Earn a Free Dark Menace Costume

MXM—our latest free-to-play game—is now live in North America and Europe! To celebrate we’re offering all eligible Aion players an opportunity to earn a FREE Dark Menace costume for your character in Aion by trying out MXM.

Play MXM and complete five matches in the 5v5 Titan Ruins mode before July 8 and you’ll be eligible to receive your FREE Dark Menace costume to use in Aion. To begin your quest and earn this free reward, download MXM now.



For the complete official rules, click here

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Rotating Weekend Boosts #2

For the next four weekends, enjoy a different in game boost to help you along your daevic journey. We also have a special extended weekend to celebrate Independence Day! See our schedule below for the rotating boosts!

• Friday, June 23 to Sunday, June 25 – +100 Bonus XP
• Friday, June 30 to Sunday, July 4 – +100% Bonus Drop Rate & +100% Bonus XP
• Friday, July 7 to Sunday, July 9 – +100% Bonus Crafting & Gathering 
• Friday, July 14 to Sunday, July 16 – +100% Bonus AP Gained

See you in game!

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MXM is Now Live!

MXM—the next epic release from NCSOFT—is now live in North America and Europe!

Increase your roster with powerful new Masters and NCSOFT favorites, hone your skills in fast-paced co-op PvE missions, and join thousands of other players in intense 3v3 and 5v5 battles as you fight to regain control of Earth from the evil mechanized Synd in this highly anticipated, completely free to play action game!

And even better, all eligible NCSOFT Account holders are getting a special gift to get them started in MXM! If you’ve created and logged into an NC Account before 11:59 PM PDT, June 14 with any NCSOFT West title (Lineage II, Aion, WildStar, Blade & Soul) you’ll automatically receive a stack of 5 XP boost items in your MXM in-game mail—good for a 25% XP boost for 1 hour each!

Head over to PlayMXM.com to download and play for free today!


Click here for promotion rules.

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Unscheduled Server Maintenance - June 20, 2017, 6:00 AM Central Time

There will be an unscheduled maintenance period tomorrow, Tuesday, June 20, 2017 from 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM Central Time. The game servers will be unavailable for approximately 3 hours.

- Changes -

• Server maintenance and modifications in preparation for the launch of MXM.

Be sure to follow @L2andAionOps for server updates. Thank you for your patience!

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Upgrade Arcade: June 2017

Upgrade Arcade is back starting on June 14! Get your tokens and upgrade the weapon to earn fantastic prizes. The higher you go the, the better the rewards including Tamed White Tiger Chest. Spinel Medals, and much more. Earn free tokens daily just by logging in!

- How to Play -

The Upgrade Arcade can be accessed by clicking the smiling Shugo icon on the lower right corner of your screen. Use this icon to play, browse the prize list, or check out the Help guide.

To play, you’ll need an Arcade Token. One Arcade Token is consumed each time you begin playing at level 1, and will last until you claim a prize. This means it’s possible for you to get to Upgrade Level 8 on one token!

Click Play to start the mini-game and you'll see the weapon on the screen change before you. Subsequently by clicking Play, you will continue to upgrade the weapon and the Upgrade Level. There is a chance to fail at each upgrade level so play wisely! If you want to claim your prize, click Reward and a random item from the tier's prize list will be placed in your inventory.



If your upgrade fails at Upgrade Level 6 or higher, you have two choices. You can claim your level 1 prize, or you can click the Resume option to spend two tokens and regain your place! The Resume icon lights up to let you know it can be used, but can only be used once per play.

As you play the Upgrade Arcade, you will notice the Frenzy Meter filling up. Every token you use to play or resume will fill up the bar. Once the bar is full, Frenzy Mode begins and you have 90 seconds of boosted upgrade chances and additional Frenzy Rewards! Click away!

Once the Frezy Meter is full, you'll fill one of the stars at the top and when all four are filled you'll instantly receive a prize from the highest prize tier.

