Source: http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/21/the-wait-is-over-aions-3-0-and-f2p-conversion-announced/

Over the weekend, a dramatic change in the official website alerted astute Daevas that something was up. Well speculation be gone: All betting pools for the anticipated announcement of Aion going free-to-play in North America are closed! Today, NCsoft revealed not only a time frame for the much anticipated 3.0 patch -- dubbed War of Ascension -- but also the news that the title will convert to F2P in at the same time. Already free-to-play in Europe, the game will have a model that is "truly free," according to NCsoft, giving all Daevas the opportunity to experience all content, including lands, dungeons, quests, and levels.

Aion's War of Ascension will bring with it the long-awaited housing and mount systems shown in the visions trailer many moons ago in addition to two new zones, six new instances, and an increased level cap (60) along with many tweaks, fixes, and other features.

NCsoft will also be hosting a Rallying the Troops event to give new players a head start in experiencing the game. This event is an extended trial with an increased level cap of 40 and no time limit. Veterans will enjoy a head start as well with free reactivation for 14 days. Need an extra incentive to check the game out (again)? A permanent boost in XP will also be implemented to help Daevas prepare for the upcoming new lands that can only be accessed by levels 55+.

Eager Daevas and Daevas-to-be can expect these changes this spring. We will keep you posted with more details as they become available!

[Source: NCsoft press release]

Everyone is speculating that bots and hackers will destroy the game once 3.0 hits.

You still have an account on Vaizel Mallace?

Originally posted by SoulSurfer

Everyone is speculating that bots and hackers will destroy the game once 3.0 hits.

You still have an account on Vaizel Mallace?

 

     How would this be any different from the state of the game as of now?

Originally posted by Nailzzz

Originally posted by SoulSurfer

Everyone is speculating that bots and hackers will destroy the game once 3.0 hits.

You still have an account on Vaizel Mallace?

 

     How would this be any different from the state of the game as of now?

100 nails in the coffin instead of say maybe 2?

This is awesome, the monthly sub system is so outdated. There's going to be so many players now.

Sucks for EU players again, we have this free version with stupid limitations (F2P gets less character slots, less money for NPCing items, and so on). USA gets truly free, I guess it will be like Lineage 2 truly free, no limitations at all, you just get a cash shop. Consider yourself lucky.

eu players can play on this na servers?

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Originally posted by burakyt
eu players can play on this na servers?

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I hope so.

Originally posted by Fancy

Sucks for EU players again, we have this free version with stupid limitations (F2P gets less character slots, less money for NPCing items, and so on). USA gets truly free, I guess it will be like Lineage 2 truly free, no limitations at all, you just get a cash shop. Consider yourself lucky.

lol if its goin to be like lineage then i would recommend u to never touch that game. the lingae 2 f2p version is totally pay 2 win.

i have been playin the eu f2p beta and the cash shop right now is fair. i hope it will stay like this in the future but u never know.

Originally posted by PsychoPigeon

This is awesome, the monthly sub system is so outdated. There's going to be so many players now.

I was always a heavy supporter of Aion because if you had a computer made after 2008 and not running on a toaster the combat was just flat out amazing. This is pvp with HEAVY CONSEQUENCES. If you were a general and someone ganked you, then you faught your nuts off not to die.

A fort being captured determined how much you like the game. The concept that strategizing with your faction could literally force people in the other faction to want to unsub. I do not believe it should have ever been p2p. All NCSOft West is a bunch of translators honestly. They do not develop a damn thing. 

Originally posted by khartokhar3

Originally posted by Fancy

Sucks for EU players again, we have this free version with stupid limitations (F2P gets less character slots, less money for NPCing items, and so on). USA gets truly free, I guess it will be like Lineage 2 truly free, no limitations at all, you just get a cash shop. Consider yourself lucky.

 

lol if its goin to be like lineage then i would recommend u to never touch that game. the lingae 2 f2p version is totally pay 2 win.

i have been playin the eu f2p beta and the cash shop right now is fair. i hope it will stay like this in the future but u never know.

You want a truly f2p game but wont play it if its p2w ?  How do you expect companys to pay employees or add content ?  Do you think money comes out of no where to pay hundreds of employees  ?

People complain about a p2p sub model, but where do you think that money goes ?  thats right in any game thats not wow with 10 mil players that money goes right back into the dev team.    Why doesnt it all go back into wow ?  Because no dev team cost what wow makes.  You realize in games like rift they probably break even every month just because they're employing so many people to add more content to please the playerbase ?

Originally posted by William12

Originally posted by khartokhar3

Originally posted by Fancy

Sucks for EU players again, we have this free version with stupid limitations (F2P gets less character slots, less money for NPCing items, and so on). USA gets truly free, I guess it will be like Lineage 2 truly free, no limitations at all, you just get a cash shop. Consider yourself lucky.

 

lol if its goin to be like lineage then i would recommend u to never touch that game. the lingae 2 f2p version is totally pay 2 win.

i have been playin the eu f2p beta and the cash shop right now is fair. i hope it will stay like this in the future but u never know.

You want a truly f2p game but wont play it if its p2w ?  How do you expect companys to pay employees or add content ?  Do you think money comes out of no where to pay hundreds of employees  ?

 

People complain about a p2p sub model, but where do you think that money goes ?  thats right in any game thats not wow with 10 mil players that money goes right back into the dev team.    Why doesnt it all go back into wow ?  Because no dev team cost what wow makes.

yep i want it to be f2p like the eu version right now...no pay 2 win stuff in the shop but different sub options..and btw where did u see me complainin about the p2p version? to me it would be still the best if the game would stay p2p. i have said before i only will keep playin the game if its not goin to be p2w.

