Dungeon bosses in Dark Poeta and Beshmundir Temple are now dropping more Fabled and Eternal gear, giving groups more incentive to conquer the difficult encounters.

World Named Monsters are also giving away more rare items.

Even newer players are getting a leg up on the gearing up department;  everything from general monsters to treasure chests are handing out more than enough Heroic and Fabled gear.

Most Daevas are thrilled with the changes. Before Aion 2.1, it required a lot of grinding to collect respectable gear for PvE or PvP. Now that loot is more easily obtained, players can become competitive in a shorter amount of time and have more shiny gear to show off during the upcoming holiday events.

For more information on the Golden Daeva update, read the full Aion 2.1 patch notes here.

Aion 2.0 brings Daevas to the Balaurean homeland with both sides setting up camp for a major push against their beastly foes. Inggison has an Elyos stronghold while Gelkmaros has one for the Asmodians, and both seem to be connected via the Silentera Canyon. Passage from Inggison to Gelkmaros and vice versa are unlocked through the capture of two fortresses found in each zone.

Inggison hosts the Wisplight Legion who, in the auspices of Lord of Illusion Kaisiniel, is aiding the Elyos in their mission. The Inggison walkthrough trailer shows off the zone: its fertile valleys, mushroom trees, and the dangerous wildlife inhabiting it.

Meanwhile, the savage Reian Tribe enter into a truce with the Asmodians to ensure both races survive the onslaught of not only the Balaur, but also of the sinister Dragonbound. The Gelkmaros flythrough trailer shows a more battered landscape shaped from countless battles and natural upheavals.

NCSoft producers have said that controlling both fortresses in each map is required to gain access to their rival faction’s zone. So after the initial ousting of Balaur from the fortresses, both sides must defend or risk being locked out to either Inggison or Gelkmaros.

We just hope that the server balance measures taken up recently by the company is enough to restore faction competitiveness, particularly in lopsided servers, and ensure Aion 2.0 doesn’t devolve into a one-sided gankfest.

It’s been a couple of days after Aion went through with its Sever Merge, and the converged communities are busy sorting through name change disputes.

With the 32 original servers merging to 13 consolidated ones, NCSoft added server abbreviations at the end of all character names to avoid name duplication. But obviously, many players wouldn’t want to get stuck with toon names like PatriciaAZ (Patricia on Azphel server).

To remedy the situation, players have been given a Name Change Ticket in their inventories. NCSoft has even opened up their customer support for name change appeals that request for their old names to be given back after it was snatched up by another character.

The same solution has been presented to Legion names, with the Legion Brigade General receiving a free Legion name change coupon in his or her inventory.

All of these information plus other helpful hints are listed on the Server Merge FAQ page.

Eager Aion fans who want to avoid the patch day rush can preload the 1.9 update before it hits the live servers on June 2. Just log on and activate the NCSoft Launcher to begin downloading the patch over the next couple of days.

Aion 1.9 just arrived at the public test servers a few days ago, and those who have started testing the anticipated update say it is working just as advertised via the 1.9 update patch notes.

Well received changes include the addition of a Mist system, which rents out weapons for a limited time for leveling purposes. Despite the limited functionality of Mist weapons (they can’t be modified or strengthened and can’t be stored in any warehouse), its availability sidesteps the need for expensive gear purchases before the end game.

Meanwhile, hardcore Abyss fighters will have greater success socketing their arsenal with the best enchantments and Manastones. A new socketing supplement, which increases the enchantment stone and Manastone-socketing success rate, has been introduced. Only the lesser socketing suplement is available now, NCSoft said, but promised the regular and greater types will come at a later patch.

In terms of gameplay conveniences, a new Looking For Group function will facilitate group formation and questing. Additional paths and Obelisks for both factions installed across Atreia will also improve regional travel.

With all these improvements, the arrival of 1.9 update is set to bring a fresh wave of enthusiasm for the game. Can you believe it’s finally here! So let’s celebrate–don one of those new brand-name outfits and party hard as a reward for your patience. Happy patching!

In line with its plans to launch two Public Test Servers (PTS), Aion developer NCSoft has released a short installation guide that will help players copy or download the test server files.

The two new PTS–one for US and one for EU–will be the testing grounds for the much-awaited Western translations of Update 1.9, which has already been implemented in Korea.

NCSoft cited two methods to install the PTS. The first method dubbed as “Duplication of Already Existing Installation” requires copying the Aion installation directory in your hard drive and renaming it as AionPTS. Opening the NCSoft launcher will detect the renamed AionPTS folder and enable you to patch and access it.

The second method called “Fresh Installation” requires a complete re-download of the 9.8GB Aion PTS folder from GamersHell or FilePlanet. After the download, just follow the launcher instructions to enable the AionPTS. Choose this method if you’re not confident with your computer fiddling skills or don’t want to risk deleting your original Aion folder and lose a night–or three–of game time.

NCSoft has said that the PTS will be “a way to reduce the likelihood of imbalance and bugs reaching live servers unnoticed and unresolved” through player feedback. Western Aion fans excited for Update 1.9 have thrown their support behind the PTS  despite concerns of too much migration from live servers.

After checking out the complete installation guide, stay tuned as we report on the progress of the PTS rollout and whether NCSoft can deliver on its promise to launch Update 1.9 by May.

Even though NCSoft has finalized the release date for Aion update 1.9 over the weekend (Yes, it’s coming in May!), players still clamored for an explanation on why it takes several months to implement an update from Korean servers to Western servers.

Many max-leveled Daevas–obviously itching to play new content and updated features–view the Westernization process as an excruciating “delay”.  NCSoft has come out with their detailed defense, explaining the long process of bringing Update 1.9 and other major patches to Western servers.

NCSoft cited translation and testing work as the main culprits behind the month-long Western ports. It seems the developer also works on French and German versions before releasing the English translation, so this could be a point of improvement should the developer wish to sync their patch releases worldwide.

I mean, if other games like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XI deliver multi-language patches within the same week, then Aion should either wait for the translations to finish before releasing the Korean version or improve their translation pace.

Gamers are naturally competitive, so it’s logical for Western players to feel envy when their Korean counterparts get first dibs on update 1.9. For all it’s worth, here are choice snippets from the Aion Community Team on the Westernization process (or read the full version here):

“We have to go through quite a few steps to bring an update from the Korean to Western markets. The first step, obviously, is getting the update so we can begin testing…

After that, the team makes sure that any new files it has received match the previous terminology changes, which leads to lots of exacting search and replace work…

The team transforms that content into native English speech delivered in a natural tone and idiom that makes sense in a westernized culture while preserving the unique lore of Aion. When the team members finished that, it’s time to translate that English version into French and German…

Many times, the content goes through several testing iterations during which we change the wording, tweak the UI and its labelling, and fix bugs as they are found…

We create new installers, plan the server updates, and plan and test the backend technical pieces that deliver the new software, integrate it into the software, and talk to the various databases that are integral to getting the content and new features from us to you, the player.

Last, we let everyone know about the update! This involves a scheduled and coordinated effort by our Community, Marketing, and PR teams to get the word out through the press, various events, the forums, news items, and email messaging.

It’s common for us gamers to have a change of heart as time passes. The long tresses of my Elyos toon, for example, have lost their flirty appeal. I now want to snip it all off into a strong bob that will make my toon look more imposing in the Abyss. How about you? What aspects of your Daeva do you want to change ASAP?