Bridging the Culture Divide: NCsoft’s Brian Knox on Aion’s Plans to Bring East and West Together at Last

By Steven Crews | June 17, 2009 | | Filed under: Features, Interviews | Tags: Aion, Asia, Asian games, Brian Knox, China, Culture, East vs West, Europe, NCSoft, NCWest, North America

The MMO Gamer: Going back to the middle of that answer, morbid curiosity: What did you find was the best of the East and the best of the West?

Brian Knox: Obviously, the art style of the East we found really interesting. In terms of the overall quality level of it, and attention to detail, and the ability to get the most out of both your engine and your performance.

Aion runs on the Crytek Engine. It’s very… it has a very heavy influence on the actual art, instead of necessarily all the shaders and all the technologies. Because sometimes you can throw 30 shaders at something. It might make it look better, but then nobody can run it, right?

We spent a lot of time on textures and actually making sure that the art was good, so that it would hold up for the long run. And I think Lineage 2 has done a really good job of that, because Lineage II today still today looks really fantastic.

So, that’s one of the things that we took from there.

And as for the West, we looked at the questing systems, and the overall advancement of the characters, and the customization.

Because I think that in previous Eastern games, there hasn’t been as much customization as Western players desire. I think with Aion we’re going to be offering a system that is probably one of the most customizable systems ever to have come along.

The MMO Gamer: So, working as you do on a title coming out of the East, what do you feel the primary differences are between Eastern gamers and Western gamers? Why does there seem to be the great disconnect between the popularities of the different titles?

The Lineage series is a multi-billion dollar industry in Korea, but good luck finding someone who even plays it in North America.

And aside from WoW, the same goes for any Western MMO trying to make inroads into the East.

Brian Knox: I could go on for a long time on this…

The MMO Gamer: Feel free. I think it’s a very interesting subject.

Brian Knox: I do, too. Some of this is kind of my theory… everyone has their opinions on these things.

My opinion is that there wasn’t necessarily a lot of choice on either side in the beginning. They got their games, we were very separate. Back in 2000 or 1999, the Internet wasn’t very good. I mean, it was pretty slow for us. And there wasn’t as much cultural integration between the two sides.

I think that over the past eight to nine years you’ve seen that happen. I mean, a game like World of Warcraft is successful both in the West and in the East, so it’s obviously very possible. I think that just proves that gamers are gamers.

There are people on both sides that like just grind and kill mobs over, and over, and over again. I don’t think that you can characterize the East as a whole as wanting to do that.

I just think that those were the games that were available, and all their friends were playing it. And you know what? They were good for that time, and in that area.

But people started to see new things and they wanted to try new things. Aion is not like that. We have tons of quests, and customization and everything like that. All of a sudden, it’s what’s popular in Korea. We’re breaking all sorts of records there. It’s going crazy in China, too.

So I think that you’re starting to see this more cultural melding. In the world in general, too, obviously.

But I mean, a gamers’ a gamer. They want something that’s fun, and good to play. And there’s going to be small differences here and there, but with in MMO world where you have a sandbox, you can kind of provide those opportunities for both players.

A real simple example is the private stores in game are really popular in the Korean market. So we offer that, also. But, the broker system is really popular in the Western world, so we offer that also. Give players that choice of what they want to do.

There’s a lot of things that have been better here, but there’s a lot of things that have been better here.

But, that’s why we kind of say it’s the best of East and West.

Comments Closed

The MMO Gamer (2 years ago)

#mmo Bridging the Culture Divide: NCsoft’s Brian Knox on Aion’s Hopes to Bring East and West Together at Last http://cli.gs/049jqM
Martin Rabl (2 years ago)

RT @TheMMOGamer: #mmo Bridging the Culture Divide: http://cli.gs/049jqM
Speranza (2 years ago)

THIS GAME IS ARESOME! IT HAS QWESTS!

Sorry Brian you aren't selling it for me. What does Aion bring to the table that makes it stand apart from every other fantasy MMO out there?
- DZz (2 years ago)
  
  Try it, I played the closed beta and it sucked when it ended, the game does tend to keep you wanting more and more of it. I think if you played it you would understand why people are waiting for its release.
  - Guest (2 years ago)
    
    I don't think that answers Speranza's question, as he/she could then ask, "Well, what kept you wanting more and more of it?" Not everyone got to play beta unfortunately. People may be waiting for Aion's release, but that doesn't answer why or what will make it different from the other games out there.
    - Guest2 (2 years ago)
      
      This interview is not about "why", it's just about "how to 'westernize'" …~
      - Speranza (2 years ago)
        
        Yes, but he really doesn't talk about that either in the interview. Most Korean style MMOs are boring to westerners, well me, because they are so cookie cutter. 3 maybe 4 classes, everyone looks the same, everyone moves from coordinate a,b to c,b to kill monster x at level y. Westernizing is adding more quests yes, but there is more to it than that and localizing the dialogue. Each of these changes are interesting and should of been used to talk about how awesome the game IS than how awesome Brian Knox thinks it is.
      - Guest (2 years ago)
        
        Adding more quests and localizing the dialogue IS westernizing it – you say there is more to it, well, what is this more?
        
