Aion had a very smooth launch in terms of overall gameplay. The server queues have lightened if not all but disappeared. Players are well into their 20s and 30s as they march toward the Abyss and the end game that awaits. Will it all be enough to maintain the momentum and keep Aion populated with enthusiastic players? The quest is on (pun intended) to see if Aion can overcome the hurdle of re-subscription rates.

In Aion, the players I’ve interacted with for the most part do not consider themselves WoW players. In other games I’ve heard some mantra of “I’m playing this until [insert game or expansion on the horizon here] comes out. I have not heard that at all in Aion. I’d expect to hear “I’ll play this until Cataclysm,” or maybe even Star Wars: The Old Republic, but neither of those have been mentioned. Maybe Aion is enjoying the mass influx from Vanguard, Conan and Warhammer (which seem to be the three common games mentioned when asked “which game did you come from?”). Of course Cataclysm and Star Wars: The Old Republic are both a long ways from launching (2010 and beyond?), so maybe a lack of alternatives is also helping Aion.

Read the rest of Medeor's thoughts on href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/resubscription">Aion overcoming the re-subscription threshold and then share your thoughts here.