NCsoft announces Aion NA and EU open beta details

by Lesley Smith Aug 27th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Aion, Guild Wars, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Lore, New titles, Patches, News items

There have been rumblings for weeks about an open beta for Aion, NCsoft's latest MMO and the company has finally confirmed details about what we can expect. North American and European gamers who may not have gotten access to the Closed Beta Tests will get an opportunity to sample Aion, exploring the beautiful world of Atreia as either an Asmodian or Elyos. The beta will take place between September 6th – 13th and will include the new Westernised character customization options, as well as a chance to see The Shadow of Balaur, the newest patch which was added to the Korean version of the game in August.

As with the final CBTs, the open beta will have a level cap of 30, which means new players to the game can experience ascension to Daevahood as well as the PvPvE area known as the Abyss. Gamers who pre-ordered Aion will also get access to the pre-select and a two-day headstart before the game officially launches on September 22nd in the US and the 25th in Europe. The pre-select will take place on September 18, while Aion's headstart period will begin September 20. So if you want to take part, it might be wise to pre-order now, especially given the new Guild Wars cross promotion we told you about earlier in the week.

Tags: aion, aion-beta, aion-cbt, aion-open-beta, aion-patch-1.5, aion-the-shadow-of-the-balaur, aion-the-tower-of-eternity, aion-tower-of-eternity, asmodian, asmodians, elyos, elyos-daeva-ascension, guild-wars, ncsoft

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

SleepingPanda said on 1:28PM 8-27-2009

Great news! Can't wait to try out the Abyss. That is if I can get to 25 within that time frame. :x

Darkthunder said on 1:39PM 8-27-2009

Woho... NCSoft gives a 2-day headstart. Cryptic gives a 7-day headstart. Sorry, but with so many MMO:s coming out around the same time, there's only so much time per day I can dedicate to one of them.

TommyB said on 2:06PM 8-27-2009

5 days for EU players! \o/

Suspiro said on 2:04PM 8-27-2009

4 day headstart for Champions Online

Darkthunder said on 2:16PM 8-27-2009

Head Start goes live on August 28th for both EU and US.

Game goes live on September 1st (US) and September 4th (EU) respectively. So in that sense, US players gets a 4-day headstart, and EU players gets a 7-day headstart. Either way, both are still better than the Aion 2-day headstart.

Claypole said on 2:21PM 8-27-2009

"Either way, both are still better than the Aion 2-day headstart"

Yeah I may aswell cancel my pre-order then.

Chris said on 2:43PM 8-27-2009

Winner.

ardwulf said on 11:55PM 8-27-2009

The 2-day headstart is a little more typical.

My question is, will this be another "open" beta only "open" to paid FilePlanet members and those who pre-ordered? If not, how will it be possible to get keys?

Averice said on 1:02AM 8-28-2009

Yeah, that was really annoying about CO. "Open beta" was not an open beta. So yeah, didn't try it, don't plan on trying it. If they come out with a free trial and the game hasn't tanked, maybe I'll try it then.

And what does pre select mean? Is that like, you can make your characters but not play? Or some sort of special selection process?

ardwulf said on 3:45AM 8-28-2009

At least the CO open beta actually became open toward the end - and in fact open beta players got quite a bit of time in the game.

The Aion "pre-select" means, from what I understand, that you get to make your characters and reserve your name in advance. You still don't get to actually play until Headstart at the earliest.

Nevertheless, I'm keeping my ear to the ground on this - I'm very curious to see it, but unwilling to buy it cold on the chance I'll like it. A shot at open beta might sell me on it; as it stands, without trying it there's no chance I'll be picking it up anytime soon.