[merTYol]

Below statement is taken from Gameforge.com

Gameforge, Europe's leading provider of online games, and NCsoft®, the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games, today announced a new and free to play business model for Aion, the online role-playing game.

From February 2012, players will be able to download the full version of the game for free and play without any subscription costs. Aion will be launched in the UK, France and Germany first and will be accessible to play across Western Europe.

Aion is one of the world’s most popular and numerous awards winning MMOGs including a very loyal fan base in Europe. Songyee Yoon, Chief Strategic Officer from NCsoft® commented that “by introducing the free-to-play model, we hope more gamers in Europe will be able to experience the epic story of Aion” and added that “NCsoft welcomes the partnership with Gameforge with its long MMO experience in the free-to-play sector and its excellent knowledge of the European market.”

Aion is set in the world of Atreia, which has been continually expanded and constantly improved in cooperation with the community since 2009. Now adventurers not only have over 3,900 quests, but also countless new dungeons, new PvP arenas and lots more.
Another popular feature is the Miols: intelligent pets that have been recently added to the game. They provide, amongst other things, additional backpack slots whilst independently collecting all loot found in the game.
The new unique mentor system eases new players into the game, as higher level players are rewarded for helping beginners. Mentors receive medals which they can swap for equipment items, the ‘students on the other hand receive experience points as well as loot from shared adventures.
Update 2.7 added a host of new content to the atmospheric and visually stunning game. A new PvP arena challenges players seeking a fast-paced thrill in the Crucible Coliseum, and for those more PvE oriented there’s a new raid in Padmarashka’s Cave waiting to be conquered.

Gameforge’s Executive Director Alexander Rösner also welcomes the collaboration: “In Aion we have received a flagship title for our MMO sector which perfectly complements our current portfolio. We have worked hard with NCsoft® to develop a fair free-to-play model for new players as well as the current community. In the future we will of course continue to develop new content and extend it, working in close cooperation with the players.”

For detailed information about the free-to-play model visit www.aionfreetoplay.com.

[Maurs]

I'm happy to see this going F2P, especially in the format they're using. I used to play a while back but had a hard time convincing myself that all the grinding I had to do to level was worth paying for. Now that it's going F2P i'll gladly grind away without having to pay for it :-)

[McClintock]

And the F2P realm increases! Sounds like the numerous pirate servers that service Aion will have a diminished presence from now on.

Wonder whether this was directly influenced by STO going F2P as well - maybe they think it'll pay off like Cryptic?

[Maurs]

This isn't the first title that NCsoft has had go F2P, Lineage II went free a while ago I think

[merTYol]

Yes but NCSoft now given all of their European playerbase to Gameforge. and they are doing really good at the moment with the new Free 2 Play Model

[Maurs]

Aion's F2P setup looks good, they aren't limiting content at all. They will be putting their store in game similar to the C-store.