Early and beta access for Aion pre-orders

By Oli Welsh Published 18 June, 2009

Update: new beta schedule inside.

NCsoft has revealed the European pre-order program for Aion: The Tower of Eternity, its next MMO, due to launch in the autumn.

Pre-ordering the game will guarantee you access to all scheduled beta events. We reported on these yesterday: the second of the limited closed beta events is this weekend, with two more before the open beta in August.

You'll also get a 48-hour head start on the servers come launch time, some exclusive in-game items and a chance to select your character name and server ahead of the game going live.

The offer applies to pre-orders of both the Limited Collector's Edition and the standard copy of the game. Participating retailers include Game and Steam. Full details at the Aion website.

Update: We've just seen a revised beta schedule, with more closed beta events stretching into August. It runs as follows:

  • June 19th to 22nd: Closed beta, Asmodian faction levels 1-10
  • July 2nd to 6th: Closed beta, Asmodian faction levels 1-20
  • July 17th to 20th: Closed beta, Elyos and Asmodian levels 1-25
  • July 31st to August 3rd: Closed beta, TBC
  • August 14th to August 17th: Closed beta, TBC

No word on the open beta dates, but since it was due to start on 14th August, we assume it's been pushed back a little

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (9) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • levitate #1 3 years ago

    First!

    And yeah, this looks sweet.

  • Emth #2 3 years ago

    Is this really anything more than a WoW clone destined to fail? It's hard not to be cynical after the releases of the last few years.

  • ZuluHero #3 3 years ago

    Pre-ordering the game will guarantee you access to all scheduled beta events."

    Yeah. Right.

    the only 2 places you can get a key from in the UK is Amazon.co.uk and GAME (if you want a boxed copy of the game). Amazon have said if you didn't order by midnight (this morning) you wouldn't get in to this weekends event (and would have to wait till the next one)

    And GAME keep on denying that they are even offering this preorder bonus!? }:(

    Its a total sham!

    On a side note, i hear you can buy the digital version of the game direct from NCSoft (via their online shop) and you will get a key straight away. The only downside is you have to pay for the game in full.

  • ZuluHero #4 3 years ago

    @Emth

    I love how everything is a WoW clone. Even WoW is a WoW clone you know...

    And what do you class as a failure? The game shutting down or it not getting 11 million subs?
    Edited by 1 at 18/06/09 @ 09:19

  • #5 3 years ago

    lol.... hey guys..what do u think about this? just chat with me --I am an open-mineded single girl and I love sports. I want to end my single life by meeting a guy who likes sports too. Let's mingle at the big&tall dating club ___ TallMingle.com _____" which is a popular meeting site for tall singles and admirers!

  • #6 3 years ago

    lol....
    Hey guys..what do u think about this? just chat with me --I am an open-mineded single girl and I love sports. I want to end my single life by meeting a guy who likes sports too. Let's mingle at the big&tall dating club ___ TallMingle.com _____" which is a popular meeting site for tall singles and admirers!

  • ZuluHero #7 3 years ago

    lol.... hey guys..what do u think about this? just chat with me -- I am an open-mineded single girl and I love sports. Just PM with your CC details and we'll have a whale of a time (*whales not included in said good time).

    Fixed.

    WTF is this. This is a gaming site, the mmo section as well. We don't mingle with girls. Most of us haven't even seen sunlight in years :p

    I've never seen spam in the comments section before....

  • Emth #8 3 years ago

    @ZuluHero

    Maybe failure was the wrong word, a disappointment would have been more apt. I've played so many games that were meant to be the next best thing and it never turns out to be the case. The hype for Aion is very similar to Conan/WAR.

    WoW is like the iPhone of MMOs. While it may not have been original in many aspects (it's still introduced a lot of concepts that will become standard), it just did things better. That is not the case with a lot of games coming out and it makes me wonder why they bother.

    There are two ways to get into the market, do new things or do the same things better - and other than small gimmicks most games have only attracted WoW customers when they are jaded and ready for a change of scenery.
    Edited by 1 at 18/06/09 @ 11:33

  • Kami #9 3 years ago

    Those of us who stuck with Tabula Rasa to the bitter end got automatic access to the beta as well.

    It has already had one beta weekend, and I played it. It is a bit like WoW in the interface design, but it is very intuitive, friendly and wonderfully pretty. Quests are very interesting as well. Oh and you could spend a weekend on the character creation alone, it's very detailed with tons of combinations. With level restrictions it is a little hard to say if the full game will look as polished and be as intuitive as the lower level areas (Age of Conan, we're looking at you!) but at the moment, it's not looking to be a disaster.

    But time will tell. Still, here's hoping!

  • Mellissa #10 3 years ago

    I've just been on the phone to Game and as above they are denying all knowledge of this deal.

    .

  • Lancelot_nzl #11 3 years ago

    @Emth
    Aion is as far from a WOW clone as you could get. This game is published by a Company called NCSoft they have been doing online RPG before Blizard even knew what they were
    The started with Lineage they then released Lineage 2 in March 2004 that’s 8 months prior to WOW
    This next game is a progression of Lineage more than anything but set in a new Universe. Before you start spouting about how everything is a WOW clone do some homework