The pre-purchase for Aion is now available on Steam. Customers who pre-purchase the game on Steam will be able to play in the full closed beta all the way until the game's official launch on September 22nd, 2009.

In addition to being able to play in the beta, customers will receive an extra seven days of free game time (for a total of 37) when the game launches and several special in-game items that include:

- Attribute boosting hat
- Experience boosting talisman
- Exclusive special effects ring (water)

Additional items are available to those who pre-purchase the Collectors Edition of Aion on Steam, and they include:

- Black Cloud Wings which give 40 seconds of additional flight time
- Black Cloud Earring which gives an HP and an MP boost
- Special character title, "Pioneer of Aion", with stat boost
- Color dye to tint one in-game item
- Two character emotes - Disco Emote and Samba Emote

Check out the full announcement here.

A downloadable Collector's Edition??  What a stupid idea.

Looks like the Black Cloud Wings won't be so special after all... now that there's the 50k of boxed CE's and an infinite number of downloadable ones.

Nothing new. Same thing at the NCSoft store.

I think it's a good idea.. I mean for those that just want the in game items and no box.. which would just rot in your closet anyway =P

Its a good idea . I think the guys at ncsoft know they have a winner . Not much difference these days buying a box or a vitual game really . Lets face it boxes take up space . I think i ll prefer to have the box though but that a personal preference .

Originally posted by googajoob7

Not much difference these days buying a box or a vitual game really . Lets face it boxes take up space . I think i ll prefer to have the box though but that a personal preference .

 

Aye. I personally prefer not to have that box since my space here is limited and I'm too much of a pack rat for my own good. Once I have that darn box, I just can't seem to get rid of it. Cursed I am... I tell you. It's good that we have a choice though. If I did have unlimited space, I wouldn't mind a box just for the sake of invoking memories 10-20 years down the road when going through old stuff. I still smile every time I stumble upon the old Carrier Command box for the Amiga. A shame that I seem to have lost the Elite box for the C64 though.

Is the "play til release" bonus only for the DD versions?

This whole pre-oder thing is getting out of hand. I pre-ordered the game at gamestop 2 months ago and only get to beta test during the event.. then they were giving out free event beta keys on fileplanet and now you can get full acsess to the closed beta by pre-ordering it though steam.

Im guessing they didnt like there pre-order numbers so they keep adding more and more to the pre-orders?

If we do not enjoy the game, can we get a refund from the pre-order like gamestop and every other company does?

Originally posted by ninfanlink

This whole pre-oder thing is getting out of hand. I pre-ordered the game at gamestop 2 months ago and only get to beta test during the event.. then they were giving out free event beta keys on fileplanet and now you can get full acsess to the closed beta by pre-ordering it though steam.

Im guessing they didnt like there pre-order numbers so they keep adding more and more to the pre-orders?

It's a mistake on Steam's part.  The Pre-Order from them only grants access to the events, not full access all the time.

Originally posted by Gendail

Originally posted by ninfanlink

This whole pre-oder thing is getting out of hand. I pre-ordered the game at gamestop 2 months ago and only get to beta test during the event.. then they were giving out free event beta keys on fileplanet and now you can get full acsess to the closed beta by pre-ordering it though steam.

Im guessing they didnt like there pre-order numbers so they keep adding more and more to the pre-orders?

 

It's a mistake on Steam's part.  The Pre-Order from them only grants access to the events, not full access all the time.

I hope your wrong.. I just bought it to get in the beta now.. I will be very upset.

Originally posted by Halow

Originally posted by Gendail

Originally posted by ninfanlink

This whole pre-oder thing is getting out of hand. I pre-ordered the game at gamestop 2 months ago and only get to beta test during the event.. then they were giving out free event beta keys on fileplanet and now you can get full acsess to the closed beta by pre-ordering it though steam.

Im guessing they didnt like there pre-order numbers so they keep adding more and more to the pre-orders?

 

It's a mistake on Steam's part.  The Pre-Order from them only grants access to the events, not full access all the time.

 

I hope your wrong.. I just bought it to get in the beta now.. I will be very upset.

If I can get clarification I will update the story to reflect it.

Originally posted by MikeB

Originally posted by Halow

Originally posted by Gendail

Originally posted by ninfanlink

This whole pre-oder thing is getting out of hand. I pre-ordered the game at gamestop 2 months ago and only get to beta test during the event.. then they were giving out free event beta keys on fileplanet and now you can get full acsess to the closed beta by pre-ordering it though steam.

Im guessing they didnt like there pre-order numbers so they keep adding more and more to the pre-orders?

