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http://www.aionsourc...n-f2p-feb-2012/
I want to keep this Q&A less cluttered and messy.
The questions are randomly repeating and have the same core content so I merged some questions and left out some of them as they are repetitive.
The Q&A sticky will be expanded according to the questions that got asked.
I mainly copy pasted and sorted questions without correcting typos that much. So no guarantee concerning typos and grammar
. Some of the questions are updated as I gained more info during the past few weeks.I will expand this thread accordingly.
===========================
-- Itemshop/F2P model/Vet rewards --
What is the price of the gold package?
As stated in the table, it will be 9,99€ per month.
Are Gameforge planning on offering multi-month discounted Gold package subscriptions in the future?
Yes we will offer multi-month gold packages and there will be a discount on the multi-month packages.
What items will be added to the cash shop and what items are planned to be added in the future.
We are aware that Aion is a PvP focused game for many players. But we will monitor and discuss every decision about possible items for the itemshop thoroughly and also want to react to wishes of the community. There is no intention to interfere with the PvP game balance.
Update: The itemshop items will be mostly customization items. An insight will be given during the beta phase
Ehm excuse me if I ask. NCSoft store meaning the one we have now or the Korean one? Because the items in them are pretty different ^^
The current one you have.
Will be automatically changed to Veteran status. In order to have full rewards will we still need to pay for the Gold Pack?
Basically nothing changes to the current situation if you continue to pay. The gold package is the same as your current subscription with additional bonus (this includes: Veteran rewards and more stuff we will explain later). So in the end, you receive more for what you pay.
About the Veterans:
All old and current players are Veterans. You just needs to flag your account and migrate your account to our systems and that's basically it.
Are u guys thinking of excluding the not paying players from level 55~60
cause i noticed u had different (Maximum character level) for the Starter/Veteran/Gold Pack
The levels are actually the same. You might want to check again. Or i misunderstood your question .
We are not excluding anyone. Level 55 is the current level cap and the table shown on our site is directed at the current game content (2.7). Everyone should be able to reach the maximum level cap.
Update: It will be expanded after 3.0. hits our servers, everyone will be able to reach level cap.
Will people that start aion after February be able to get a permanent gold status
People who register accounts after February and after the migration happened have the status "Starter" by default. Yes, they are bound to buy the Gold package which is basically nothing else than your current subscription content wise plus some more stuff but more to come soon.
The ones who were playing the game for a while now (like you, like my private account for example) no matter if inactive or active, receive status "Veteran" when they flag their accounts for the migration. Old subscribers will never be Starters this way.
Starters however can achieve Veteran status by fulfilling certain conditions. We are still discussing the conditions tho. So I can't tell you what kind of conditions.
If we have an account on spatalos, and we make another char on say, a new server.
Will the veteran rewards we earned up till now work on that char?
They should work yes. We are still working on that system but a similar question was asked here before related to the veteran rewards and them being migrated as well even though you didn't send them to one of your characters ("are they lost?" etc.). Need to look it up.
This is still a pipeline question tho . If I have more info, I will inform you of course.
There is something I did not understand completely. We will be automatically changed to Veteran status. In order to have full rewards will we still need to pay for the Gold Pack?
Yes.
Basically nothing changes to the current situation if you continue to pay. The gold package is the same as your current subscription with additional bonus (this includes: Veteran rewards and more stuff we will explain later). So in the end, you receive more for what you pay.
About the Veterans:
All old and current players are Veterans. You just needs to flag your account and migrate your account to our systems and that's basically it.
How does the gold package work.
Does it give MORE ap gain then current AP gain? or
Does it give the SAME ap gain as the current AP gain, decreasing AP gain on f2p players.
A detailed list of what is contained in the Gold pack will be released in the next days. We know that the current table is either a bit confusing or not clear enough/insufficient. We wanted to give you a short overview first and work on the table to make it as comfortable for everyone as possible.
I will inform you when the new table is ready and it will also be announced on our Website as a News so you don't miss it . Any questions after the release of the detailed list will be forwarded and I will get you some answers.
Veteran rewards will stay available? And will your company continue same veteran reward program that NCsoft does?
