Sooo I’m terrible about updating this thing I’ve noticed! So what has transposed in the past few (months?) since I’ve updated? I’ve been playing pretty statically with my boyfriend and housemate and we’re all in the 40s right now. I’m currently LV41 on my Spirit Master! We’ve pretty much been working on acquiring our Xenophon weapons and leveling in the instance Steel Rake (pirates + shugos = awesome).

My initial feelings on the game are pretty much the same as today, honestly. I’d say that Aion is a great online game with an older community. I’ve noticed most of the people I’ve partied with and chatted with on ventrilo tend to be of the older crowd (mid 20s-50s) and I’ve met very few “younger” players in their teens. As for the addictive factor of the game I’m still not addicted glad to say. At least not in the crazed way I was with FFXI years ago. I play casually, enjoy being on with friends, but don’t feel compelled to log in and that, honestly, is an awesome feeling!

I guess our arriving at the home stretch of leveling came at a good time as there is going to be a patch released in a short time. You can read the full detail on that here, but some of the highlights I think are awesome are:

5. A new level has been added to the crafting system.

Once reaching a crafting skill level of 449, a Crafting Trainer NPC can now help players advance further.

Once players become Greater Masters, their maximum level in the skill increases to 499.

Players can become Greater Masters of two crafting skills.

Higher crafting cap! Currently we’re capped at 450 and it will be upped to 499. I wonder what kind of equipment will become synthesizable…

15. A new Rental system has been added, with weapons and armor that can be used for a set amount of time after purchase.

Items purchased from the Rental Merchant can only be used for a set amount of time after the purchase. They automatically disappear once the time is up.

Rental equipment cannot be stored in an account or legion warehouse, cannot be sold, and cannot be modified in appearance.

Rental equipment cannot be strengthened with enchantment stones, manastones, or godstones.

Two-handed weapon combining is not permitted for rental equipment.

Players can purchase rental equipment from the weapon and armor rental merchants in Sanctum, Eltnen, Heiron, Pandaemonium, Morheim, and Beluslan.

Armor rental system seems like it could be a good thing and a bad thing. I am hoping that renting won’t devalue crafter items or allow you to rent out the uuber weapons and thus make the high level grinding for weapons useless. I’d be much upset if you can rent out a Xenophon weapon for 500 kinah a day. *SIGH*

4. New stats have been added.

A healing increase stat has been added, strengthening the Cleric’s healing abilities.

Critical hit and related abilities have been changed or added.

Magical critical hit effects, which only applied during an ordinary magic attack, will now also apply to class skills. Items that already have a magic critical hit proc will now match the new magic critical hit standard.

Physical critical hit decreasing / magic critical hit decreasing stats have been added to decrease the rate of critical hit damage incurred during physical / magic attacks.

Physical critical hit defense / magic critical hit defense stats have been added to decrease the critical hit damage incurred during physical/magic critical hit damage.

This is kinda cool! I’m glad they’re adding in new stats so that maybe people will stop socketing HP and Physical Critical pretty much exclusively.

I won’t outline much more here since I’d have a comment on everything, but new flight paths, updates to party LFG system, etc. seem like a great update!