Fly My Pretties: AION Goes F2P On 28th Feb

The last time I mentioned that NC Soft's sort-of-flying MMO, AION, was going free-to-play I used the phrase, "there’s no such thing a free launch". However, the accolades, the knighthood, the journalism awards and the general celebrity that came from such an extraordinary joke never materialised. This gross oversight should be sorted out quickly. And here's your chance, because there's a date for the change now, and more details of what happens if you were a subscriber. Because come the 28th February, Europeans won't need one to get in.

The Euro switchover will take place in English, German and French at the same time on Tuesday, following on from what Gameforge AG say was a successful beta.

Those with remaining time on their subscription will receive currency vouchers at the value of six AION Coins per day left on the account. That's the in-game currency everyone else will be wanting if they want to pay for the various premium content inside. The entire game will be open and free, but there will be restrictions on trading and chatting for non-payers, as well as longer cool-downs on instances, and lower payouts for quests, and various other limitations mentioned below.

Those who previously subscribed - and that means at any time, not just current subs - get "Veteran Status", which bumps up the number of character slots from 2 to 8, unlimited chat, unlimited trade, private shopping, mail, gathering, Essecetapping, Extraction... That's almost the same as the "Gold Status", which still costs €10/m, except paying players will see massively shorter cooldowns on the majority of instances (non-payers and Vets will be waiting 118 hours on some, while subscribers have only 14 to wile away), along with 20% more AP and medals, more Courage Insignias, and various other boosts. You can see the full list here.

Tempted?