Veteran rewards are only for the gold pack peeps. But we will continue in a similar fashion yes.
Update: Please visit http://aionfreetopla...eaturesdetails/ for the detailed list.
Waiitttttttt..... Is this mean that we can buy the gold package with ingame currency?!... Is this new currency tradable?...
Yep. And no, you can't trade the currency. It is a value/counter/number in your account. Not an item like the Crucible insignias.
Another question: if you plan on doing your own Veteran rewards (I got it right?) what about the stuff NC was giving with theirs? Emotes, wings, the tickets to expand wh and inventory, etc. Will they be part of "your" Veteran Rewards or are you planning to sell them in the shop? Or you're going to use NC veteran rewards up until month 28 (the current one) and then do your own?
The old Veteran rewards will be taken over and you will still be able to receive them even as Veterans. The current announcement states different or gives room for a lot of misinterpretations but I got information from my higher ups that the old Vet rewards will stay. I am just waiting for technical confirmation.
We will have our own Veteran reward list after the changeover for the new Vet rewards available for the Gold pack.
Are items from aion magazine like wondergirls emotes gonna be available in a cash shop? I'd personally rather pay 5 euros just for one of the items/emotes/pets than pay for the whole magazine.
Possibily since it is part of customization.
So people that took breaks and came back won't get Month 28 Vets. I get that. But we can't get them at all after the F2P change? That's so bogus even Bill and Ted wouldn't believe it.
Not true and I am on it already as this is not confirmed from our side. And yes it looks horrible now as side A states this and side B states that.
BlackVelvet, is there a way that we could get reward like 24month was? I mean,i'd really like to get 1 extra row in my inventory; wings would be nice too, but i want that extra space ... I've got 21 months on my account now and i thought i'll have it soon,but seems like my hopes going down...
The Eternal Daeva reward? Possibly but not set yet. So I can't give you a real answer on this except an expectation I have. The future plan for Vet rewards are not known to me yet so I can't say much.
Update: Yes, you will be able to receive the 24th month reward as we continue with the current list until the 28th month reward is received. Then the new list will apply.
So example:
I will reach my third month of subscription and receive my rewards. After the changeover when I flagged my account, I will be able to receive Vet rewards for the 4th month when I purchase the Gold pack, as if I continue purchasing the subscription. So you will receive your 24th month reward when you (continue) purchase a month sub and your lucky "fairy" wings
.Since most of our subscription will overlap with the day Aion goes f2p, how is GF planning on refund the players? Since now we just got the general answer that we will be refunded, but I'd like some detail.
One question though, If i want to play the game in a free to play basis do I have to buy a gold back against my will? (Because If they do not refund the actual sum of money I am forced to buy something in compensation)
Actually noone forces you to buy a Gold pack. You are either a Starter or if you opt-in, you're a Veteran.
And about refunds, discussions about those are in progress.
Update: Answers will come this week.
The gold pack has 'reduced instances CD'. But it's reduced compared to veterans/starters not reduced compared to what it is now. All instances CDs of gold pack are the exact ones we have now.
So when you say '20% more AP, 20% more medals, 20 more Courage Insignias, fourfold increase, extended duration' , is it 20% more than NOW? Or like in the case of instances CDs, its the same as now and it's less for veteran/starters?
The bonuses on the Gold Pack are meant as "20% more than it currently is". The current rate for AP gathering and the rest will stay as it is, for both Veterans and Starters.
So no, it won't be nerfed for Vets and Starters.
===========================
-- Changeover process questions --
In addition, you said you're taking Aion as it is now. Does this mean we'll keep getting our week on, week off AP events/rifting buffs removed?
And yes, we are keeping the buff/rifting events. Everything should stay the same for you for now, then we will of course come up with new events and adjust the old events to your needs. That's what I meant with "monitoring" earlier.
How safe is the server migration do we need to takes ss of out inv just in case
How to explain it without all the technical yaddah-yaddah around it? *scratch*
Well, we receive the database directly, ensuring that nothing is lost within the depths of datatables and so on. We are making sure that everything is taken as it is concerning the database. So nothing should be lost in the process of migration. Of course, many who worked with databases and import/exports and migration knows that stuff might happen. IF you lose anything (which we will avoid), we are giving you support and restore your character. The original database after all stays intact and we can look it up and adopt the stats. If necessary, manually fix your characters.
