After the announcement of the collaboration between the Korean version of the MMORPG AION and the famous anime “Fist of the North Star,” we became interested in how things are going with future updates in the CIS version of the game. And so, after thinking a little and reading what worries the community, we decided to ask the publisher a few questions. We hope that the answers received are still relevant and will be of interest to our readers.
Good afternoon. Who do we have the honor to ask questions to? Please, introduce yourself.
Good afternoon Irina Tardis, assistant manager of Aion Classic, is in touch. I’ve been at 4Game for 7 years: I worked as both a content manager and a community manager. But it was in 2023 that I spread my wings, becoming the assistant manager of Aion Classic!
At launch, the game had technical problems with access, and sieges were laggy – has everything been fixed by now?
Indeed, at release we had a series of problems with access to the game and lags, but our team, together with our Korean partners, managed to fix them in the shortest possible time. Of course, we are now continuing to monitor the situation and carry out scheduled technical work as usual, improving the player experience.
Can you comment on the situation with bot breeders and transfusionists? Rumor has it that they are present on the servers and the fight against them is insufficient.
We will not deny the fact that there are bots on the servers. However, the 4game team and our colleagues from NCSOFT are working to improve our security system in order to automate some of the processes and prevent game rule violators from accessing the servers. And, of course, we respond to all requests, conduct checks and, if necessary, block accounts.
Can players hope that as part of events or in honor of a content update, a coupon for changing classes will appear in the game? If we are not mistaken, this was the practice in Korea.
In Korea there was actually an opportunity to try a different class. As part of one update, those who wished could try out other classes on a separate server using a special book, but players were not provided with coupons for changing classes on the main servers. In the September 13, 2023 update, NCSOFT also added the ability for high-level players to change classes twice. This can be done in the capitals of your race. However, this functionality is still a long way off – the next update in our region will be 2.4. This means that the Punisher class is not far off, as well as new locations and dungeons that will come to us in 2024 along with version 2.7. It is too early to discuss the content of later versions, since the partners have not yet said which build will go to the regions. If the class change mechanic is implemented as an event, we will do everything possible on our part to order it!
Will the content and functionality of patch 2.4 be the same as the Korean version? Perhaps something will change for us by the time the patch comes out?
Our regional builds combine both the content that was in the Korean license versions and that which was released later (bug fixes, intermediate updates, class balance, etc.). For example, regional patch 1.9 was based on the Korean version 2.4, so in essence we are adding content: locations of the Balaur lands, level 55, new dungeons… Our assembly includes all Korean patches up to version July 6, 2022 inclusive.
How’s the roadmap going? If I’m not mistaken, before the start of the game it was said that it was being prepared and would appear soon.
We remember our promise to share plans for the future, but at the moment our priority is to monitor and fix any problems in the game. But we wouldn’t want our “soon” to become equal to Blizzard’s Soon™ (we already have our own “tentative”). We are currently carrying out final approvals with partners on plans for 2024. We will share the news, presumably, before the end of the year.
Some players feel that certain item drops are somewhat unbalanced across races. Is it possible that we will get some changes in this situation in future updates?
Unfortunately, there is not enough information to answer this question. What items, for example? In general, the chance of dropping items does not depend on race. There are certain game mechanics that require farming in enemy locations (for example, there are more monsters with Balaur scales on the Elyan side, so Asmodians have to get to the enemy side or farm in the Abyss), but more stigma drops in the Asmodian dungeon Alquimia Laboratory. We invite readers of this article to write clarifications in the comments!
Recently, a content update was announced in Korea with an interesting collaboration (manga/anime “Fist of the North Star”) and level 60. Will the CIS version of the game get a new class and special dungeons that will appear as part of the collaboration? And will they be able to hear the legendary “Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru”?
Typically, content updates arrive in regions consistently. Since the game only came out in September, we shouldn’t expect a class in the foreseeable future. Moreover, the Punisher will definitely appear first.
Regarding collaborations with manga or other famous titles, it is important to understand that some updates are only available in certain regions. One notable example of the above scenario is the Captain Harlock or Hello Kitty costumes, which were exclusive to the Japanese version of Aion and were not available in other regions. But if we are given such an opportunity, we will definitely take advantage of it!
Here I would like to mention wonder girls: the costumes and dances of the singers appeared not only in the homeland of the game, but also in the CIS.
Should we expect any unique collaborations or other unique content for our version in the future?
We regularly negotiate with the developer about the possibility of adding exclusives for our region. If you remember, in the original version of the game there were events about Koshchei and the Firebird, the pet Kolobok, and even a local meme with a bulldozer. We’d love to have something similar for Aion Classic. Currently, our region can boast of an exclusive brave bear costume that the Daevas received when pre-ordering the game. And soon we are going to please the participants of our affiliate program with a unique appearance that is developed specifically for them. We also communicate with partners about thematic events for our region. We will do everything possible on our part to make these plans come true!
In addition to content, the update on Korean servers plans to redesign the interface and give players the opportunity to customize it. Is it possible that we will get this functionality earlier than 50+ locations and character level 60?
I’m afraid not. And here we should talk about the procedure for installing the update in a little more detail. The developer shares with us the build number that he plans to send and discusses the delivery date. By the build number we can usually determine which patches will be included in our build. But usually the developer includes patches in his builds in chronological order and rarely breaks this rule.
