It's the great new MMO we've been waiting for (years) since WOW. AION gets the work/reward formula right.
The opening of the game puts you right into things like every other MMO I've played. However one difference is the area you start in feels really accessible and is easy to get a feel for. I can get lost in video games easily and rarely play a game enough to learn my way around. Somehow AION is easy for me to remember where things are and get around.
AION has the typical bank, auction house, and mail system - you need to be level 10 for bank and auctions. Unlike some MMOs in AION early in the game you can start improving your equipment by placing manastones in the equipment. Not all equipment supports manastones but many do. The manastones can improve your magic or attack or defense. As you progress you'll acquire equipment that allows multiple manastones. This helps keep the fight get rewards system exciting from the early stages on. The drops in the game seem good and unlike many where I would just battle for drops in AION I purchase from merchants and the Auction House as well as sell in both. Additionally unlike some MMOs in AION I have yet (I'm level 18 as of this review) to have a desire to purchase gold or even ask a friend for some - the leveling just seems right and the rewards as well. As many reviews state AION isn't groundbreaking it just manages to get things right. The staging up to level 10 takes a while and is a fun experience in itself. Once you get to be level 10 the rest of the maps/game open up. There are some nice semi personalized cut scenes along the way which I haven't experienced in other MMOs and it adds to the AION atmosphere. Additionally AION characters dress/look different than your typical game and this helps it feel fresh.
I'm a warrior and unlike in WOW where it felt like I was pressing every key on the keyboard one after the other to fight. I actually don't have to press many keys. AION has an interesting chain system where one attack can lead to another and to make things simple you can even set the second chain attack to the same key so in fights you just press that key twice to attack and execute the chain. Aside from not as much key bashing fighting is similar to WOW. AION also has a macro system you can play with as in WOW.
To keep things interesting long term I've read AION encourages and rewards those who chose to play with multiple characters and advance them to high levels. Early on a perk of having multiple characters level 10+ is you can have more items for sale in the auction house (there is a limit to how many items a character can have listed in the auction house at one time). At later levels I've read at 30+ you can have each character acquire a different piece of an armor set. To make sharing between characters easier than emailing in the bank there are slots that are available to all your characters. Seems to be plenty of longevity here.
You can learn all crafting professions. To level up crafting you can spend time fulfilling work orders which is where in a training room you are given a task and some of the supplies needed to fulfill it and a merchant right there to buy the rest. You fulfill the work order your crafting goes up and you are rewarded with a random reward. This is not too exciting but it does allow you to level up your crafting if you have some money and are willing to put in the time - no running around necessary you are constantly improving your crafting. I just recently wanted a nice armor piece and to buy it in the auction house was rather expensive instead I chose to spend a few hours crafting armor and got my skill up to the level for the set and even acquired the design as a random reward for a work order. All told I got the piece of armor at a fraction of the cost it sells for, but I did have to put in a few hours - additionally you get experience points towards leveling up your character not just crafting skills while crafting (as well as gathering).
I found in WOW I would be switching characters/classes every 5 levels or so as it felt a bit monotonous. I have yet to experience this in AION and am therefore still working on my starting character. I've played the game every day since I got it (exactly 1 week ago) and for several hours in the evening and weekend. For a just released MMO this is a very good sign as things should only get better and they are already great.
Hope to see you online.