and I'll have to pick up a Cleric to heal without being jeered - nevertheless, I'm curious.

I should also mention that I have a small addiction to the crafting engine in Aion. The leveling scheme is truly a grind, and relatively expensive, but a good book after farming for a level solves those problems. Then, not only have I read a good story, but I've gotten to the fun part of crafting: providing equipment for others, with the added bonus of HQ-procs. I'll invariably be crafting on the side of my adventures, so be sure to ask for crafts if you run into me. I'll blame this interest on the engineer in me...

For those of you that are, in fact, curious people, you may have run across my other blog - RITES. WoW was, indeed, my most recent gaming endeavor. My subscription has been active for roughly two years now, yet is due to expire in October. Before WoW, I played FFXI for about a year, and some months of Anarchy Online and Planetside. I've dabbled in a few others, but nothing has gripped me like Aion since Planetside (which lost me when lack of other players online completely destroyed the game - zero PvE content is dangerous in such a vast world).

I've filled every group role in MMOs, though I've generally preferred Tank or Healing assignments; DPS never quite clicks for me. Rycharde, for instance, tanked everything I could find before I realized just how trivial his job had become. And so, I'm moving on in hopes of finding a more comprehensive, dynamic challenge.

After all, the curious mind bores of simplicity very quickly.

With that, welcome to Recherché! (for those of you who were wondering, alt+130 is the keycode for the "é"). I'm here to answer questions and solve problems that Aion poses. If you have any questions or problems of your own, please share them - I'd be more than happy to help as best I can.