Stites marks Aion's first anniversary by reflecting on the past and looking toward the future.

Happy anniversary, Aion! Are you all enjoying the Daeva's Day event? How about the Month 12 Veteran Rewards? That Aqua Griffo pet certainly has some perks! NCsoft's Lance Stites has written a letter to the Aion community to mark this occasion, and it focuses mainly on the past year and the Assault on Balaurea expansion. As far as the future is concerned, he mentions that "new western specific events, continuing refinement to drop rates and experience, a 64-bit client to make performance better than ever and expanded pet functionality are a few things we know are coming."

He also mentions that Community Manager Andrew "Tamat" Beegle is leaving the NCsoft team to fly down to sunny Los Angeles, so Trine and other members of the community team will be filling in for him while they search for a replacement. Tamat just interviewed Trine to kick off the new Empyrean Lords of NCsoft series Q&A series on the official Aion site, so be sure to check that out. Good luck, Tamat!

You can read Stites' full letter after the jump. And while you're at it, be sure to check out our interview with Aion Producer Chris Hager. We talked about the game's anniversary and expansion, and Hager hinted that there might be some pets on the way with abilities you've never seen before!

Here is the letter from Lance Stites to the Aion community:

Hello Friends and Daevas,

I bring salutations on such an auspicious day—the first year anniversary of the launch of Aion!

I want to express my deepest appreciation and respect to all our fans; we could not have come this far without you, as you have helped us make Aion what it is today, a triple-A MMO comprised of a world class community.

We launched Aion last September with great anticipation and fanfare and quickly exceeded the million player mark making it the biggest launch for NCsoft West so far. This instant success came with some challenges, as players experienced server queues due to the massive demand from players eager to play the game that took South Korea by storm. Since ironing out the kinks, we’ve managed help streamline the player experience, hosted numerous in-game activities, and hammered out two major free updates; the 1.9 patch – a direct result of feedback from our North American and European players – and the recent release of Assault on Balaurea.

In addition to new levels, zones and solo instances, the updates introduced some important game changes intended to improve the enjoyment of the game across both lower and higher levels, including a smoother leveling curve, skills, increased drop rates and other quality-of-life improvements. And we can’t forget about our useful, practical and at times adorable (a word I rarely use unless I mean it) pets, something I’ve personally enjoyed playing with since their introduction into the game.  

While some of you have already reached level 55, we know there are still countless hours of fun to be had within the instances, fortress sieges and Dredgion battles. We’re also aware that no matter what we put out, you want more. We don’t blame you and trust me when I say the feeling is mutual. That’s why we’re not resting. We’re actively working on the next update and are just as excited for it as we were for Assault on Balaurea. While we can’t share everything because we’re still working on the details, new western specific events, continuing refinement to drop rates and experience, a 64-bit client to make performance better than ever and expanded pet functionality are a few things we know are coming.

Even the community team knows that you want more and that’s why they recently kicked off Scorching Heat, an event that allows you to cash in earned tokens for cool in-game rewards, like unique costumes. And similar to last year, players can anticipate our annual Halloween and Holiday events. A ton of work has gone into these events, and we’re excited to show them to you as we’ve incorporated your feedback from last year.

As I already mentioned, we couldn’t have gotten this far without the support from our fans, so as a sign of our appreciation, check the in-game survey system today to find a special gift from the Aion team. Additionally, for our truly loyal, long term players, we are happy to announce the One Year Veteran Reward, an Aqua Griffo, a truly unique pet that includes Storage abilities, Alarm function, and Fortune capabilities. I know, I know, how are going to top this for the next year? Well, we’re already thinking about that too!

With the many changes that have already come to Aion, and many more to come, I would like to take a moment to note a changing of the guard here on the Aion team. As you may have heard earlier, our beloved Community Manager Tamat will be leaving NCsoft to fly down to the always sunny Elyos resort known as Los Angeles. The other members of the Aion Community Team, including Trine, will be stepping in to fill his wings for a short while as we find a suitable replacement. It goes without saying that he will be greatly missed by us and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.

In closing, I wanted to wish you all a very happy anniversary and thank you for participating in the huge success that Aion has been so far. I look forward to future updates and changes that Aion has in store.

Faith and arms,

Lance Stites