08.30.09
Official Dates & Meanings
Taken from here, the official dates are out for this month, up to and including release. More than likely you have already heard of them, but let’s dissect what each is and what you can do in each.
Open Beta: September 6 (Sunday) – 13 (Sunday)
Server and Character pre-selection: September 18 (Friday) @ Noon P.D.T.
Head Start: September 20 (Sunday) @ Noon P.D.T.
Launch: September 22 (Tuesday) NA and September 25 (Friday) EU
What you need to do to upgrade to 1.5 or begin the journey to 1.5:
The open beta client is now also available for download from Fileplanet. You can also download the full open beta client or upgrade your closed beta client by downloading these torrents.
Open Beta:
Open Beta is for testing the game, previewing it. It is generally assumed that an Open Beta is open to the general public, but based on a quote by Ayase, “I’m not entirely sure how broadly our invitations will go out, but it will, relatively speaking, be open compared to our closed betas,” it sounds like it might not be open to the general public.
Characters from Closed Beta will be wiped and you will be starting new characters for Open Beta.
What we know, Open Beta will be version 1.5, and thus we will be experiencing:
- Western enhancements: including new Western stylization options during character customization
- New zones, instances, skills, and quests
- Level cap of 30
Edit: There is now a Letter from Aion Producer Brian Knox on Open Beta as well as Open Beta Patch Notes
Your characters will be wiped at the end of Open Beta.
Server and Character pre-selection:
Beginning Friday, September 18, at Noon P.D.T. anyone who has pre-ordered Aion has the option to create your character(s). You will be able to log in and create your character’s look and save the name(s) of your choice on your server. You will be able to create and save 2 characters at max during this time. You will not be able to log in and play until Head Start. Pre-Selection ends at 9 AM P.D.T. September 20 (Sunday).
Head Start:
Two days after pre-selection begins, on Sunday, September 20, those who have pre-ordered will be able to enter the game and start leveling. If you used the pre-selection time, you won’t have to fiddle around with creating your character’s look, but just start playing.
Launch:
Anyone who wants to buy the game without pre-ordering will be able to access the game and join those who have already started the leveling process.
Pre-order Items:
Preorder-Only In-Game Items: In-game items will be available for use during the head start program.
* Black Cloud Hat (gives boosts to HP, MP, magical resistance, and evasion)
* Lodas’ Amulet (gives a +20% experience boost for 1 hour)
* One Ancient Ring of Power (type depends on your preorder retailer): Ancient Ring of Fire (GameStop), Ancient Ring of Magic (Best Buy), Ancient Ring of Earth (Amazon.com), Ancient Ring of Water, or Ancient Ring of Wind.
Related Links:
Change your Password for access!: Make sure you do this if you created your Aion account before 07/29/2009
Installation & Troubleshooting FAQ: Comprehensive guide
How to download and install Aion without problems: “For those people with an unreliable internet connection “
Dat’s Translations – Including Major Patch Notes
Letter from Aion Producer Brian Knox on Open Beta
Open Beta Patch Notes
Related posts:
Maeve Said:
August 31, 2009 at 9:30 pm
That was a wonderfully helpful post! Thank you so much for taking the time to post it as it cleared up some questions I had about pre-selection!
Middea Said:
September 4, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Updated with links to the Open Beta Letter and Open Beta Patch Notes…
Sad thing is, I’m most excited about spending a few hours playing with sliders to figure how my character is going to look… 40 new default faces… ohh la la!
shawnp Said:
September 4, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Are the pre-order and Collector’s Edition items only temporary?
Middea Said:
September 4, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Trying to find the official version saying it, but no, they aren’t temporary. You keep them until you delete your character, and you get them for all characters created on that account.
Middea Said:
September 16, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Oh and as for * Lodas’ Amulet (gives a +20% experience boost for 1 hour), I think that is only a one time charge, in that once the hour boost is used up, it doesn’t recharge.