        As far as what makes Aion different then other games, try reading the whole article next time.
  - Speranza (2 years ago)
    
    WHAT makes me want more? More quests? I had that in WoW, I've had that in SWG, I had that in EQ, I had that in UO. So why do I want to play Aion? Being the spokes person for a game comes with great responsibility .Maybe Brian choked and was worried about what he could and could not say about the game. Is there something that makes Aion awesome and not another clone?
    
    Ever play Perfect World? It sucks, but it was a Korean MMO with quests and good translations. You know why I did like Perfect World. The mapping and navigation system was unique and made me go, "Wow that is something done right."
    
    What does Aion have?
    - lolSperanza (2 years ago)
      
      1. Best customization of any MMO.
      2. Flight and aerial combat.
      3. Stunning graphics.
      4. A great PvPvE system featuring interactive '3rd Race' AI that changes and adapts to the situation at hand.
      5. Unique 'skill combo' system that forces players to pay more attention to what they're doing.
      
      If these things don't seem good to you, Aion is not your game and you may return to WoW.
      - Speranza (2 years ago)
        
        HEY get your own name!
        
        1. Best customization of what? My underwear?
        2. Flight has been done but Aerial combat not so much. This is something I would look into and would of liked to of heard from Brian as being something they are doing to make Aion awesome for both East and West.
        3. Stunning graphics? Really? Who cares. WoW has cartoon graphics that aren't stunning, look at their numbers. Runescape has done very well and it's graphics suck. The Crytek engine though does excite me. The one thing Brian talked about that made me think about the game.
        4. Interactive "3rd Race" AI; The Sleepers in EVE Online do this and is cool. Why not make this a highlight of why Aion is cool? More Quests is suck compared to AI that is adaptive.
        5. Unique Skill Combo? Rogues in WoW =P This system has been offered before, it can suck or be awesome, but I have not seen it much in games yet. Another thing that could of been nice to hear in an Interview.
        
        And thank you I will continue to hop MMOs as I see fit. There isn't one game that is awesome.
- Dennison Uy (2 years ago)
  
  Try reading the entire article instead of just skimming through page 1, it pretty much answers your question.
  - Speranza (2 years ago)
    
    I did read the entire article. He talks about westernizing the game. That part I accept as being interesting and would be something I would look into. But that isn't enough to get me to get an account of Aion.
    
    They are updating the advancement of So does that mean I still only get to choose Warrior, Rogue, Mage but now at level 10 I get to "multiclass"? Been there done that.
    
    Now what about this customization? So is this the player face? The class armor? Or how about something interesting like maybe the player Class is customizable. See that could lead to something interesting and fresh. Something that would SELL Aion to people like me who are tired of the Fantasy MMO's out there. Something that would of been worth talking about in an Interview.
    
    Good Job Steve, I just don't think your prey was cooperating well.
Lani Blazier (2 years ago)

TheMMOGamer interviews Producer Brian Knox http://cli.gs/049jqM
Lani Blazier (2 years ago)

TheMMOGamer interviews #Aion Producer Brian Knox http://cli.gs/049jqM
Aion English EU (2 years ago)

RT @aion_liv: TheMMOGamer interviews #Aion Producer Brian Knox http://cli.gs/049jqM
DraP (2 years ago)

Europe Key )
The MMO Gamer (2 years ago)

Bridging the Culture Divide: NCsoft’s Brian Knox on Aion’s Plans to Bring East and West Together at Last http://bit.ly/15EMIC #mmo #mmorpg
Siam Choudhury (2 years ago)

RT @TheMMOGamer: Bridging the Culture Divide: NCsoft’s Brian Knox on Aion’s Plans to Bring East and West Together http://bit.ly/15EMIC
Ferrel (2 years ago)

I have to say I am impressed with how passionate Brian seems about the game. I haven't been to interested in Aion but the more I read the more I want to know. I also like the fact that the developers have had a few months after release to polish the game before we see it.

