After several years away, I decided to give Aion Classic another shot. I was there from the start on the original launch, deeply immersed in the game, so when they re-released my favorite version drenched in nostalgia, I simply had to return. Wow, was I let down. Just when I thought GameForge as a publisher couldn't sink any lower, they managed to outdo themselves.
I'm fairly convinced GameForge must've had a few meetings to pat themselves on the back about their "innovative" ideas before releasing a game that seems to have skipped any real internal testing.
Let's dive into this mess, shall we?
Siel subscription. You've taken an old game, re-released it under the guise of F2P, and locked EVERY. SINGLE. essential feature crucial to the game behind a subscription, like earning AP or trading. It's virtually impossible to play without Siel's blessing, and don't even mention the 1-hour free play a day nonsense unless you're just doing a couple of dailies. That hour is downright offensive to players. Next patch, why not remove the flight system entirely and tack it on to Siel too?
Economy, wow... after browsing forums, I stumbled upon claims of a 90% drop rate reduction. Who knows if it's accurate, but it sure feels like it. Most monsters drop absolutely nothing, and when they do, you'd be lucky to find a power shard or a mere recovery elixir.
You've diminished the value of junk loot and armor/weapon drops, crippling players' ability to generate kinah besides player trades.
There's a daily sales limit of 1 million via NPCs, supposedly to thwart gold sellers? Yet bots are thriving all over the server. If the aim was to make monster farming too unrewarding even for gold sellers, just imagine how AWFUL it is for active players.
Meanwhile, NPC prices are unchanged, destroying the kinah sink from early versions, leaving us scraping for every kinah to buy outdated skill books.
Gold sellers haven't been deterred, still spamming LFG like always, so clearly didn't solve anything.
Entire groups are now forced to slog through dungeons, selling loot for a trivial 2 million split six ways, barely covering their expenses. This is not what Aion was meant to be.
So I'd like to pose two questions that probably won't find any answers from anyone informed anyway.
1) Has the GF team ever actually played this game? If yes, did any of this ever strike them as outright foolish?
2) Since it's not working, can we expect a real fix in future updates, or are we doomed to forever empty loot windows?
Thanks.
Honestly, it's time to switch gears. I've been testing Aion Riftshade, a promising alternative where these frustrations don't exist. They offer a stable Aion 4.8 experience, low ping, and no P2W nonsense. It's packed with innovative features like a server-side anti-cheat, and the GMs/devs are active in their discord. Launching in Q1 2026, Aion Riftshade feels like the salvation we've been waiting for.
. Feel free to use Google Translate for more insights into the game.