Wings Over Atreia: Aion's birthday bash delivers daily presents
If you had the opportunity to celebrate your birthday for an entire month, you would, wouldn't you? I mean, what reason could you possibly have not to stretch out the festivities for four weeks... as long as you don't have to foot the whole bill, that is! Well that's exactly what Aion is doing in the weeks leading up to its fourth birthday later this month -- it's throwing a multifaceted bash with a variety of activities for Daevas to participate in.
So was can party-goes expect first? How about daily presents and the return of the Wheel of Fortunerk! You heard me right: You join the party and you get the gift! And while you might have missed part of Aion's recent summer block party event, there's no reason to this time. The Alchemy Event runs until maintenance on September 18th, so you have plenty of time to get in and start hoarding your goody bags.
While there's more a-comin' as the week's wear on, keep reading for all the details about these first festivities (and maybe a hint or two about the next ones).
An Atreia a day...
I've got to hand it to NCsoft -- it's found a way to get people to go through the effort of at least logging in daily. And once they're in, there is more of a chance that folks will stay and do a little more. This is especially good for pulling in players who might pop only in a few times a week as well as enticing those on a break to come back. Who can resist the allure of free stuff for so little effort, right? I certainly haven't missed a day since this started!
Even better, this event doesn't hearken back to events of yore when staying logged in AFK indefinitely would yield more rewards. This time it's just a couple of quick clicks and you're done. I am grateful the devs have staged an event that does not encourage folks to stay perma-logged in just to collect a few tokens to turn in for a prize bundle.
Bags of bounty
Interested in getting your own free loot bags ever day? it's really easy. Just log in any character level 30 or higher and visit one of these locations: Pandaemonium Plaza in Pandaemonium, Fatebound HQ in Tiamaranta, or Danuar Spire in Katalam if Asmodian; Elyos Square in Sanctum, Hushblade HQ in Tiamaranta, or Kaisinel's Beacon in Katalam if Elyos. Walk yourself right up to the Suspicious Alchemist and click away. You'll receive a quest to click, and clicking on him again will complete it. This quest resets every day at 10 a.m. EDT.
At that point, you'll receive a key pouch. Open the pouch in your inventory and if you get a copper key, open one of the smaller chesta; if you get a golden key, open one of the larger ones. The different-sized chests obviously have a different assortment of goodies possible, though which a player actually gets is still random. Each chest can also contain more than one gift; I've gotten up to three at a time so far myself. The possibilities are as follows:
Common Treasure Box (copper key)
Kahrun's Symbol x100
Crucible Insignia x1000
Legion Coin x10
Protectorate Coin x5
Cirruspeed - 15 Days
Greater Supplements Bag (Fabled) x10
Greater Supplements Bag (Eternal) x10
Ceranium Medal x10
Blood Marks
Mithril Medal x10
Manastone x100
Composite Manastone Pouch x5
Felicitous Socketing (Mythic)
Fabled Godstone Bundle
L130 Enchantment Stone x10
Composite Manastone Pouch x5
Felicitous Socketing (Mythic)
Fabled Godstone Bundle
L130 Enchantment Stone x10
L120 Enchantment Stone x10
L110 Enchantment Stone x10
L100 Enchantment Stone x10
Ailu Transform Candy x3
NPC Summoning Stone
Manastone Bundle
Reviving Elemental Stone
Lucky Scroll Pouch
Mithril Coin Box
Platinum Coin Box
Gold Coin Box
Premium Treasure Box (golden key)
Kahrun's Symbol x100
Crucible Insignia x1000
Legion Coin x10
Protectorate Coin x5
Cirruspeed - 15 Days
Greater Supplements Bag (Fabled) x10
Greater Supplements Bag (Eternal) x10
Ceranium Medal x10
Blood Marks
Mithril Medal x10
Manastone x100
Composite Manastone Pouch x5
Felicitous Socketing (Mythic)
Fabled Godstone Bundle
L130 Enchantment Stone x10
Composite Manastone Pouch x5
Felicitous Socketing (Mythic)
Fabled Godstone Bundle
L130 Enchantment Stone x10
L120 Enchantment Stone x10
L110 Enchantment Stone x10
L100 Enchantment Stone x10
Hyperion Weapon Box
Beritra Weapon Skin
Tiamat's Spectral Wings
Tahabata Weapon
Raksha Weapon
Permanent Cirruspeed (Bundle)
Mythic Weapon Tuning Scroll
Mythic Armor Tuning
But wait, there's more!