It sounds like they're doing everything in their power to make the Western version into a well adjusted product. We've all seen how badly English language ports can be.
adam (2 years ago)

ive played the first beta .it is a good game. giving up WoW for it.
Toast (2 years ago)

its great that you guys are saying how this game is awesome… but why is it awesome?
It seems like aion has every good mmo trait ranging from customization to graphics and from fluid controls to fluid game play.
maybe since this game has all of these traits makes this game worthwhile?idk haha
- Speranza (2 years ago)
  
  Exactly what I'm talking about Toast. The Crytek engine makes it sound cool. I will probably try it just to see whats how they used the engine not because they did a good job translating and adding quests to a game that comes from a market that I find not fun to play in.
Rob (2 years ago)

Just go play on a Chinese server it's cheap and then you'll understand, simplest way to.
Steve (2 years ago)

If you don't like it, you don't have to play it. If you're willing to be convinced into playing it, then go search info/watch videos about it. Maybe you already did and still don't see the point in it? Find something else to play.
- Speranza (2 years ago)
  
  That's what I do Steve. I'm trying to critique the interview more than anything. Brian is the spokes person for the game right here and now, and he let it down.
James (2 years ago)

Im a hardcore elitist WoW veteran who has played since release. My outlook on an MMO or any game in general is the End-game. Past and present i have cleared all the content the game has offered ( pre nerfs, except algalon atm. ) How i see it, and many many people i know see games: how is the end-game. I.E. hows the game longevity. I wanna know if there's complicated *boss* encounters that require good team dynamics or if everything's a zerg-fest.

I read the entire article and could tell he was definitely beating around the bush on things, but as the interviewer and not taking into account WoW's main component of its game and not questioning it is confusing. I understand the simple mechanics of Aion: protect this, capture that, to maintain this buff etc.

But, is there anymore than Just that at max lvl? (caveman voice) We get big group of people. We zerg base. We kill NPCs. We capture base. We cheer. (end of caveman voice) The gameplay style of Nintendo is dead: You play a game to the end, you beat it, and all you can do it play it again.

I see the post of playing on the Chinese server … how would i go about doing that? I dont like the idea of DL'n 12+gigs, but i guess its *cheaper* than buyin a game i may not like. Trust me, I'm sick of WoW. The introduction of hardmodes and all that garbage; the equalization of every class, the dumbing down of the game so every sub-par player can experience nearly all parts of it.
- Night (2 years ago)
  
  I have to agree with u on WoW ive played since its release as well and its not so appealing anymore with the intro to the hero class they have nerfed it down so their not so "hero class" anymore their just normal. Which is why ill be trying for Aion it seems differnt in a good way.
- Fan (2 years ago)
  
  I'd say if you want to try it out for starters, dont go with a different version where a lot of the features they are working hard on, arent there for you (like the actually understandable letters.. unless you can read chinese) or maybe you just dont care about that part
  That aside – personally i'd say just go to a Gamestop or one of the other listed stores that can pre-order Aion from and pre-order it for the 5dollars and get the beta access pass to try it out that way, that way you can try out the events and things in the game and if you dont like it, dont pick the game up when it comes out, or simply cancel the pre-order, $5 is still cheap to try out a game you may like or not
  -imo
Night (2 years ago)

And as far as Aion goes i havent played the closed beta but i will be starting tommorw, but from what ive seen is its very differnt from the MMO's that ive seen and played PvPvE u dont see that in WoW. The ability to fly and do combat while flying is rather ground breaking in my opinion. The Story itself is what im interested in the most ive read both Lore's on the website and i want to continue. the graphics are great but as my friend says graphics dont make the game, but it sure is nice to look at, and the customization on not just your charecter but your weapons armor and even the wings that u can use is staggering, it seems like u could take hours even days on just the customizing. and i for one am excited for its release into the West.
- James (2 years ago)
  
  yea, the pvpve is gonna be interesting and the ever changing AI in the game *sounds* like itll be great; never knowing what to expect. The customization sounds ground breaking for sure. The storyline i actually havent read yet, but i Have spent many hours reading WoW Lore and know a great deal about that and am very interested in how it all ties together esp w/ that game considering it has a LOT of history behind it. The open world pvp is what i like. One of my major dislikes in WoW is the arena system where they spend endless hours of *busywork* trying to balance everything, whereas the game was MUCH more enjoyable in vanilla when it wasnt based around everything being as equal as possible.
Chris (2 years ago)

Ok so as far as customization they mean how well you can customize your characters appearance. Its honestly alot like a sports games customs meaning you have a whole bunch of sliders to changed the size and shape of your facial features. The werent able to change the colors of your eyes in the first beta but it will be in the game. I honestly really recommend you look on youtube for a video displaying how in depth the character customization is, I've even seen some that are quite scary. i.e. one person made there toon look like the incredible hulk and another person made there toon look like Leonardo DiCaprio when he played in The man in the Iron Mask, again very creepy but also incredible that you are really able to make your toon unique.

Next the Combo system is not like wows rogue combo system in the sense there talking about, there are skills that link together and also have a requirement to use one ability before you can use another ability. Each skill looks and plays very fluid and it makes it more engaging combat wise. So if you play a druid on WoW you might hate the combat system if you actually only like pressing 3 buttons to tank or 4 buttons to heal and so forth.

