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[Aion] Is Now Completely Free To Play. 3.0 Is Now Live.
Posts
Huh, it can't patch from the version I have installed, so it's going to do a repair.
Huh, it's gotta download 14 GB's. D: At 110KBs/sec.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU!
Try to cross the bridge heading to the north island... and my client crashes. And it crashes every time I try to load the character now too. Woo.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU!
650 ping.
For anyone just wandering into the thread, the US version of Aion (you can access it from the EU too, just with some latency; the EU version is crappy) is 100% free to play.
It's no joke. 100% of the content in the game is fully accessible with zero restrictions for everyone without paying a single cent. There is no faux subscription system like the EU and some other F2P mmo's have; there are no "tiers" of accounts, nothing. If you have an account you can access everything in the game that you could before (and all future content), that required a subscription, for absolutely nothing.
There is a pay store, but what you can buy from it are mostly aesthetic items (like dyes, equipment skins) or buffs (xp, ap, item drop rate, etc increases). These are above and beyond what is in the base game. Nothing is reduced for people not paying a dime, there are no arbitrary limits on things (that didn't already have limits, like lockouts on instances and such).
Things added in 3.0 include player housing (everyone gets a base free house at level 20+, higher tier houses are costly both in initial investment and recurring fees), mounts, level cap increase to 60, tons of systems upgrades for various things including a vastly more useful map, quest tracking (via the map) and more, new instances, better timers on existing instances, level range changes and much more.
Someone above said Aion is a typical Korean Grindy MMO, and while I'll grant that there is more grind than, say, WoW, what grind there is has been significantly reduced from what it used to be, and the leveling rate is drastically better than it used to be. For example, many players managed to get the 5 levels increased with 3.0 on the day it was released. It isn't a situation where you have to grind all day for a single level or any of that nonsense, but people still cling to that stereotype from launch.
It's 100% free folks, no drawbacks to making an account and just checking it out. A lot has changed over the years, so even if you played before, give it a go again. Your old accounts are free too, so no need to start over.
Re: old accounts, I should note that there was some serious hacking going on back early in the games lifespan, so if you played way back when and never touched it again, there's a high probability your account was hacked/banned. But it's a simple matter of contacting support for NCSoft and working with them to get your account back. Many people get it back the same day plus many who have gotten their account back have the bonus of having tons of kinah left on the account from farmers before it was banned. I personally got about 20m Kinah; others have reported getting 50m+ so hey, not bad right? :lol:
EDIT: Ew Pando Media Booster D:
And yeah. Pando. They didn't USE pando before it went free.
So don't take the OP at face value.
What heenato said, what PA presence there is in the game is in Israphel, Elyos. The Legion is named Seven Nation Army, but iirc Elimination was toying with changing it.
Push to bring back the Sorcelators, IMO.
Still getting the crash bug, so going to try to just do a clean install. Woo, get to download 13 gigs again.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU!
I'm not sure if there's anything about the legion that would warrant keeping it over just making a new one (i.e. they've invested kinah to expand it etc), you'd have to ask him.
Right now I have a SpiritMaster, but I don't think I like how he plays.
And the presence in the guild is very lacking. Probably about a total of 6 people that have logged on in the past week.
SM got pretty impressive once you got past the mid 20s. Priests were surprisingly effective as dps and healing. Chanters were rough on their own, but had some pretty good survival skills and with the buffs and heals were needed late game. Sorcs were rough at first, but were great paired with most other classes.
Is melee still at a disadvantage for pvp?
360 Gamertag - LucidStar PSN: LucidStar_BC
EDIT: Although it's interesting that Israphel is locked in regards to making new Elros characters. Can't even just roll a new one over there to get started.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU!
I'm still debating between trying gladiator, assassin, and chanter.
I'd probably jump on that server with you if I was going to have someone to level up with so the game does become an online single player game.
Also, tera beta starts on Thursday, so Aion is likely going on the back burner through the weekend for me.
360 Gamertag - LucidStar PSN: LucidStar_BC
360 Gamertag - LucidStar PSN: LucidStar_BC
Add the pet system and housing to that and I've really been enjoying myself despite my skepticism going in. I'm surprised this game doesn't get more praise, but I guess in the world of rushing to max level and PvP ganking these kinds of things get overlooked? All I know is I had more fun this week than I did at Rift's launch, and I thought that game was pretty great.
I'd be willing to try out the new rifting server, if there was something resembling a PA presence on it.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoawUotNFmFBFMC5glWqYOg
I usually like making a variety of characters before settling on one, so I'll post with my char name once I get a good feel of which one I like best.