 

It's a mistake on Steam's part.  The Pre-Order from them only grants access to the events, not full access all the time.

 

I hope your wrong.. I just bought it to get in the beta now.. I will be very upset.

 

If I can get clarification I will update the story to reflect it.

Thanks for the fast response.

*EDIT*

According to the Aion forums on the steam website.. you only get access to the events not one long access period from now until launch. Steam made a typo and now many people.. including myself.. bought it under false pretenses. Steamfail.

Originally posted by Halow

Originally posted by MikeB

Originally posted by Halow

Originally posted by Gendail

Originally posted by ninfanlink

This whole pre-oder thing is getting out of hand. I pre-ordered the game at gamestop 2 months ago and only get to beta test during the event.. then they were giving out free event beta keys on fileplanet and now you can get full acsess to the closed beta by pre-ordering it though steam.

Im guessing they didnt like there pre-order numbers so they keep adding more and more to the pre-orders?

 

It's a mistake on Steam's part.  The Pre-Order from them only grants access to the events, not full access all the time.

 

I hope your wrong.. I just bought it to get in the beta now.. I will be very upset.

 

If I can get clarification I will update the story to reflect it.

 

Thanks for the fast response.

*EDIT*

According to the Aion forums on the steam website.. you only get access to the events not one long access period from now until launch. Steam made a typo and now many people.. including myself.. bought it under false pretenses. Steamfail.

A typo ?  That's total misreprensation.  I know LOTS of peoples would pre-order the game if they could play NOW until the launch.  I almost bought it, but came here on the forum to make sure it was right and my first feeling was right, too good to be true and i was right.  Hopefully i did'nt bought it.

The information is wrong, you don't get to play closed beta (which would be everyday till it opens), but instead you get to play preview weekends such as the one coming up tomorrow and ending on Monday.  You will be able to play 1-25.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10638865

Hello Amanda,

It appears you have obtained the Aion Collector's Edition Pre-purchase from Steam. All Aion Collector's Edition come with the same bonus features. The following article should provide you with more information on the bonus features included with the Aion Collector's Edition Pre-purchase.

Title: Aion Collector’s Edition Prepurchase Features and Bonuses
Answer Link: http://help.ncsoft.com/cgi-bin/ncsoft.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=7277

Should you have any questions, please let me know.

Cheers,
Vivian
NCsoft Account Support

So you dont get accses to CB untill gold on steam?

you get intothe beta NOW like everybody else. but beta is only open on special days.

Like when you get acces to a store thats only open on saturdays

Yup, that's really cute. Just bought the game after jumping through flaming hoops to set up my stupid Korean bank account to work back in the good old United States of Awesome -- and only AFTER did I buy it did that unpleasant little truth get mentioned: "Check out the Aion events page for when you can access the beta!" or something along those lines. I don't remember, all I see now is red.

Red in the bank. Red in rage. And I WANT to see red in blood.

I swore after my Warhammer preorder, "I won't do that again, har har." Well, paint me a moron and call me Bob.

Whose dog should I go poison in revenge for all this?

EDIT: On a sidenote, I also appreciate how although I entered my code an hour ago, my account still hasn't been activated -- because I'd love to make a beeline to THEIR boards and complain. I imagine that the "slow" response is an effort of managing the negative backlash. Really cute.

NCSoft headquarters is located in Seoul, right? I'll go demonstrate outside their office, burning effigies of angels to demonstrate what I can't in good old hangukmal.

Originally posted by Arkudel

Yup, that's really cute. Just bought the game after jumping through flaming hoops to set up my stupid Korean bank account to work back in the good old United States of Awesome -- and only AFTER did I buy it did that unpleasant little truth get mentioned: "Check out the Aion events page for when you can access the beta!" or something along those lines. I don't remember, all I see now is red.

Red in the bank. Red in rage. And I WANT to see red in blood.

I swore after my Warhammer preorder, "I won't do that again, har har." Well, paint me a moron and call me Bob.

 

Whose dog should I go poison in revenge for all this?

 

to ease the pain a little bit , tonite is beta :)

Originally posted by darkrain5

Originally posted by Arkudel

Yup, that's really cute. Just bought the game after jumping through flaming hoops to set up my stupid Korean bank account to work back in the good old United States of Awesome -- and only AFTER did I buy it did that unpleasant little truth get mentioned: "Check out the Aion events page for when you can access the beta!" or something along those lines. I don't remember, all I see now is red.

Red in the bank. Red in rage. And I WANT to see red in blood.

I swore after my Warhammer preorder, "I won't do that again, har har." Well, paint me a moron and call me Bob.

 

Whose dog should I go poison in revenge for all this?

