Aion Infornography

There’s a small buzz around the ‘Net, and it revolves around NCSoft East’s 9-minute trailer introducing the expansion for Aion, including a ton of new features such as housing, town sieging, mounts, and more. Here be the trailer for said goodness:

Now, I’ve always advertised that optimism is a good thing, and that we should endeavor to manage our own expectations properly upon seeing cinematics and trailers. Still, this is a good strategic step forward for Aion, mostly because it takes advantage of a concept I call “Infornography”, a desire to fulfill one’s own desires through the overload of info that can only come from marketing craziness like the above.

The reason why I call this a smart move for Aion is that it has shown an anticipation for the MMO community’s tendency to be fickle and tourist-y when it comes to titles. While Aion has enjoyed some level of success, the inevitable march from honeymoon to reality (and all the problems that come with it) has led to some players feeling rather hesitant about making the jump to the natively Korean MMO. Some have even stopped subscribing altogether, due to shattered dreams or expectations not met – in other words, the same thing that has happened to almost every MMO release since WoW.

Just as the cusp of this love affair ending, NCSoft East comes out with the above “Visions” trailer, a visual orgy of features, graphics, and full-steam-ahead promises. For the players still subbed to Aion, the trailer provides with it a beacon of hope, a validation that the game isn’t going anywhere, and an exciting hype-buildup to brand new features and content to aspire to. For those who have chosen to stop subbing, “Visions” provides a roadmap, a marker to come check the game out at, and an interesting look into solving some of the game’s core problems. Either way, NCSoft wins.

More companies should work to be this strategic about their marketing. Taking into account the very real and sometimes depressing behavior of today’s MMO players, and then rolling with that, is something that can only really lead to success in the future. Regardless of whether you like or you dislike Aion, you probably took a look at the trailer – and no matter what the reaction, NCSoft has accomplished its mission in doing just that.

Well played, Aion. Well played indeed.