Aion going free-to-play in Europe next week

NCsoft has revealed its MMO Aion: The Tower of Eternity will be flipping the switch to go free-to-play across Europe next Tuesday, February 28th.
The changes will take place in English, German and French at the same time on Tuesday; this on the heels of what's being called a successful beta by European distributor Gameforge AG.
The entire game will be open to any and all, but there will be restrictions for non-paying players such as trading, chatting, longer cool-downs on instances, lower payouts for quests, and a few other limitations.
Current subscribers will receive currency vouchers at the value of six Aion Coins per day left on the account. That’s the in-game currency everyone else will receive by paying for premium content.
Previous subscribers – anyone who had a subscription at any point since the title's official launch – will receive “Veteran Status”, which raises the number of character slots from two to eight, offers unlimited chat, unlimited trade, private shopping, and more.
There is also a premium 'Gold Status', which still carries a monthly subscription fee. Players going this route get massively shorter cooldowns on the majority of instances, 20 per cent more AP and medals, more Courage Insignias, and other benefits.
No word yet on when North American players can expect the switch, but there's plenty more info on the many changes and additions available over on the new Aion free to play website.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/aion-...-europe/091686