How exactly will the change happen?
Where is my shoving Patrick meme now? Meh!
I can't give you details about it yet. When the time is right (expect in about 1-2 weeks) then I might be able to give out details.
Also another one to throw out but when in feburary do u plan to make the switchover? early/middle/late in the month?
I can't tell you when exactly but don't expect it right at the beginning of Feb. All I can say for now.
===========================
-- Technical questions --
Will we get the official 64bit version back? If, when? If not, why not? (We know the Koreans have it since we use it...)
Currently asking around and is noted on my list. I will come back at you as soon as I have more information about that one. nobody already contacted me about this and yes, I would love to have a 64bit Client myself (seen as a private person).
Will you be able to dual box?
In discussion.
Is the gameforge website safe? i mean . will our accounts be safe from hacking ..etc?
Nothing is safe. I would lie if everything is 100% safe. But we will provide the best possible security.
In my opinion however, security starts with the user.
So you receive the database, means you are actually setting up new servers (I mean hardware - wise)
Where will those be located?
They are located in Germany.
Here is a question.how will the servers be when the games goes f2p? . right now , it is totally unstable and i am getting stupid lag spiks.Posted Imageusually i get around 40~87 ms max on a bad day.if the f2p servers are of better quality then this might be a good thing. ncsoft has totally made crap serves for this game.
Our server hardware is up to date to ensure the best possible experience. Especially in terms of our technical infrastructure.
Our system admins are dedicated and take care of our hardware to ensure everything runs as smooth as possible.
Besides the server hardware there are of course other things that might cause lag spikes and such. You know the usual suspects like network problems, data centre issues, providers and so on. Those are however not under control of any publisher.
What happens to the items I've already bought from the NCSoft Store? Will I still have the ability to add them to all characters on my account?
I need to ask around. I could guess right now but that is not helping at all ^^.
So you gotta wait until I got the answers. Weekends suck at some point.
Update: Yes, it will be possible.
When (if at all) will transfers will be allowed from old servers to new servers
When (if at all) will transfers will be allowed between old servers
Will new players be allowed to create characters on old servers
Will new players be encouraged to create characters on old servers, new servers or neither
No estimation yet about a transfer possibility. When transfers are open, you will be informed in time.
The other questions I can't answer yet. Saturday and such and getting a hand on colleagues is hard at this time :P.
But my mail is sent and I will poke someone until he bleeds to get the answers.
Oh, and I just wonder if GameForge also bought the hack detection that NcSoft developed some months ago. Players that have been playing at that time might have noticed the ban wave for North American servers. Players on european server were unaffected on that ban wave, NcSoft only used the tool on NA players.
It is an own programmed tool? I need to ask around because that's new to me.
The only info about hack detection was about Gameguard (which horribly failed in the end). And just mentioning Gameguard makes my eyes twitching. So yeah, I will ask around because this made me curious as well.
How will the change work, will we have to download the whole client again or will we get a small patch changing ip's for the servers? Becouse i am on DSL light and that would mean downloading for about 68 hours straight for me.
Hmm how to tell you without spoilering too much? *scratch*
Well as you know, we will have a Closed Beta in a few weeks and will offer to pre-download the final client and get it patched. The client itself will most likely be available for beta usage and future changeover uses (it will be patched accordingly). A news and how-to will be published soon enough.
I already asked about the exitsing clients because... well, I cba to download 20 gigs of client with my wonderful DSL connection either and I got a retail box.
So yeah, no answer on that one yet but I am going to harrass someone on Monday again.
Update: News will follow this week.
Velvet, one thing that just came to my mind.
I know it may sound stupid, but you guys aren't planning on having a web launcher, right?
We will be able to launch the game through an exe file, right?
Web launcher? Not that I know of. We are planning to have an executable client launcher.
One other small thing, and it really doesn't effect me too much as its only the rare wednesday I get off but there is general QQ about it. Please make the server maintenance time more appropriate than right at the start of morning dregion on a wednesday
When the server (in Feb) gets taken over by GF will our server maintenance time change to a more convenient time? ie 3-4am?