 

 

to ease the pain a little bit , tonite is beta :)

 

     Haha. Yeah, but I'm on the other side of the world. And I work tomorrow. I appreciate the optimism though. ;)

Just so people reading this thread don't get even more confused:

The Steam offer is a Pre-Purchase not a pre-order.

The difference being you can get refunded in full with no hassle if all you have paid for is the pre-order but if you pre-purchased the game you will most likely not be able to get your money back.

I'd also like to add that, while Steam's wording is a little strange, it is not purposefully misleading.  People just don't read enough.

This is what the description of what you are purchasing actually says on Steam:

"Buy now and play the Aion beta for free until the full release this fall! Pre-Sale offer includes:

37 days of free play when the full game releases.
Access to beta and preview events."

If you buy the game from Steam you can play for free until the game is released, you just have to do a little bit of research into what they mean by "access to beta and preview events"

I have no sympathy for people jumping into a binding purchase without researching what they are paying for first.

Yeah uhmm..No thanks.

Preorder is one big, bloody fail nomatter what game you talk about. The way companies make games now(buggy as hell) I would never preorder anything. Last one to fail miserably I know of was that new Ghostbusters game. I was pretty close to buying it when I thought I should check the forums first. Good that I did too. People got alot of trouble with that game on the pc and that failed Securom protection/spyware scheme they automatically install for you. (Got burnt on Mass Effect, which the morons at Bioware STILL havent patched, grrrr, so yeah...)

Anyway, my advice is, check the official and various other forums before buying any game on the pc, and even on them consoles as even they can be quite buggy at times. Funny that, you got a set collection of rules in some non-changing hardware and they still manage to fuck shit up. Don't they bloody playtest the damn things....sigh

Also the € = $ crap Steam pulled is a big turnoff to the whole steam experience. Orangebox and L4D was good, but I don't use steam for anything else than those two nowadays.

Edit: The dude over me is a bloody douche. Misleading information is misleading information. The fault lie with steam, not the consumer allthough we all should become more conservative with our money. Developers today pull stuff like this all the time, que Funcom/Aventurine/Bioware etc...

Originally posted by Dameonk

Just so people reading this thread don't get even more confused:

The Steam offer is a Pre-Purchase not a pre-order.

The difference being you can get refunded in full with no hassle if all you have paid for is the pre-order but if you pre-purchased the game you will most likely not be able to get your money back.

I'd also like to add that, while Steam's wording is a little strange, it is not purposefully misleading.  People just don't read enough.

This is what the description of what you are purchasing actually says on Steam:

"Buy now and play the Aion beta for free until the full release this fall! Pre-Sale offer includes:

37 days of free play when the full game releases.
Access to beta and preview events."

If you buy the game from Steam you can play for free until the game is released, you just have to do a little bit of research into what they mean by "access to beta and preview events"

I have no sympathy for people jumping into a binding purchase without researching what they are paying for first.

     Oh, I'm so sorry for lacking your linguistic prowess. See, to me, "Access to beta" means "beta" as in a singular noun and not an adjective modifying the word "events". "Preview events", to me and others, was its own separate noun that indicated things would happen during the beta that you could participate in.

     Like some epic war or invasion or something that, five years from now, battle scarred and disillusioned, you could look that fresh new player in the eye and say, "I was there." Then hit him with a cane.

      Whether or not it was purposely misleading, you have to admit that it WAS misleading. I did not blindly jump into the purchase, I read the sale closely, I also looked here and read around. Satisfied, at the time, because no one had yelled bloody murder, I went ahead with my purchase.

       Now I'm $60 out, and pretty pissed off. So come down off your god damned high horse or when you fall off it, I'll be there to teabag you.

Originally posted by rlmccoy1987

If we do not enjoy the game, can we get a refund from the pre-order like gamestop and every other company does?

I am extremely curious about this.

This game has gotten my interest lately, but I want to try it before buying it.  It looks like I missed getting into closed Betas... but if I go to a GameStop near me, I can pre-order this (for how much) and be able to play in beta events (like tonight), then not have to buy it if I don't like it?  How do I get the actual software?  Does GameStop give me it?  A code to log on too?

I guess I'm looking for some clarification on the whole GameStop preorder deal.  I'd love to hop onto the beta tonight/this weekend and try it out, then be able to cancel my order if I do not.

Thanks!

Funny watching all the lemmings flock to get their pre orders.  I am going to be laughing at all of you when you find the game is less appealing after you play it for a bit.  This game is NOT the next Wow killer, not even close.  You should know better with NCSoft running it.  All the beautiful graphics in the world cannot substitute for gameplay issues and this game has the potential for many.