I also think there crafting system is very unique from any other mmo out there at least that ive played. They still have a skill based system and recipes to craft but they also have things called work orders, and what they allow you to do is level your craft without the use all of your own mats. The down side is that you dont get to keep what you make, it goes to the craft trainer that you got the work order from. Another upside from doing the work orders is you get mats or possibly a recipe on turn in. This is the first mmo ive played that also gives actual character xp for crafting.

I really recommend you try watching some youtube vids or if you are able to get a beta key give it a shot.
I mean theres nothing I can say thats gonna help you decide whether or not this truly is the game for you or not, only trying it yourself will let you know if you truly like it.

If you have any questions about something in the game I will be more then happy to try and explain it better for you though.
- Blackledge (2 years ago)
  
  chris you hit the nail on the head. As far as the crafting goes, it is almost exactly like everquest 2, you get work orders, you go start crafting except in eq2 there were button combinations you had to hit or else you could fail the work order…
- sightaggression (2 years ago)
  
  That combo system and the work order system both came from Vanguard. For those that do not know, Vanguard was a game that was released a couple years ago that was supposed to "replace wow." Until SOE rushed its release date and it was released VERY buggy which caused its hype to drop considerably.
Chris (2 years ago)

Another really cool thing I forgot about is everyone hates when they upgrade armor and it looks like crap, especially when there old armor looked much better. In this game you can change the armor to make it look like your old armor. I myself havent done it yet but the idea sounds great.
Toast (2 years ago)

I just played on the CN Aion server, its actually quite fun. It has every good aspect of wow and any other mmos out there. It really is the jack of all trades; quite not the best of mmos but very good one.
Theres soo much to explore but im already hooked on…. ;]
Sebastian Rupp (2 years ago)

@aion_amboss http://bit.ly/cGa80
#aion
Mark (2 years ago)

Sorry but I just can't take Aion, or this talk of 'Westernisation' seriously while they have still failed to implement an option to invert the mouse controls. I believe that many more Western gamers are hard-wired with the need to have the up/down inverted, no idea why, we're just born like that. There has to be a reason why almost every single western game ever released has this option.

They can waffle on about story lines and art direction all they want, but when they have so far failed to even allow the control scheme to be tweaked for a more Western style of play then it points to a failure.
x x (2 years ago)

Unless you have actually played the beta and researched everything on the web, you'll never be able to grasp the beauty, smooth animations, spell effects, and customization this game has to offer. It's very typical of bashers to speak without any knowledge of what they are crying about. I am playing in the Beta and am LOVING it. I was playing WOW up until this beta and now have no desire to go back. Of course it's your typical MMORPG, kill this – get reward, deliver this – get reward. That's what an RPG is. It's in the presentation that sets this game apart from the rest. You can tell they put a lot into it and I for one am glad they did.
Mark Novbett (2 years ago)

Here's the comment from Brian "Xaen" Knox, one of the Aion producers on the Aion beta forums regarding the Y-Axis problem:

"Hello.

We have plans to implement an inverted mouse option. This was part of our early alpha testing feedback that we gathered. This along with a handful of other options should improve usability for the west.

Being a former QA guy I hate to tout things as fixed until I see them in the final working version but this is a pretty important feature and I know that if I had to play inverted in Aion it would be a very frustrating experience.

Stay tuned as we start finalizing changes and features you will be hearing more from us."

As you an see, they are not taking this lightly and they will continue to develop this game. So, yah, Aion will become to best thing that has ever happened to the MMORPG industry.
Danieros (2 years ago)

I really hope the westernization of Aion doesn't go as far as making sure it has appealing dialogues for the west and a smooth release and that's it, then just CTRL+C CTRL+V the korean patches without ever putting the western feedback into place.

But well, this interview shows exactly this, so I really look forward playing Aion as a the first eastern MMO that cares about the west more than the "just copying server files and translating so they can earn more money" route all eastern MMO have taken.
Guest (2 years ago)

I'm a veteran of WoW, CoH/CoV, GW, EQ2, SWG, and a myriad of other MMOs, and also a single-player RPG junkie (Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, every FF game I could get my hands on, etc), so I know what I'm talking about when I say this game seems to be just what I'm looking for in an MMO.

I see components of those aforementioned games in Aion, improved upon in most cases. I've often wished someone would just take a look at all the MMOs we've had – even the unsuccessful ones – and find the good ideas to polish and perfect, then bring together as one. I look at Aion and see bits of SWG, CoX, EQ2, Final Fantasy, and even WoW, along with an original story and some really cool innovations – I just can't help but be excited.
sightaggression (2 years ago)

Inverting the y-axis doesn't seem like it would even be that difficult to code as an option… I'm sure they'll have it in the finished product.