Over the years I've seen a bunch of anti-Aion propaganda (mostly on WoW sites), but I tried this game anyways, since it was free.

And Free speeks.

The game engine is really good, I joined a guild (mostly nubs like me) and we all asked the higher ups, "why is this game free?" and they chuckled, and said "This game is great when people play it, welcome."

Aion is a good example of an awesome F2P system.  Download for free, play for free.

NCSoft realizes that to make a F2P MMO popular, some people have to play .. for free !! (like me).. Populate a server with friends, and magic happens :)

I'm not cheap, I'd give money to this model .. as opposed to say Blizzard who has a game going in the toilet ...

I think F2P is a good future, and NCSoft did a good job.

The new Aion 3.0 F2P is very good for someone whos looking for a F2P kinda mmo. I too myself had made a account when it went F2P and I had been impressed and had been enjoying my free gaming. With the upcoming Gw2 which is also F2P and if they do it right, I believe a lot of future MMO/AAA games will follow the F2P road. Only problem is some might go down the P2W road and that is unfortunate.

I really like the model too. I wrote an article recently about it.

http://morgaren.hubpages.com/hub/Aion-Ascension-A-new-philosphy-in-Free-to-Play

I find the whole philosophy behind the model to be refreshing, and quite risky but I think it will work for them in the long run.

I think this quote says it all

"No account restrictions. Visit any zone, chat in any channel, sell any amount of stuff on the trade broker—nothing is off limits!"

Unlike and everquest 2 that basically restricts everything you do unless you pay 14.99 a month.

Its the best f2p mmorpg out there easily and with 3.0 its simply amazing

Yes its hard to believe that this game is really f2p there is more content etc then many p2p mmos and its very high quality.

The new Aion 3.0 F2P is very good for someone whos looking for a F2P kinda mmo.

lots of good in Aion, still some bad though too. I see no sense in paying a sub for games when Aion is  free.

I like it. It does have a lot of gold sinks though. And lvling crafting is so so awful.

I'd like it more if mobs died faster. Even ones below your level take a bit.

Its amazing you get so much for free.

Aion does have the best free to play model of all the f2p titles out there but please do not make aion sound like its such a great title when its a triple A title that failed badly with subscription. Aion is a asian grinder from day one and its taken them all these years to finally get it through their thick heads that the west do not like grinding and forced pvp. Yes it had forced pvp at release and for a long time after even on pve servers. Anyone that has played aion before 3.0 can tell you how grind heavy the game was back at release and why people left in droves. You guys forget Aion was called a wow killer before it released just like warhammer and rift and many other titles that fell short.

Also you guys shouldnt blame wow propaganda , it makes you sound like your wearing a tin foil hat. WoW players isnt what caused aions problems it was aion itself that did with crappy patches for years and tons of grind.

I like how they really and truly went free to play.

Everquest and EQ2 did it completely wrong.

i can agree totally here as EQ2 and even turbine now show how greedy they really are but hey as long as people keep spending money in their cash shops they will continue to be greedy . So we as players have to put our own foot down sometimes and make a statement.

Has anyone tried the "pve" channel?  Call me a masochist but I like the pve in the game, but don't really feel like doing pvp anymore.

The only thing that put me off updating is that it require installing Pando Media Booster to update the game.  I love their F2P model though.  It is a lot like PWI.  I like that model too.

Originally posted by tet666

Yes its hard to believe that this game is really f2p there is more content etc then many p2p mmos and its very high quality.

That would be because Aion was a P2P MMO that tanked and so had to be given the F2P treatment. it was always a good game. it just never had any traction in the west and many found forced pvp annoying.

Originally posted by Leethe

Originally posted by tet666

Yes its hard to believe that this game is really f2p there is more content etc then many p2p mmos and its very high quality.

That would be because Aion was a P2P MMO that tanked and so had to be given the F2P treatment. it was always a good game. it just never had any traction in the west and many found forced pvp annoying.

I think the bots and patch that ruined siege war in the abyss had more to do with it than people simply disliking PvP, although I do remember the nerf to rifting and having to camp out in the enemy territory in order to enjoy it post nerf.

Aion is not a bad game. It just had some weaknesses that turned people off. Stuff like:

- bizzare randomness in everything, drops, enchanting, skills landing, socketing. It is not uncommon for people to do 100+ boss runs and get nothing usable. Some spend 100s of millions on socketing a single gear piece, others get it on first try. etc Aion rewards luck better then effort.

- Long cooldowns on good skills, raids etc make the randonmess feel even worse

- +++enchanted PVP gear giving a sick advantage while being really hard to get (no, the lowbie sets are crap, even at +10, these days you need 55 eternal at +10 or will explode when a sorc is looking into your general direction)

- Missing server side check for lots of stuff. That allows people to walk through walls, disable gravity to get everywhere and gank melee classes that have no chance to fight back, kill bosses without getting hit once and so on

- Widespread usage of radar hack

- Class balance. Sorc > all - except maybe a lucky gank from an unexpected pro assa out of hide (while the sorc is afk, cooking tea and not using that widely used radar (;

You might not agree, but I've seen a lot of people leave due to these reasons.

I just started and am pretty much a nub to the game too, what server is your guild on?

I play an eloys on Kahrun if anybody wants to hook up.

Originally posted by Karteli

Over the years I've seen a bunch of anti-Aion propaganda (mostly on WoW sites), but I tried this game anyways, since it was free.

 

And Free speeks.

 

The game engine is really good, I joined a guild (mostly nubs like me) and we all asked the higher ups, "why is this game free?" and they chuckled, and said "This game is great when people play it, welcome."

Aion is a good example of an awesome F2P system.  Download for free, play for free.

NCSoft realizes that to make a F2P MMO popular, some people have to play .. for free !! (like me).. Populate a server with friends, and magic happens :)

I'm not cheap, I'd give money to this model .. as opposed to say Blizzard who has a game going in the toilet ...

I think F2P is a good future, and NCSoft did a good job.

yea i too love aion.. and i even like to freely pvp, adds a lil spice to doing quests.

Originally posted by Pantera_Rosa

yea i too love aion.. and i even like to freely pvp, adds a lil spice to doing quests.

Yeah it's a good time :) I'm still having a good time.  P2P is so far gone to me, it's not even funny !

To the poster asking for my info, I don't give that away, sorry :/