Aion Revisited - Account Reactivation

Following PAX, I made what is likely a poor decision - reactivating my Aion account. I deactivated the account in January, only 6 months after the game’s launch, and it was an unexpectedly sudden end that left my character in limbo. I’ve wanted ever since to return, at least briefly enough to finish several projects I had been working on with her. In an attempt to find a bit of closure for my character and to feel as though I was ready to leave the game, I am revisiting it for one or two months.

Firstly, I had been farming religiously to earn 2,000 Platinum Coins. Coin quests are a carryover from Lineage 2, where you could kill certain NPCs for a low chance to earn specific types of coins which could then be redeemed in combination for different rewards. It was a way to earn added benefit from killing NPCs to gain experience. In Aion, each subsequent tier of coin requires significantly more coins to earn a reward. The early tiers provide a random reward within one “school” of item type, so that you might wind up with an item you can’t use or a duplicate. This is often frustrating, but can still provide a reasonable amount of profit.

Once you reach the higher tiers, such as the Platinum Coins I was farming, you are able to chose much more specifically. My 2,000 coin quest was to earn an attack speed staff for my Chanter, and when I suddenly quit the game I had personally farmed over 1,400 coins - quite an achievement as they were awarded in small denominations for repeatable quests. At that time, buying the coins was cost prohibitive (roughly 25,000 adena each) so I kept soldiering forward on the repeatable quests. However, I discovered on my return that the price had dropped significantly, and I was able to snap up several bulk lots for 10,000 per coin. This, combined with a heavy night of farming was able to put me at my goal. The difference with the new weapon is unbelievable!

I am hoping to finish up two additional goals, though I am not sure I will make the deadline before the new content goes in. I would like to earn my Fenris Shoulders - I am just over halfway done and now I am able to complete the quest much quicker now. I also need to complete 2 more runs through the Dark Poeta instance in order to gain access to my advanced stigmas, since I frequently sat out for a friend. This is key for my character, and I really want to complete this so that I can feel she’s “done” before I quit for good. It’s a lot more difficult to complete group instances though, since everyone I know has quit the game. I’ll be at the mercy of strangers for the next month as I attempt to finish these goals while exploring the new zones and content.I’d also love to finish out my crafting - I was three points shy of the cap when I cancelled my account, and this has been raised slightly so there is additional incentive to finish.