The Alchemy Event doesn't just end with the free stuff; Daevas can also earn more key pouches by collecting alchemist pouches from mobs in the world and in instances. Inside each pouch is either a lead fragment or an alchemic essence. Combine one lead and one essence together and you get another key pouch to try your hand at the treasure chests. Those who wish to can also buy unstable alchemy pouches (which act just like the drops) or alchemic essences straight from the Black Cloud Marketplace.
Remember, you can't turn any of your lead into gold (keys) after the 18th, so if you want to use everything you've gathered, be sure to do so before the servers go down for maintenance that morning. Otherwise, you'll be like me with cube slots filled with useless event items!
No youngins allowed
One thing that continually bugs me about these events is that there is a level limit for participating. I hate that new people are penalized. I am sure it's intended as a way to keep gold spammers from taking advantage of gathering gobs of goodies, but we already know the world is still filled with them! The spammers made it to level 20 well enough, so what's 10 more levels? Is that gap really a big enough deterrent?
I got to chat a bit with Associate Producer Sean Orlikowski on the matter. "Yeah, we hate [level restrictions] too, but if we didn't restrict it, RMT would be all over it," he explained. "It's the same reason many of the BCM items are restricted to L30 and above. There are many risks with fraud and abuse of the system if that level is too low. We had to weigh risk vs. inconvenience for our customers; 30 is the level that was decided on as not too far out there yet not too easy to reach."
I can understand the reasoning. I'd hate for RMT abuse to get worse. Maybe my annoyance is aggravated by the fact that at L20 and L29.5, none of my baby Asmodians can participate in the event. At least with the Fast Track Server, chances are players can get to the required level with enough time to enjoy at least a good chunk of the free goodies. I know what I am doing as soon as I am done writing!
Fortunerk favors the bold
Running concurrently with the Alchemy Event is the return of the Wheel of Fortunerk. For 99 NCoins, players can spin this roulette wheel of prizes to get in-game loot. Everyone who spins wins something, and Orlikowski told that NCsoft has "revamped the prize list a bunch to make sure that even the lower-tier prizes are useful." Apparently "there was a lot of feedback on the previous wheels prizes, so [NCsoft] made it more valuable."
In addition to the regular wheel, there's also a new gold one. After spinning the wheel 10 times, a player will find his next spin is on this gold wheel, where even better odds at getting great items await, including exclusive prizes like a brand-new mount. Orlikowski called it "a way to ensure you're getting a better prize if you haven't been lucky in your normal spins." Both wheels will be parked come the 18th when the Alchemy Event ends.
Thar be more!
So I said that these events are only the beginning of the celebration. And I also said I might be able to sneak out a wee bit of a hint about upcoming festivities. Well, I have already given you one, if you caught it. There might also be special things in the works involving GMs, and maybe even a Daevas Day contest. But that's all I will say on the matter, as I really don't want to be refitted with that blasted electrical collar of NDA-compliance. However, if you stayed tuned to Massively, you're certain to hear about the next exciting facets of the fourth birthday festivities.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few keys to pocket. See you in Atreia!
Soaring through the Aionosphere, MJ Guthrie touches down biweekly to bring you Wings Over Atreia. Featuring tips, guides, and general snippets of life in Aion, the column is better than Tutty-on-a-stick, ackackackackackack! Have a suggestion to share? No need to bribe a Shugo -- just send mail to mj@massively.com.