- Where to Get Arcade Tokens -

There are a few ways for you to get tokens for the Upgrade Arcade.
A survey will be available for players level 30+ for (1) Arcade Token. One survey per server per account. Prestige Pack subscribers will receive an additional (2) Arcade Token via survey each week of the event. For levels 66+ you will also earn (1) Arcade Token per day, once per account, after you are logged in for 3 hours total. Arcade Tokens can also be purchased individually or as a bundle from the in-game shop or web store.

- Rewards -

The rewards can be viewed in the Upgrade Arcade menu and are distributed randomly from the upgrade tier you end on. Remember, you can claim your reward at any time. If you want that prize at Upgrade Level 6 without risking a failure on your next attempt, hit the Rewards button to claim it right away. Keep in mind that if your upgrade fails and you do not resume playing, through choice or lack of tokens, you will only get a prize from Upgrade Level 1.

Rewards available include Eternal Hope Armor, Weapon and Accessory Box, Omega Enchantment Stones, Tempering Solutions, Berdin's Lucky Stars, Abyssal Stars and much more. Prismatic Bubble is also available from the event!


- Login Rewards -

Also in during the duration of Upgrade Arcade, for Archdaevas, you will be rewarded with items everyday just for logging in! These items will be in a menu on the right and includes rewards like Spinel Fragments and other items. All you need to do it stay logged in for the amount of time required for each reward, and you can do this every day during the event.

The Upgrade Arcade awaits you! Bonus login rewards and Upgrade Arcade leave July 5, 2017.

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How MMO Games Have Inspired the Wider World of Gaming

Gaming as we know it today in its purest form has been around in one form or another since Atari brought out Pong in 1972, but in recent years, the very essence of gaming has started to undergo various revolutionary changes that would, perhaps, have been left uncovered and uncharted before the arrival of MMO games.

"Aion" by Alt-x (CC BY 2.0)

It may sound like preaching to the converted here, but Aion is one of the finest examples of an MMO game; for objective evidence of that, check out its strong Metacritic ranking and the hype that has surrounded it in the industry since its formation back in 2009.

Since 2009, the world of MMO games and even Aion itself have changed substantially as the world of gaming in general has evolved to adapt to the demands and different tastes of gamers. MMO is not alone in experiencing this trend, though, with other parts of the gaming and iGaming industries that initially seem disparate actually finding themselves influenced and connected by trends that began with MMO.

A More Sociable World After the Rise of MMOs?
Aion and other MMOs like Vikings: War of Clans and Clash of Clans have created a world where the image of the solo gamer playing on their own and not being capable of interacting with others has truly been exposed as a myth. By encouraging (though not forcing) gamers to work together, through clans or other groups, MMOs have proved that the world of gaming is one where social interaction with others is actually a preference and not an annoyance.


This has helped to encourage gamers on other platforms like the PS4 or Xbox Live, where chatting and being sociable are now a key part of gaming, whether referring to games like FIFA or classic shoot 'em up action games like Call of Duty.


A Wider Reach Than Anticipated? 
A similar knock-on effect to other games was to be anticipated, but it is arguably in the world of iGaming where the most surprising development has taken place, most probably inspired by the huge growth of MMOs.


Take bingo as an example. Previously widely perceived as being a focus point for older people, the hobby has been given a shake-up of significant proportions, and much of that has been down to the chance to engage in social activity online whilst playing. Bingo is now seen as one of the biggest "sports" in the UK (in fact bigger than tennis) and undoubtedly one of the factors in this has been the chance to be more sociable when playing online.


20 August 2014

Andy Williams

andywilliamsanimation.com

  

The inclusion of live chat, which you’ll see when you play bingo online at William Hill amongst others, has been the major driver in this and has helped players to enjoy a more modern version of a classic game, which in turn has helped to revamp other collaborative ideas such as Bingomation, a really interesting online project that encouraged the link between bingo and collaboration in a different way through the medium of art.  


What Could Come Next?
Technology is improving all the time and with PvP gaming and MMO games still hugely popular and leading the way in gaming popularity, it will be interesting to see how they continue to develop and help to influence games that might not normally be seen as trendy.


With virtual reality, augmented reality, and many other developments now very much becoming a big thing in a world of gaming that is constantly improving and innovating, it will be interesting to see what developments come in next and help shape the games of today and the games of the future.

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