NCsoft: Aion has plenty of space now

NCsoft West has explained to Eurogamer that if ridding Aion of queues were as "simple" as offering new servers, the problem would already be solved.

But it's people clamouring to play on the busiest worlds, said the publisher, that is pushing wait-times up.

"If the solution were as simple as rolling out new servers, we would no longer see queues today, given that we've already rolled out six new servers in Europe alone," Ryan James, PR director for NCsoft West, told us. "The reality is that there are servers today that have no queues in Europe.

"The problem is more that there are many people trying to get onto very few servers, whilst the rest still have room."

The initial solution, as NCsoft West said in an open letter yesterday, will be offering a free, one-time server transfer next month to spread the load. Why this wasn't offered at the beginning, and what NCsoft will do should people not bite, is not clear.

However, James added, the queues do prove one thing: that the community want to play on busy servers.

"When rolling out a new MMO, we have to strike a balance between full servers and just adding more servers with little to no population. If you'll remember, there have been past games that have launched with empty servers, even when they were at full capacity," he said.

"Sure, you rarely had to queue, but once you got into the game large areas of the world were devoid of fellow players. It's a hard balance to strike, and we need our servers full to ensure players experience Aion at its best."

Until character transfers are offered, paying customers unwilling to start afresh elsewhere must queue - sometimes for hours at weekends and in the evening.

Their game time has been severely reduced. Why not waive the subscription fee for that period, as many have asked?

"We are looking at a variety of options, and that's why we announced that we will be providing a free, one-time server transfer for a limited time to select servers starting next month," Ryan James told us.

But surely it makes sense to appease the audience now, whilst Aion makes a Western name for itself?

"While we're absolutely open to everyone's feedback, rest assured we're looking into a variety of options and engaged in multiple discussions each day on this topic," he repeated. "We will let you know when we have further updates."

Aion launched here last month, swooping down on the West after painstaking localisation by NCsoft to try and emulate success in the East.

It's popular, but is it good? Our Aion: The Tower of Eternity review tells all.