We will find a day where maintenances will be held. Nothing is set yet but currently as it is, during the midday, we won't do it.
Expect a maintenance in the morning hours.
I have heard a rumor that people can flag a Trial Account to gain Veteran Status, is that true?
For people not on AS: someone there told Velvet you can flag a trial account and get veteran status. Velvet said you have to have bought the game and paid for it at least one month.
So I asked: a full month? Or just a 15 days timecard is enough? Or more?
Not that I know of. If you paid atleast once and bought the game to play Aion currently, you are able to opt-in your account and be a Veteran later. A trial account shouldn't be able to opt-in.
However we are offering Starters to be Vets in future but they of course need to fulfill a certain requirement list (call it "achievements").
Update:I poked the relevant resources and the rumors are not true.
As I stated before, a trial account can get flagged to save his account/character progress but however will stay Starter after the changeover.
Retail accounts which spent minimum one subscription (the boxed cd key can be considered as a subscription) will receive Vet after the changeover.
The answer given by our support was misunderstood/miscommunication.
The way I said was right: If you have a trial account, you can flag your account for the opt-in.
If you paid a subscription, retail box is included, you will receive Vet status. This should also count for the 15 days timecards.
Does Gameforge plans keeping the PTS server and the way NC used it to publish patches before the official release ?
There is nothing fix for now but we of course want as many players as possible to test the new content.
We of course think about about a PTS and evaluate it.
Update: Yes we will have a PTS, just a matter of "when".
Velvet do u have any plans for upgrading server hardware/connections? Sieges are unplayable atm with 12fps... The service u'll provide WILL determine if I'll go gold or stay veteran. Thank you.
The servers are up to date. The beta will be there to do some performance tests so we need as many people as possible to simulate bigger raids. If needed, we will update our hardware accordingly. As said on AS however, there is more to it than just server hardware which causes lag. Network, routing as well as a not upgraded computer causes problems. Then add game code which might also cause some problems ("enemy lag") etc.
And you are lucky with 12 fps. My last upper Abyss raid I had constant 5fps with character display disabled. My computer is 1 year old, I got a fast broadband connection and a general good routing. So my guess is still game code.
I would like to know how many new servers will be available in February and if server transfers will be available as well.
Well next to the existing servers, for UK it is Perento, Spatalos and Telemachus respectively, it might be that we will add more servers right away. But how many and when is not sure and the date not settled.
Any info about the new servers?
will be the same like the existing ones or with some diferences like exampl: 2x exp,2x drops etc!!
Nope, the server rates stay as they are. They will be simple servers, nothing will be altered.
I think more important question is if our servers will stay as they are or they will be moved.
I really want to know if there will be someone who will actually manage and configure server properlly, not leaving it at default nyerk.
Or do you really want everyone to pay for BattlePing to actually play normally?
Servers are situated in Germany. So if you play from a European country, your ping issue should be a small one. The servers itself will be up to date and yes, we have a dedicated team to ensure the server hamsters are well fed, pet regularly and get their love and attention on a daily base
Smaller question but do you plan to rename the servers (Azphel,Ariel etc) or keep the existing server names as they are?
We will stay with the same server names.
===========================
-- Game and Content --
Will you remove/reduce the buffs in Morhein/Eltnen/Beluslan/Heiron and get rifting alive again? (Or you keeping it as it is — every other week possible in Beluslan and Heiron?)
We are taking the game as it is and not influence the current gameplay. However we will monitor your needs and act/adjust accordingly in future.
Will you remove the ban of going to the first area in Gelkmaros/Inggisson?
Nope, as mentioned before, we will take over the game as it is.
How much freedom do you guys have to please us, or are you still bound by everything Korea says? If so does this mean that anything GF wants to do with the aion they have to go ask NCsoft korean?
Please you in which way?
Disregarding the game changes and and updates which need to come from Korea, there are a lot of ways to please the majority of you with events, contests and such.
Update: Depends on what we want. Of course, if things need to be implemented ingame, which requires coding for example, this needs to be done by the developers of NC.
