So many gamers had been waiting for this day to come : the release of Aion. No more beta, no more let's rush to 30 and get our character deleted - hun hun, this is over ! NCSoft is done with the testing and settling,time has come for them to launch the game.

Here's a sum up of the organisation of the release :
--> September, 18th : Pre-selection of your character and server (only available for pre-order keys)
--> September, 20th : Pre-release of the game. You can finally get into Atrea and start your journey (only available for pre-order keys)
--> September, 25th : Official release for Europe. Anybody can join the Aion community as long as they get the game from the gaming stores.

As for TheLastConsortium, we are currently settled on the english speaking server Spatalos. We decided to stick with the Asmodian race or should I say nobody ever mentioned going to the Elyos side for nothing else but killing Elyos.

We are still recruiting members, so if you think you are what we are looking for then drop an application, an officer will answer as soon as possible.

We are finally able to play aion for a full week ! The open beta started on September the 6th and will end on September the 13th. A whole week to try out the new features, the guild teamplay but also other classes, the crafting system for the named guild crafters... so many things to try and only a week to do so !

Anyways, here's a little list from the new ingame features : (official source)

1. New Areas: Theobomos (Elysea) and Brusthonin (Asmodae)
2. New Instances!
3. Over 40 new default faces have been added to character creation.
4. Increased PvPvE rewards
5. UI changes (click-to-move has been disabled by default)
6. New items!
7. New skills + increased balance
8. Tons of new quests.
9. Advanced Stigma Stone System
10. Chat Channels
a. Class
b. Region
c. Looking For Group
d. Languages

As for the server we are playing on, well the whole guild is present on Kromede, one of the many European servers. Feel free to join us and have some fun ! 

Following our recent announcement regarding the commencement of Aion's open beta, we have taken steps to ensure a smooth setup and preparation process for all participants. While our Launcher will incrementally update your client, the new and patched Aion open beta client has been distributed to a select few partners around the web to prepare for our open beta test. To get your hands on it, you may visit FilePlanet or download it from GamersHell (available later this week).

We have also added a new option that the Aion community has long anticipated: downloading the full open beta client via our BitTorrent tracker (md5 checksum). We have even arranged for a torrent patch for those of you who already have the closed beta client installed but want to get prepared for open beta!

As added extra spice, FilePlanet will--in addition to distributing the client--be giving away a load of open beta keys starting on Tuesday, September 1, 2009. Get on the starting line if you do not have an eligible Aion account already! Eligible accounts include any previous closed beta participants and those who have preordered or prepurchased Aion.

Remember to update your Aion game password if your Aion account was created prior to July 29, 2009.

Now that the last closed beta event is almost over, we have indeed caught a glimpse of what the Aion experience will be like at the game release in September. From a PvE perspective, the lore, quests and all the adventures have offered a well rounded game experience, defining Aion as a beautifully designed MMORPG. From a PvP perspective, because of the level cap in the beta events we could only experience a bit of the PvPvE experience through faction fights, raids and Abyss skirmishes.

Judging from my personal experience as a veteran Guild Wars player with a little bit of World of Warcraft experience, I must confess that I see Aion as lying somewhere in between the two in terms of features, leaning more towards a WoW experience (more complete PvE experience that includes crafting and persistent worlds), while touching a bit on Guild Wars in terms of PvE experience. Aion PvP is also more similar to WoW mechanics and quite far from the very diverse and very structured Guild Wars PvP experience (defined more as a CORPG - Competitive Online Role Playing Game, rather than MMORPG).

Throughout the game though, if I were to compare Aion's features to those of Guild Wars and World of Warcraft, I have to say that:

• I like more the graphics in Aion than those in WoW (I'm not a fan of cartoonish characters, prefer more realistic ones), with the note that GW graphics are coming close in terms of beauty of characters and scenery, but lack in terms of options for customization;

• I like more the complexity of Aion as compared to Guild Wars (in terms of crafting and other related activities) because I believe it creates a more rounded game experience, more similar to that of WoW;

• I prefer the Guild Wars skill and profession development simply because you can create more diversity (PvE & PvP) with 10 professions (primary professions combined with changeable secondary professions) and only a limited 8 slots skill bar;

• I prefer Guild Wars in terms of character, armor and weapon stats levels (20 character level cap, same stats armor and weapons, but different and more diverse skins) because I think it promotes more player skill rather than equipment stats;

• I like Guild Wars PvP system better because it allows you to directly jump into PvP without grinding your character and equipment through PvE (PvP only accounts with PvP only characters that are created at level 20 and equipment that can be unlocked through faction earned in PvP activities);

• I also like Guild Wars PvP system more because of the variety of formats (random arenas 4v4, team arenas 4v4, hero battles 1v1, heroes ascent 8v8, guild versus guild 8v8, alliance battles 12v12), number limits allowing for a pleasant game experience, not the horrible lag generally found during the huge raids in Aion or WoW;

• I believe that Aion grind is less horrible than WoW grind in terms of character levels and equipment and even less horrible than that of Guild Wars in terms of titles (I've only glimpsed like 10 titles in beta events in Aion, while Guild Wars has more than 30 titles, both PvE and PvP);

• I honestly dislike the server and region separation in Aion and WoW and I think there should be a huge common world with different districts (for different geographical regions) and the ability for your characters to travel to all these places, regardless of their place of creation, as it is the case in Guild Wars;

• However, because of server separation, you can create more characters in Aion as compared to Guild Wars, which I find it beneficial because you can test more professions this way;

• All in all, I think Aion has a very pleasant and well rounded game experience that allows players to really pick the direction in which they want their own game experience to develop.