Wings Over Atreia: Tickets please

As we barrel through November and get closer to the holidays, my thoughts have turned to turkey, pie, rolls, pie, and candied yams... did I mention pie? It's not that I can't think of anything else (pie), but I always look forward to family, food, and free time during the upcoming holidays -- free time meaning more gaming and less working! Unfortunately, a few other things are slipping in and interrupting the thoughts of impending gluttony for many Aion players.

Everyone deeply immersed in Atreia knows that two of the most frequent topics of discussion this past week (ignoring all troll comments, of course) have been Star Wars: The Old Republic with its impending effect on Aion and the reduction in arena tickets that went into effect after last Wednesday's maintenance. While Wings Over Atreia took a look at the forthcoming release of TOR last week, I might have altered my predictions a bit had the announcement about the arena tickets happened sooner than right before publishing.

Could one event really affect the balance? Check out past the cut to examine the NCsoft's action, the community's reaction, and the possible repercussions.

One of hottest topics (as denoted by views and replies) on the official forums is the announcement of the "fixing" of the arena ticket bug. I have to admit, when the comment was first made about the reduction, I was all set to reply that two tickets were still available as I personally just logged in and grabbed them. Thank heavens for the edit button, as a quick jump to the forums showed me my error! For anyone who doesn't quite know the situation, here's the scoop: Way back when, in the olden days (i.e., last month), the patch notes for 2.7 were published in Aion's game guide. Oh, happy day, right? Daevas from each hemisphere of Atreia could get a good glimpse at what to expect once 2.7 went live on October 19th. Embedded in this wall of text was the fact that through the introduction quest, Daevas would be granted two arena tickets to test the new PvP arenas. After that, the daily quest would grant only one ticket. However, what was written was not what happened: For four weeks Elyos and Asmodians alike were treated to double arena tickets. Players were excited about the new arenas and flocked to them, filling up the waiting area with a crowd that had only recently been seen during AFK events. Participation was robust, and there was much rejoicing in the lands! *cue Monty Python* Yay. In fact, when I gave my impressions about the future of Aion, I did so with the amount of activity and enjoyment seen in these matches in mind.

Last Monday, the community team let the bomb drop that in just two day's time, the bug that allowed players to receive two arena tickets would be fixed and only one ticket would be rewarded from that time forward. Players from both factions were upset because they felt like something was being taken away from them without any real notice or cause, and I can't blame them. NCsoft let the issue go too long without addressing it. Previously, I have stated how impressed I was with Aion's customer service. However, this community relations blunder is a stain on NCsoft's reputation. And it's one that I think could have been easily avoided.