We however are working this out together. It is not a "we want, you do, and give us the patch" relationship. We are in cooperation. That also means evaluating changes together with their developers. And then decide together.
In short: Game changes which require a patch: Yes. Things which will be developed by us: partially but in general not really.
Will you remove the PvP AP Cap? Or those "gold accounts" will make us hit it even faster?
Nope, the current cap stays for now. We however will monitor it and possibly adjust the cap with 3.0.
The cap itself will not be removed.
Will Gameforge be looking to purchase patches past 3.0 and including 4.0?'
Yes, we are going to keep the game up to date and that also means future content updates like 3.0 (I want a pink house!) and any update further in the future.
Do you have any plans to sell more character slots?
I see that you're adding new servers but as you know we're currently limited at 8 chars per account. Do you plan to increase this and make it 8 chars per server or are we doomed to create new accounts that will be, wonder what, Starter account despite us being Veterans?
No, nothing like this is planned. You have to stay with 8 characters on one account and there is nothing planned to change that so far. If you want more than 9 characters or a different one, as it is right now, you need to delete one of your characters you don't need.
To what extent will gameforge have control over game content and how it works? Can you edit quests for example? It would be a great benefit to the community in several ways if the content was made more appropriate for western play styles. Cutting a long story short will there be any changes to the L54 Extendable weapon quest which is currently littered with RNG and a requirement to capture asmo forts 60 times? The trend should continue as it is now, lower dmg slightly outdated extend weps vs up to date "bang bang" weps Baka n especially trir gonna suck harder than broke prossie in the red light district come 3.0.
Me and many Legion Mates are Asking ourself can GF Change Aion How They want ( Mechanics/Events/Etc) Or do they need knock at Nc Soft and Ask about such stuff? Because if you have full acess to Aion you could Create Nice Events and Design the Game how we Customers Wish?
We are publishers and stay publishers. However, we are in close relationship to NC and they already asked for feedback about several stuff.
Events can be created yes. Besides the existing events in game, we want to hold events and competitions next to the game.
Forum contests, cosplay contests, fan art competitions, reallife meet & greets, community reallife events. Everything like this is planned.
For the ingame events, we are able to adjust some of the events. Not all of them but some.
We can't edit quests or content at our will. We (sadly) rely on development from Korea. The process on suggesting new stuff and changes however looks good. We got asked about opinions and suggestions of their content ideas and they asked for feedback a lot. Same goes for general atmosphere and how the community currently feels.
It will be hard to fully adjust the game to western play styles a.k.a. "Y U NO GRIND"-less content since majority is still Asian playstyle and their game in the end. But we are on it.
Is there even a date for the announcement of the release of 3.0 yet?
There is no estimation for 3.0 yet since we need to get the f2p changeover on the way. Add up some monitoring weeks and months to adjust the game and the technical aspects of it. But we got 3.0 on our huge ToDo list as one of the high prioritized tasks
Question: Give us more information about the new servers?... Will I be capable of playing with my in-game frands after the transfer?... Do you care to make a pvp wise server that is marked as PvP one?
What do you mean with "playing with your ingame friends"? Basically everything should stay the same as it is. If they are all playing and flagged their account, then there shouldn't be any problems.
About a PvP dedicated server (and thus PvE dedicated servers)...
Well suggestions were made from a lot of players from various parts of the communities (all of them). The suggestions are forwarded. Depending on the technical side of the rifting system as well as the "buff weeks" and so on, it might be possible that we can arrange something without help from devs. But that's a thing being thrown into the "idea pool" which requires a full concept, an outlook and as well a proper outlook on long terms.
Will the dates for 3.0 be in line with NA/NCSoft's implementation of 3.0, so as to maintain as much parity as possible?
Yep, that's the plan. We're trying to be on par with any other version.
3.0 is a /big/ bee in the bonnet for a lot of F2P nay-sayers, and I hate to give them ammunition, but if we have to wait longer for 3.0 while NA gets it at NCSoft's discretion, there will more likely than not be a major revolt of Vets/Gold players.
