Wot?! Double XP & the Gifts Keep Coming!

Aion just announced double xp weekends for the next three weeks for levels 1 – 35!  After that, we can expect double xp weekends once or twice a month.  Because the fix to the xp grind in the 20’s – 30’s will take some serious development time, Aion is spreading around the xp to help us Daevas out.  As of this week’s patch, Soul Healing is also going to cost less forall  levels and  increases to the experience bonus on Energy of Repose  for levels 20–44.

Santa Shugo’s On His Way With Goodies …. nyerk!

Yes, kids… there is a Santa Shugo!  And he’s due to arrive soon… in the next few days.  According to Community Manager, Tamat: “I can’t give an exact date but unless Santa Shugo turns into a flesh eating zombie and destroys the world, you should see this in-game near the end of next week! :)”  Gosh!  A flesh-eating Shugo?! That would be cool for next Halloween!  Ok, ok… back to Solorius.  It was announced on Saturday (Ya, I know I’m late with this post.) and I got a giddy about an in-game event. (No, not like that Halloween candy bit we got in October.) This festival is a real event with trees and presents and shugos and something that looks like an evil Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  Hee hee! (Check out the official announcement & same previews: http://na.aiononline.com/forums/general/view?articleID=9979)

By the way, doesn’t Santa Shugo look sporty in his monocle?  So what will we be dreaming of in the meantime till Solorious kicks off?

• A GIANT PIANO! Yes, the kind you can jump on and make noise…. or a cacophony.  Whatever floats your boat!
• Bakers selling holiday goodies.  You know like Nana Shugo used to make when she letyou lick the spoon.
• Friendly Festive Shugo Peddlers with holiday loot for sale.

So warm up your kinah because Shugos don’t take plastic and get in on the first in-game holiday for Aion!  Happy Solorious Everyone!

Patches?! We DO need those stinkin’ patches!

OMG! I was so excited to see that the patch is ever closer. (Read the Official Patch Notes)  and I was overjoyed to see that the search box in the Broker is getting some improvements.  I like playing in the Broker house and making some extra Kinah for my trouble, but searching for items is … well… painful to say the least.  I took my fellow blogger’s advice (aionexperience.com) and used the first letter of each part of the name but admittedly that didn’t always work out.  I was still thankful for the work-around.  Here’s the official skinny on how the new and improved Broker Search will work when Patch 1.5.1 hits North America Servers later this month:

The search system of the Broker window is now more convenient.

–         When searching for an item in the list tab, you can set options such as “Include Keyword” and “Match Keyword.”

–         When you select Include Keyword, the system searches for items that include the keyword. Match Keyword searches for the item that directly corresponds to the keyword.    

–         The item name automatically appears in the search window when you right-click while opening the list tab, or left-click while holding down the <Alt> key.   

–         The item is registered when you right-click on the desired item while opening the Quantity tab.

Last Day of Harvest Revel

And the final Harvest Revel reward: A hat which turned me into a Pumpkin Head! If only it could make me impervious to Elyos sneak attacks….hmmmm!

Happy Halloween!

No Tricks, Just Treats… Veterans Rewards Announced!

So on Monday night, Aion Source reported the following statement from NCSoft regarding the Harvest Event:

“Harvest Revel is an ancient holiday that was celebrated since before the Cataclysm. It has since been rediscovered and subsequently redefined by the Asmodians and the Elyos based on the drives and needs of each of those societies. This year for Harvest Revel we decided to focus on telling the story, and while I can’t reveal much about our plans for upcoming holiday events, we want to craft holiday events for the future of Aion that resonate with both the game lore and the cultural norms of the West while embracing the potential for fun and diversity from the Eastern game.”

Ok, so there was a little disappointment but the candy that turns you into a cute Fungie or a Drakie…. cool!  I just wish they would’ve made that a little more clear in the original announcement.  With all the talk of  a hunt I think we all got excited about some live event and then it never happened.  But guess what?  NCSoft is giving away treats in the form of Veteran Rewards!  That’s right, we’re all getting rewarded for playing the game.  Currently, you can read about the monthly (that’s right, monthly) rewards up to six months.  Some really awesome loot for sticking around as they try to combat bots and gold spammers.  (I know I’ve reported these guys before.. they show up and farm in basically the same areas and change their names slightly.)  So let’s get back to those tasty treats we can all enjoy as we keep auto/reporting…. Check out the awesomeness that is Veteran Rewards starting November 4th: http://na.aiononline.com/veteranrewards/

Harvest Revel Day 3 Update :: Candy is Dandy, but…

Candy is always great, no matter how young or old you are!  Day One greeted Revelers with Candy which transformed you into a Sparkie!  Awww… well, it’s better than that Mumu Farmer! LOL  And I have to say bobbing around with my keister all lit up was fun!  I was expecting decorations or something in the environment to tell me it was Harvest time, but I figured… meh it’s Day 1.  It’s a slow build up.  Then Day 2, and it was pluma candy.  Hmmm… I may wear a pot on my head sometimes, but I do detect a pattern here.  Still, I waited for the eclipse… or a hint that the Big Hunt was coming. 

teh cuteness dat kills

Now, Day 3 rolls around and … you got it…. more candy.  But it’s a Fungie costume.  Awww!  The little guy IS really cute!  And he’s got no legs so he bounces around and wiggles his toe mid-air.  Alright NC Soft… no more treats!  We want to hunt!  Everyone wants to know when the Big Hunt is coming so we can earn a cool title and run around like bots grinding Taygas or something!  And where’s the eclipse… ain’t it supposed to be all dark and scary …. ok, it felt good to get that out.  But I’m just sayin’….  pleez make this more of an Harvest Revel event.

J!NX Gets Aion-ized Loot!

I’m sooo excited!  My favorite geek-wear company, J!NX is offering a line of official Aion shirts.  I saw the news flash across the Aion website and immediately went to see the designs. 

J!NX really hit the mark with this line.  The artwork is beautiful and cool all at once.  The shirts with the wings on the back are perfection.  The women’s shirt is sold out atm. (QQ!) But they will get some more in a few days.  I would love to see the dragon shirt in a women’s version, but I was totally happy to see that the undead version was already being offered for men and women.  After all, chicks like uber-undead too!  Although the Daeva shirt is an Elyos character, it is sooo beautiful you can’t deny it.  (Does the girl look like the one from American Pie to you?  I keep waiting for her to say, “One time in band camp, we were playing Aion and….) They’re all going on my Christmas wish list, but I’m not sure I can wait that long.  I may have to buy one to hold me over.  I still love my Murloc shirt, but these Aion shirts are so good, one comment on the Warrior Shirt said, “I don’t play Aion, but the art on these shirts is so beautiful, it makes me want to get them.”

Harvest Revel Update

Another tasty tidbit as you drag out last year’s loot bag to find that you left some bits of candy there from last year. (Can you eat that year old tootsie roll?)  NCSoft rolled out news yesterday of all its Halloween events for all of their games like Guild Wars and CoH/CoV, but they also released this little addition: “Halloween Hat and candy that will transform players into in game creatures.” Wot?!  Yes, a fashionable hat that turns you into a creature from the game.  Gosh I hope it doesn’t turn me into a Mumu Farmer…. I’d hate not being able to see my toes past my belly roll.  No wonder you can’t always loot the belt, it’s prolly stuck in there.  Eeeew!  Ok enough horror for Halloween…. enjoy the Revel in 3 more days!

Revel Without a Cause :: Aion’s First In-Game Holiday Event

Starting October 25th, Aion will celebrate Harvest Revel, its first in-game holiday event!  Harvest Revel ends on Halloween (Oct 31).  And we all know that you don’t need a reason to party!  One thing I did enjoy inWoW were the holidays.  It gave me something else to do besides raid, and there were always surprises and goodies.  Ok, some issues with Dark Iron Dwarves one year (gosh, I hope that’s what they called) interrupting BrewFest.  But I digress… this is about the Aion Halloween Event. 

What’s unique and creative about this event is how different it will be for the two races in the game.  Because of the eclipse, the Asmodians will revel in the dark celebrating with an epic hunt led by the Wild Kurthanir hunt leader.  And since hunting can take alot out of a Daeva, there will be lots of traditional dishes to cook and eat!  While the Asomodians are hunting and eating, the Elyos will have their own set of consequences.  They will be invaded by the walking dead.  Villages in Elysea will be overcome by these creatures from the grave, and Dark Knight bands will form to chase them back underground!  (Sounds like Zombieland)  Aion promises new lore and “tasty treats” every day. Happy Hunting!  (Read more from the Offical Aion Announcement: http://powerwiki.na.aiononline.com/aion/Harvest+Revel)

To My Aussie Mates: Feeling the Pain of your Ping

Are you listening NCSoft?

My boyfriend who lives in Australia, told me  that Aion has accidentally (I hope) forgotten about all those gamers ‘down under.’  Even though there’s an Oceanic server, it doesn’t help their ping plight.  The time may be Oceanic but that’s all.  Asian servers are in Chinese or another Asian language, so that’s not a solution either.  You would think NCSoft would help these blokes out.  What do other MMOs do?  Aion broke record sales.  Why can’t we have a server that is truly serving the Oceanic area of the world?  Here’s another rant about the horrible pings:  http://aionexperience.com/?p=378 .  So why am I writing this?  Not because I personally know someone suffering with this, (sorry, baby)  but to remind us American players that 200 ms is not a bad ping and as long as you can play the game without rubber banding or stuttering, life in Atreia should be all good.  As bad as you think it is, someone else has it worse.  So let’s stop whining about it, huh?  No one cares if your ping is 300 ms and this morning it was 100 ms.  Even worse, no one really cares about your fps or your uber-epic WoW toon.

Oh, and I’m hoping NCSoft is out there listening…. The Aussies need a dedicated server located in their part of the world (not in the US) so they can decide whether or not they want to deal with the 600 – 700 ms average lag or enjoy the sweet pings we don’t always appreciate in the US.