How freemium is this? Irritatingly so or can you ignore the cash shop pretty effectively like in STO?
mass effect 3 profile
tl;dr: 100% free. There is nothing in the game that is limited or locked off for anyone. The entirety of the entire game is completely and utterly free. It's no joke, no sales pitch, it is. There are no "tiers" of subs, there are absolutely no subs. The pay store is completely "bonus" stuff, xp bonuses and such on top of what is normal; weapon skins etc. They didn't reduce drops or xp or anything like that for the F2P conversion, the game is there in its entirety, free. You can't buy gear, you can buy bonuses to XP/AP etc, but you still have to go and earn it yourself.
Like the game or not; fair enough, but they're offering something pretty impressive here.
EDIT: As usual I'm referring to the US version; which you can play from anywhere. The EU version is a shitty tiered sub model that no, just avoid it. Other than the hardcore who don't want to lose their characters, since you can play from anywhere really, I can't imagine how the EU version is going to sustain itself since people can just play the astronomically better US version.
Some of the bonus stuff I would describe as "quality of life" items. Pets with 30 slot bags, buffs so you don't lose exp on death & only spend one kinah on flights/teleports, cube/warehouse expansion, things like that. Oh, and some wings with buffs, but my friends who still play tell me that there are better wings available as drops. I would describe "Bonus" items as the dyes, the not-so-vanity pets (they all have some functionality now), the animations, etc. I have perused the entirety of the cash shop, and there is not one single bit of content for sale. The closest I could find was lockout reset tickets. I did notice they're selling some variations of the Inquin candy, but at least the psychopathic penguin will be easy to identify. Also, he'll be adorable as he murders you.
A couple of interesting things I've noticed since returning, you now need a pin. The pin pad has to be clicked, can't be keyed from a keyboard device. The pad pops up in different spots, and the numbers re-arrange themselves. So key and click loggers should be useless. I realize this is old hat to some of you, but this is infinitely better than having to call CS because my phone took a dump on me, or having to not lose another keychain. Yes, I tend to lose keychains. I always find my keys, but the keychains can't stand me.
Also, my friend Ashley discovered she can't spend more than $100 a month on ncoin. This is fantastic for a number of reasons, and makes her husband very happy. I personally like the fact that the broker won't be (overly) flooded with cash shop items, if the pin system ever fails me I'll also be very happy that my CC bill only went up by a $100.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoawUotNFmFBFMC5glWqYOg
She must love her uh...pets? Or something?
EDIT: and everything the CUBE store is QoL stuff; like you said, nothing in there is actual content.
Here's a rundown of what you can buy:
50% XP Increase 1hr
20% Item Drop Increase 1hr
No XP Loss on Death 7days
20% Empyrean Point Increase 7days
AP Boost (no clue how it works) 7 days
Style
Emotes (all permanent, none have durations)
Dyes (The "True Dyes" may be the only thing unobtainable in game in the store; except they can be gotten during special events.)
Equipment Skins (Various types, weapons, wedding stuff etc)
Wings. There are better wings in game, but I think they're unique graphics. Could be wrong
Supply
Instance Reset Scrolls (Likely single use, not sure)
Potions (unlimited use, 15 day duration)
Penguin Candy; no clue what the fuck it does. Looks like fancy buff food. The buffs aren't amazing.
Pets
Several temp pets with various bonuses that pets in game can also grant.
2 Permanent pets. One warns you of enemies, the other loots for you.
And that's it. So far. They insist they're never going to sell content this way; all future patches should be the same "full" content everywhere for free. Unless they change their mind, no actual equipment either; just skins.
And the penguin candy turns you into a penguin. The buffs are meh, but some people make a big deal out of them. I've been selling off the ones I got from the summer heat event in '10. At one point in time they went for 700k kinah on Vaziel. I sold one the other day for 285k on Tiamat, and then got undercut.
The AP boost does not work on players according to my addict friend. I would also point out the bonus weapon was exactly that, and only before the game went f2p. They're also available in game as drops I believe. I really want this to succeed, games that actually are "free to play".
EDIT: I've now sold a total of 4 In 2 days. And I've still got stacks of soulbound buff food from other events, so I don't feel like I'm losing out on anything.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoawUotNFmFBFMC5glWqYOg
Either way, yeah, there's not many people on really. I've only hopped on myself once or twice since it went F2P, as my entire gaming time has been taken up by xenoblade.
There certainly isn't a lack of game to play, for sure, but if you find an active legion or group of people, don't be afraid to go that way.
http://www.alienwarearena.com/giveaway/aion-ascension-exclusive-grab-bag-pet-giveaway
1700 left as of this post.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoawUotNFmFBFMC5glWqYOg
I know I'm pretty late on this, but back at launch the Asmos were on Ariel, which was merged into Siel - people who played Asmo at launch with us would have ended up on Siel, not Tiamat.
I was BG of Witchaloks back then, and I've resettled on Siel Asmo after a ton of server/faction hopping. If anyone wants to roll a Siel Asmo (though there is no more legion; it's just me here) or if anyone has any general questions, I've been around since the beginning and I've played both factions to max level. I don't really play much anymore, but I can still give advice. ;p