There might be slight delays and clarifications needed but we are trying and will release 3.0 as soon as possible and during the same time NA does. Not sure how long you are waiting for 3.0 since 2.7 got released in October 2011 as far as I can remember. Any dates for 3.0 release in Korea in your mind? I saw a live demonstration of the housings when some of the developers visited our headquarters and in my eyes, it needs some improvements (I've found it pretty laggy) but maybe it was just the terrible connection.
I have a rather important set of questions about the new servers.
Will there be a temporary level cap of 50 as Aion 1.5 started?
Not that I know of. The current level cap of level 55 will stay until it will be increased with 3.0.
I have Esoterrace cooldown scrolls will they work?
I have no information about the instance cooldown scrolls, however this is noted down and will be answered as soon as I have the information.
Update: Yes
Many many many Pvpers like myself are unhappy about The Ap Cap in PvP which exist. so if enough customers give a feedback about this could GF Remove The Ap Cap or Increase the ammount of Ap that we can gain?
The AP cap stays for now. And will not be removed in the near future. Increasing the cap is another option though and might be considered depending on your needs and the current game balance. I will forward this to our team for discussion.
What will be the time line for 3.0 will NCsoft still be doing the work to release 3.0 on GF servers or will it be the 38 people that work at GF be working on it ?
3.0 is a huge content update prepared by NC which will be delivered to us. We are servicing it. And we are still a growing team so it won't stay with the current amount of people.
3.0 will come. When exactly? I can't tell yet. We will keep you posted though.
===========================
-- Account issues --
If we have an account on spatalos, and we make another char on say, a new server.
Will the veteran rewards we earned up till now work on that char?
They should work yes. We are still working on that system but a similar question was asked here before related to the veteran rewards and them being migrated as well even though you didn't send them to one of your characters ("are they lost?" etc.). Need to look it up.
This is still a pipeline question tho . If I have more info, I will inform you of course.
Character X is currently playing on Perento. Character Y is currently playing on Spatalos. (Two seperate accounts)
The 3 new servers are A,B and C. Will both characters, X and Y, be able to play on server B?... Or X will play on A and Y will play on C?
Will there be some sort of marking on which server you want to be moved?
When your characters are on seperate accounts, your characters will stay seperate. There will be no changes concerning servers or where your characters are.
Imagine it this way: You got 3 servers and you give it to someone as it is right now. Nothing changes except location, electrical source maybe and the hardware due to upgrades and adjustment plus some binary changes thanks to the changeover. The database as it is stays intact.
To put it even more simple: You take 3 apples out of a bowl and put the apples in a new bowl. Nothing changes except the bowl. That's it in the end.
===========================
-- Payment --
Will paysafecard still be available ?
Will GF accept payment with paysafe cards? This is of vital importance to me.
I requested a list of all payment methods today. But paysafe is included. We offer it in all our games and I better get this in Aion because I prefer paysafe cards myself. So: Yes.
Are the gold packages going to be available in the stores as the Game Time Cards of NcSoft or they are gonna be purchasable only online?... If not,that's the end of Aion for me.
That's still in discussion.
The gold package will be available via ingame itemshop, buyable via paysafe card, credit card, paypal etc.
Timecards are still an issue but it is addressed.
One thing I'm curious now with this 'can buy the gold package with ingame currency'. This sounds funny, but am I still able to pay 'the old way' e.g. paysafe, creditcard etc ?
Hmm, I think the "can buy only ingame" thing is a bit misleading.
Not sure if you know how charging your account with premium currency works but basically it is simple (this is an example, not the actual result):
You buy let's say 1000 units of premium currency with paysafe, paypal, credit card, phone, sms, whatever. Those 1000 units will be charged on your account. You are now able to either buy a gold pack or ingame items like a 10 pack of dyes. As soon as you purchase them, the amount of the price will get drained from your 1000 units pool.
In Wizard101 we have a dual system with the Wizard club (membership) running next to the itemshop and being a bit independant from the premium currency. You buy it directly with the desired payment method.
How it looks like in the end, I cannot predict but both methods has its advantages and disadvantages.
The plan so far and as I overheard my team mates, it will be purchased with charged premium currency and not like the Wizard101 method.
