Some players expected the new Aion PTS to be an easy way to access top-notch gear, others wanted new content right away, and even more others just want to PvP... But you can't make everyone happy!

Update: We now have some feedback from Aion's North American Community Manager, Andrew "Tamat" Beegle, concerning Aion's North American and European Public Test Servers. So if you're at all confused about Aion's Public Test Servers and what it is, exactly, NCsoft is trying to do, then read on!

Andrew "Tamat" Beegle:  The Aion PTS is setup to be a unique experience where our users will be able to help us test newer content. We launched the PTS to give the community a chance to check it out before we put out new content for testing. This is an chance for players to level up so they can be prepared for the fun stuff that's coming! As we've mentioned previously, the private test server has a few unique settings, these settings include experience and abyss point gain, higher item drop rates, etc. It's important to point out that we're using the same base script that Korea uses for their PTS, so while I can't comment on the specific settings, I can reiterate that playing on the Aion test server is a very unique experience.

So what this means for Aion players and fans of the PTS is that NCsoft is not looking at their PTS as a transitional server to be manipulated at their whim, rather, the Aion Team really does sound like they want their servers to be persistent. To put it simpler, while there is a slightly higher risk of a server wipe on the PTS as opposed to regular servers (simply due to the nature of being a "test server"), as long as we know that NCsoft intends for their PTS to be persistent to allow constant content testing, then it should be fairly safe to play on the PTS.

Now on to the original article!

It's been a few days now since Aion's Public Test Servers went live and, while there were a great number of uncertainties surrounding these new servers (experience rates, whether 1.9 would be on the PTS or not, etc), the one thing you can be absolutely sure of whenever NCsoft does anything is that… there will be complaints. Even if most of the player base does approve of NCsoft's moves (especially over the past few months, as the Aion Community Team has been trying to tone up their communication), the fact is, there will be naysayers and they won't be afraid to voice their opinions.

But what could players possibly find wrong with Aion's newly launched Public Test Servers? Well, like anything else in this world, while there really are things that are fundamentally problematic with Aion's Public Test Servers, much of the criticism that has been levied at NCsoft is so far from the actual problems that it can get downright mind-boggling. I've taken it upon myself to look into Aion's Public Test Servers and why they really show how you really can't please everybody (because they just want to be grumpy!).

The first problem that many users had with the Public Test Servers was that they are running the same client as the regular Aion Servers, so players aren't really "testing" anything.

According to Aion's North American Community Manager, Andrew "Tamat" Beegle, the long-long awaited patch 1.9 will make its way to the Public Test Servers in "the next couple of weeks." Many players have translated this to mean something in the realms of an extra week or two before the PTS will see patch 1.9 implemented. In the meantime, however, the big question coming from the crowds is… why open the PTS without anything to test?

Well, from what I can see of the Public Test Servers, the testing and benefits are mutual for all parties. For NCsoft, they get the opportunity to try out their newly localized patches and, when they aren't testing anything (like now!), the PTS servers also offer a fantastic opportunity for players to try out tons of new things that they've never felt they could accomplish before. If you don't believe me, check out the official thread that Tamat has started on the Aion Forums, asking players what they will do differently on the PTS.

What most players don't understand is that much of the game play testing is already being done on the Korean Aion servers, which are far ahead of us in terms of development. Even as we wait eagerly to play patch 1.9 on the North American PTS, patch 2.0 is being tested on the Korean PTS! In this way, while North America and European Public Test Servers are great for testing for potential bugs and glitches, the fact is, since Korea has already gone through the game play testing once, our own testing is to really see if the localization process went smoothly (as in, are your quest givers speaking proper English?) and, more importantly, for us to experience a new kind of Aion.

If anything, maybe NCsoft is monitoring the Public Test Realms to see what North American Aion players really want from their MMORPG. If, for example, there are more players PvPing on the Aion PTS than on any of the regular servers, then we, as players, have sent a clear message to NCsoft indicating how they can get us more involved in Aion's PvP.