Originally posted by PsychoPigeon

This is awesome, the monthly sub system is so outdated. There's going to be so many players now.

Your right Psyco its awesome for MMO tirekickers and people who dont like to dive deep into PVE end game or participate at the highest levels of PvP.   But for those of us that do the free 2 play model is a financial nightmare.   But dude as long as your having fun tooling around in F2p game after game after game thats all that really matters right?

Like you said paying a resonable price for the best a game has to offer is so outdated...............

Originally posted by snapfusion

Originally posted by PsychoPigeon

This is awesome, the monthly sub system is so outdated. There's going to be so many players now.

Your right Psyco its awesome for MMO tirekickers and people who dont like to dive deep into PVE end game or participate at the highest levels of PvP.   But for those of us that do the free 2 play model is a financial nightmare.   But dude as long as your having fun tooling around in F2p game after game after game thats all that really matters right?

Like you said paying a resonable price for the best a game has to offer is so outdated...............

I've played no monthly fee games before and it was not a nightmare, it's just a myth people like yourself parrot. If you cannot support your game on a regular basis as such was the case in Aion then it does not deserve a monthly fee. Logging in and only having a handful of people to play against is boring and just turns more people away.

There is nothing wrong with not having a monthly fee and selling cosmetic items or items that help socket stones, don't buy them if it bothers you. And what the hell does the game going no monthly fee have to do with high end pvp? All it means is more people to play with, are you scared about competition?

Aion is a great game overall but more than most MMOs you need a healthy population for it to shine.  Hopefully the f2p model will draw enough in to get the most out of the game, it would be a shame otherwise.  IMO Aion wouldn't have to go F2P if it weren't for two major events, the second causing a domino effect.

The first was how the bots were handled, or not handled for too long a time.  This was right after launch and when you want to show your game is not "another Asian grinder" bots running rampant for months just doesn't cut it.

Second was the unrestricted transfers NCWest allowed when they merged servers.  There was an "ad campaign" to get all of one faction to a certain server and it was successful... if you want to call it that.  This tilted every server one way or the other and without going into specifics it trivialized a lot of what made Aion great.

Over the past year I've come back a few times hoping to get the fever again but the smaller base and lack of Abyss PvP turned me off.

Originally posted by Puremallace

A fort being captured determined how much you like the game. The concept that strategizing with your faction could literally force people in the other faction to want to unsub. I do not believe it should have ever been p2p. All NCSOft West is a bunch of translators honestly. They do not develop a damn thing.

 Indeed, strategizing with your faction during Abyss wars was fun and the most exciting part of the game IMO.  If you are talking about Vaizel after the transfers "strategizing " is a bit of a stretch.  Oh, people from the other side did unsub but it wasn't due to the expert knowledge of the other sides leaders but more the x3 advatage and NCWest's refusal to roll back the transfers. 

Edit: You wouldn't happen to know any of the people who campaigned for Asmos to all come to Vaizel would you Pure? 

Originally posted by PsychoPigeon

This is awesome, the monthly sub system is so outdated. There's going to be so many players now.

I don't think the monthly sub is outdated at all. The issue with the monthly sub is that it's not clear what the players are really getting for their money. If anything, it seems that one might get less for their sub than in previous years.

As far as having new players, "sure" you get new players but what type of players are these? People tend to pay for things they value and treat it as something of value.

What type of communities can be built from such a group of people who really have no stake in the game world other than they can come in and troll a bit until they get bored. Not everyone of couse but you get my point I hope.

I would much rather have alternate pricing options over a free to play game.

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Originally posted by khartokhar3

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Originally posted by Fancy
Sucks for EU players again, we have this free version with stupid limitations (F2P gets less character slots, less money for NPCing items, and so on). USA gets truly free, I guess it will be like Lineage 2 truly free, no limitations at all, you just get a cash shop. Consider yourself lucky.

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lol if its goin to be like lineage then i would recommend u to never touch that game. the lingae 2 f2p version is totally pay 2 win.
i have been playin the eu f2p beta and the cash shop right now is fair. i hope it will stay like this in the future but u never know.

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'Pay 2 win' might be a problem for PVP lovers, but I'm not a fan of PVP. I do like it occasionally, but I don't rage quit when I get pwned, lol. PK is not an issue, unless I get 1 hit killed / ganked, I have nice tricks to aviod PKers (sleep, root, stealth, or something like that, then I run for my life). XD I would never waste money on any of these games, I will quit both when GW2 comes out.

But yeah, I hate limitations because I don't pay money either way. Limitations are good for people who eventually decide to buy extra character slots / bag spaces / etc, or decide to upgrade account to gold. But for a casual player like me, NCsoft's truly free system is better and more comfortable. BUT I do understand your concern, cash shop can ruin a game. Unfortunately, there are too many weirdos who are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to get more power (especially in PVP games like L2 and Aion).

The limitations are really bad, 22 hour cooldown for the battleground? 2 hour if you subscribe 10$ a month. No thanks.

and thats how ncsoft backstabs gameforge....

1 day before EU release of f2p no less

Originally posted by emolith

The limitations are really bad, 22 hour cooldown for the battleground? 2 hour if you subscribe 10$ a month. No thanks.

Where do you see this? And you need to say if your talking about NA or EU as EU is run by Gameforge and NA by Ncsoft.