So unfortunately it won't be the old way.
===========================
-- Customer Support and Service --
Will you actively follow and ban those people that will make an enemy race char in their server in order to feed their friends (or themself) platinum medal and AP?
Yes, we will monitor crossfeeding and act accordingly.
And will GF actually listen to players and generally improve the game's quality and not run it into the ground? People have looked at 4stories shop and it doesnt bode well as is details of stories about ridiculous bans and bad experiences reminicient of Ncfails L2 days.
We are forwarding any concerns and issues and feedback to the respective ressources (in our team, to NC, etc.). And yes, of course improving the game's quality is a priority
How does gameforge battle bots/hackers.
This game obviously has no real system (like a gameguard) to prevent it from happening. Is gameforge going to add additional tools to stop botting and hacking, surely you (gameforge) have experience in f2p gaming.
This is a tough one. As said previously in other posts, we are taking the game as is. That means not only game content wise but also technically. So in the end you shouldn't feel any different when migrating your accounts as you have felt the past months. The implementation of protection systems like gameguard are still on discussion. So yes, we thought about how to solve it.
Also here: As soon as I know more, you will be informed.
When will we see official forum sections for 3 new servers (necessary for community to develop)?
And will there be another forum instead of current forums.eu.aiononline.com ?
We are setting up new forums at the moment. And yes, there will be server related sections.
We probably also take the old forums as they are right now and put it as archive so no posts are lost. Especially not the guides, videos, fanarts, etc.
In what way will CM's be split among the servers? Each server will have 1 or 2 assigned to it or there will be a global pool of available support, language dependent?
Each community will have one CM. The support and the support pool is completely separate from us.
We are (usually) not doing any support rather taking care of some marketing stuff, promotional work, collecting feedback, communicate between company and the playerbase, maybe do some PR stuff as well, come up with totally random ideas and torture our colleagues with questions the community want answers from.
So basically yeah, taking care of the community.
That ofc makes me wonder what GF will do? Will you keep letting people solo raidbosses using exploits like NcSoft did, or do you have any plans to take care of those people?
We have to take a look at the exploits you mentioned. By far we don't know everything yet and have to gather information as well about those. Depending on the exploit and the abuse, we will take actions accordingly.
After all this is a serious problem with your business model. Why would people buy a gold account for EUR 10 if they can buy a cheating tool for $5 and solo all bosses on the free account - and get the same rewards as if they played legit on an gold account?
Because you will risk your account to be suspended permanelty for $5. An expensive ban in my eyes.
Will we get an international server, i am personally from Germany and would like to play with me peeps from UK with an acceptable ping? Oh and maybe any informations on an free server/name change for people that got put on a different server due to nc merging servers would be nice.
What you mean by "international server"?
We don't mind if you want to play on the UK server as a German. All the servers are located in Germany so the latency/ping should be not a problem.
No info about the free server transfers and the resulting problems in the past. We are taking the game as is, means we won't solve the problems for now. And I emphasize "for now". We might come up with something to solve the problem in the future.
In regards to support tho for example, will it be possble to get to talk to a GM in a reasonable amount of time (a few minutes, live chat for example) and get problems resolved?
We will try to reply in time.
We are still setting up the GM team and they need to get used to their positions, tools and so on.
But as soon as we have a stable and knowing team behind it, it will be possible.
I might also be able to reply when I find the time to do so.
I would like to know if in February, then under the management of gameforce, there will still be events as there were up to now (double exp, craft, etc)
We will try to keep up the current regular events. However we need to test them in our beta phase.
But it will most likely be less AFK events rather than having more active interaction events.
Your company name is over run with bad dealing with bots and cash sellers how will you deal with these issues in aion to make it so this does not happen.?
We are adopting the current monitoring system of NC and also have the same possibilties to monitor players, bots and such.
A lot of restrictions of the F2P model are reactions to the botting problem as well as the goldsellers.
We have a huge inhouse support team which will deal with issues like that and will help out as well as monitor everything.
Were supposedly gettin 38 GM's who will look after the game, will they be for only THIS game and not be spread out across others? Will they actually investigate and ban real hackers and not spend their time pissing people off and banning and muting people over one word swears in chat.
