(To the tune of “On The Road Again” by Willie Nelson – which, by the way, is totally outside my normal musical selection)
I'm a noob again
Just can't wait to figure it all out again
The game I love is adventurin' with my friends
And I can't wait to figure it all out again.
I'm a noob again
Questin' in places that I've never been
Rollin' things that I might never roll again
And I can't wait to figure it all out again.
That's right. I, Syrana, controller of demons and dark magic artistry, am a noob again.
Well, more appropriately, a newbie… since I'm not completely clueless about how MMORPGs work.
I don't think it's a bad thing though, honestly. I kind of like it. It's sort of refreshing… and a lot of the pressure is off. I mean, I'm not some uber leet Afflication Warlock in WoW. But, I know the game and my class/spec quite well. If there is something I don't know, there are TONS of resources to find what I'm looking for.
Then along comes Aion. It's pretty, it's tempting, it's shiny and new. It's an MMORPG. The basic interface and controls are pretty easy to figure out if you've played WoW or any other MMO really.
But there's so much about it that I don't know yet.
So much I haven't experienced.
So much to learn.
As I've mentioned before, I created an Asmodian Spiritmaster, which is sortof the equivalent of a WoW Warlock. They are both spellcasters and pet classes. Spiritmaster is the only pet class in Aion. They are spirits rather than demons, but they are still there to help you do the dirty work. Warlocks play with dark magic, while Spiritmasters seem to be more elemental in their spells (at least up and through level 17, I have yet to find a delightfully evil spell).
They are both have the potential to be powerful when wielded by a semi-competent player.
I'm still working on that in Aion, in all honesty. Well, let me rephrase that a bit… I can kill things and have figured out a rotation that works for me…
But I have new spells and rotations to learn. Chain skills have been fun, but is different than what I'm used to. And the stats… they are different from WoW.
So, I'm learning new lore, new zones, new quests, new spells, new stats … basically a new playstyle.
It's kind of fun being a “noob” at launch, for once I will be able to say “I played during vanilla Aion.” (Granted, I did technically play during vanilla WoW, but only the last few months of it.)
One of the things that I'm really loving is that I pretty much HAVE to figure this out on my own. Sure, I have friends that are playing too, as well as Sideshow, but the resources for Aion are limited compared to the vast sea of WoW resources that are out there.
And I kinda like it. It reminds me how epic questing felt for me in WoW before I knew about addons such as Lightheaded or QuestHelper. (Personally, I never used QuestHelper, but know plenty of others that do.)
But you know what REALLY makes me look like a noob? When I swap between the two games.
I fumble for my spells.
I hit the wrong shortcut keys which disorients me with all kinds of crazy windows popping up that I wasn't expecting.
B is for Bags in WoW you nitwit! It's I for Inventory in Aion! Crap, why is my spellbook popping up when I hit P in WoW – I'm trying to look at my character. Oh right, because P is for Profile in Aion… you need C here. /facepalm
No really, I do like being a noob again!
I’m absolutely going through the same thing! I made an Elyos Cleric (I think it’s sorta turning out to be like a tree druid). It’s actually kinda fun fumbling around and doing stupid things like say — forgetting to buy your training manuals at level 10 because you’re far too distracted playing with your wings! Ahahaha. Oh getting to level 13 would have been so much easier had I remembered to train…
I’m going through precisely the sane thing, except I’m a prot pally in wow and a Templar in Aion. It can be frustrating sometimes, but I’m enjoying figuring it all out, too. And it’s interesting that when I switch to wow, it feels so familiar and easy… Almost boring.
@Vulpina – Oh yeah! Training is a great point. I’m so used to the idea of training every 2 levels in WoW that I’m never quite sure when I should check with the trainer in Aion. I also tend to forget that I can buy skill manuals ahead and have them on me for when I do reach the appropriate level.
@Becca – There’s definitely that new MMO smell, that is a nice change of pace. No matter how many alts I roll in WoW, I can’t quite get that same “I’m new to this!” feeling again. I still love it, but it’s my comfort zone now.
I’ve also been playing around with a warrior, that just ascended and after much hemmin’ and hawin’ decided to go Templar…. so we shall see how I do with that!
I’m REALLY enjoying the new game feel – I always have. With WoW I was so pre-occupied all the time with getting info up on The Den, that I neglected my own enjoyment and learning. This time I’m taking it a tad slower with the blog and chosing the research my own info as I go. I’m really liking that so far.
And yes, I completely agree to the fumbling aspect, I’ve incorrectly abused my keyboard for not responding on more than one occassion…
@Alexan – I can imagine it was a bit crazy trying to keep The Den going for all of us crazy ‘locks. 😉 I’m glad you are enjoying Aion… and you have great info up for it as well!
[…] Speaking of the beginning, Syrana posted an interesting blog entry on being a newbie again – "I'm a Noob Again." For a bit of podcast goodness, head over to The Abyss Podcast. This podcast has been around for […]
[…] This week I’ll start out by linking you to a couple of useful guides. Let’s face it, guides are great, and they often highlight things that make you go “Huh, I never thought about that!” The Aion Experience is a blog run by a Nezekan Ranger/Assassin. She has posted a number of helpful guides, and I especially suggest having a look at the latest: How to tell a mob’s difficulty. It contains very useful information that is easy to miss—especially in the beginning when so many other things wait to be discovered in the game—unless you are focusing on optimizing your combat performance. Speaking of the beginning, Syrana posted an interesting blog entry on being a newbie again – “I’m a Noob Again.” […]
@Becca
Exactly the same thing here, prot pally in WoW (not to shabby, 36k hp ub) and templar in Aion.
I’m kinda enjoying struggling to keep aggro over the SM’s and Sorc’s. Finishing boss fights in WoW with 50% more aggro than anyone else was pretty boring. Aion is nice and fresh 🙂
oh man do i know how you feel, i played from RFo to Wow to WAR and now Aion! i tried fumbling them and had a massive brain meltdown when Aion first came out. i rock a gladiator now, going from a retrib pally i decided i wanted to bring the hurt,
well i did that and now im lvl 30+ and i still make a couple of wow/war mistakes with the interface lol