Aion is a Massively Multi-Player Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) that was created by a Korean developer. Throngs of online players gravitate to the game because of its complexities, its imaginative characters, and because players can create the essential features of each character, i.e., the voice, face, build, skin-color, type, etc.
What is the Aion world like? The basic plot features the character Aion who is constantly watched by Atreia, the world. Aion created human beings and employed Balaur to keep an eye on them, yet Balaur became power-hungry, which places this character in a direct parallel with Satan. In the process of Balaur’s obsessive campaign, five of his underlings gained super-human strength and became Dragon Lords, but Aion did not let them keep their power, and so these pesky underlings revolted against their creator. At that point Aion was forced to create Lords of Divinity to watch over the Tower of Eternity.
The plot is much more complicated but basically players are thrust into the game as inhabitants of the world of choice: some will pick Elysea, and others will pick Asmodae. At first, tiny, seemingly-unimportant tasks are given to the raiders until they are completed correctly. At that point, after stopping Balaur from being brought again to the beginning area, they hopefully get their wings and become immortalized Daevas.
From this moment on the new life purpose for these Daevas is to protect their people by fashioning themselves as holy servants.
The tone of the game differentiates immensely among the worlds. The environments and landscapes also change dramatically but the major progression and rhythm of the game remains the same.
How many groups and classes are there? As far as classes and groups are concerned, there are eight specialized classes and four basic classes in the game, and when the player finally arrives at level 9, he or she has to pick from two specialized brackets, based on his or her preexisting class.
For example, a Warrior can evolve into a Gladiator or a Templar, and Mages can evolve into a Spirit Masters or Sorcerers. Six players can form a group maximum and all share the spoils that come with victory. There are specific areas of the game that are created mainly for group play, and at other times in the game it is a necessity to belong to a group.
And for those instances of the game that appear highly challenging, an alliance can be formed for battle, which involves four groups at once. Aion has been developing and improving its design since 2006, with the latest testing haven taken place in May 2009. There will be major changes taking place relatively soon, which is hard to imagine because the game is already way ahead of its time.