Our support team will monitor the game. Not spread out to different games. Just Aion.
We will investigate hackers, botters, cheating in general and more. Of course we need to monitor chat as well, after all there are some rules which need to be followed.
Are you planing to run web service like http://uk.aiononline...aracter-search? Korean version is http://avatarbook.pl....s/01004-002yxT
Our goal is to provide all functions of the current Aion webpage after the change to free-to-play. And we want to expand the service of course.
So yes
.And sometime ago, there were several news about the fact that we could get some kind of web access to the broker.
Regarding such kind of stuff, is it to GF to decide to do that or is it still NC related stuff ?
Depends. If it is a web application or addition to the myAion similar future page, then of course it is our part. However NC and Gf are both working on it, after all there is a lot of technical magic behind all the stuff like a webbased broker.
There is nothing planned so far however but might change in the future.
When GForge takes over Aion, new servers are being considered. Could you give approx. dates for when these new servers will be online?
Still no answer on that one. We don't have any dates yet. Expect one new server for each language but I can't give you a 100% answer on wether they will be opened right after the changeover or a bit later. Announcements and such will be done accordingly.
===========================
-- Misc --
Are you going to be better in listening what the EU folks want, since so far we've gone with what Koreans and NA want?
Of course we will check, evaluate and forward suggestions, concerns and more to the developers. We are always happy to receive feedback and criticism.
Also if we do not do the migration we will continue to be in Pay-to-Play?
Nope, there will be no Pay-to-Play for Europe.
Are you actually planning to keep these restrictions and simply tell the players that you're the same as ncsoft, slowly kicking out pvp players out of the game. Or will you do something to make the players come back and see that the game is actually coming back to it's original pvp options.
For the moment, we will keep the current restrictions and buffs. But it doesn't mean it will stay like this forever. We know that the game is PvP focused and might change some restrictions according to your needs. Or think about a compromise for both, PvE and PvP players .
Speaking of various type of players among the playerbase, I noticed the German community got an RP subcommunity.
Is there an RP community existing for the English servers? Out of curiosity, because so far I didn't find any.
Restrictions
Some words about the restrictions.
As mentioned before, the game will be taken as is. That also means the restrictions NC setup in the past. Yes, we might be able to lift the restriction but for now we are taking the game without changing anything except the technical necessities. However, as stated in previous answers to various questions: We are monitoring everything and adjust the gaming experience for you accordingly. This is a question I actually can't answer for now. But I will keep it noted down and forward it to the responsible team member.
I seriously don't want to read this entire thread. Is this for EU only? or do they plan to bring f2p to NA as well?
This is for EU only. I have no information about NA, so I dunno.
It's january and a bit too late for 'I'm waiting for a reply' 'Keep you informed on a later date' for my taste.
It is never too late. Also the service gets handed over step by step and thus requires preparations and more. Some things we need to get clarified, some info require more than just "yeah". Basically until the announcement in December, everything was theory and a plan and majority of things are in progress right now. So imagine us in our office, running around like a bunch of mad chickens.
Are there gonna be greek, italian and spanish servers?
It might be that we will setup new servers for other languages in the future. But for now and until 3.0 we will stay with UK, France and Germany.
Setting up new servers require client and game translations. And with the amount of words the game possesses (and compared to other games we have, Aion is really huge), it takes some time for translations.
I would like to ask a few things that i hope you can reply to. GF has a bad company name for running games how will you see your bad name dont follow you with running AION ?
We are aware of our rather not good reputation.
However, our Aion team consists of professionals, also players who played the game for a while.
Of course we thought about the best support we can give to you beforehand. And a lot of experience in the past years showed us what players like and do not like at all.
Additionally, transparency is an important issue for us. So keeping the information flowing is a pretty important job and also very important for you. This counts for both ways: Feedback to you, feedback from you to GF.
Has GF only got a licence to run Aion from Ncsoft ?
We are publishing it, but have a close relationship and close contact to NC.
This post has been edited by CMBlackVelvet: 18 January 2012 - 06:37 AM
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(no purpose to spamm, just saying thanks) :tiphat:
