Is this a sign of things to come? Aion Europe is officially making the shift to free-to-play in February 2012, According to an official FAQ posted on their website, all of Aion's quests and story will be available to all players for free, with a Gold Package available for players who want some bonus items while they level.

There doesn't appear to be much information regarding the actual revenue system that will be used (or what items will be sold), but chances are high Aion's F2P model may follow Lineage II's recently adopted free-to-play system.

The holidays have come to Aion! Santanyerk is being especially kind this Solorius with a double XP weekend (naturally) as well as hosting Crab Fest, a festival dedicated to these delicious crustaceans. Apparently there are two crabs in particular, named Sunshine and Glimma, who are visitng Atreia, so if you want to celebrate Crab Fest, get chatting with them.

New Solorius themed weapon skins are also on the way, with Snowman Shields, Holiday Wreath Staves, and even Christmas Tree... spears? I'm assuming that's a spear. We'll go with that.

Get the full details on Santanyerk's Solorius Festivities on the official Aion page!

This event name is getting a little bit ridiculous, but Aion's Shugo Event Showcase Tweet Event is giving out some sweet rewards for anyone brave enough to bring the competition to Twitter. All you have to do is tweet about the Shugo Event Showcase with the hashtag #ShugoShop between November 23 until November 25 @ 5:29pm PST, and the Aion Team will randomly select 10 tweets to receive a gift bag of 3 Fabled & Eternal Socketing Supplements.

So, once again for you kids in the back, just tweet the Shugo Event Showcase and throw in the hashtag #ShugoShop, and you could be frollicking about in a vault filled with 3 Fabled & Eternal Socketing Supplements. Oh my!

If there's one thing everyone loves, it's free swag and double experience events. Well, this month leading up to Cyber Monday on November 28th, Aion is ramping up thier Shugo Event Showcase, an amazing series of in-game promotions ranging from free loot, double XP, abyss point and rifting bonuses, and even a special half-off deal for the Shugo Lad Pack companion in the NCstore.

The first third of the event, simply called the "Play Every Day Deals," will see a new and improved adventurer guide system (more survey items?), as well as free items for players who play Aion for a certain amount of time each day. At the moment, from November 16 to November 23, players who play for at least 2 hours will automatically receive an arena ticket in their inventory. From November 23 to November 30, players who play for at least 4 hours will receive a free bonus Enchantment Stone box. Finally, from November 30 to December 7, anyone who players for at least 6 hours will receive a free bonus Manastone box. Throughout all of these days, Aion will also be running with Double EXP for gathering, crafting, and slaying, as well as running Abyss Point and Rifting Promotions.

From November 23 to November 30, Aion will be running a special "Daru Days" event. Players will be able to collect a "Silver Fur Daru" set to keep them warm in their adventures.

Finally on November 28 only, players can get half off on the Shugo Lad companion pet from the NCstore. Normally priced at $19.99, be sure to grab this 24-slot storage pet for a mere $9.99.

Oh, and one last thing... There's a trailer for this event. It's an odd trailer. Don't even ask about the trailer.

NCsoft is celebrating Halloween in Aion, Lineage II, City of Heroes and Guild Wars. Here's the schedule:

• Aion's Harvest Revel.Oct. 26 to Nov. 9. This year the Harvest Revel stars the witches of Sanctum and Pandaemonium, tasking you with harvesting souls. Reward bundles for these quests include Sugarcrook’s Sack, Witch’s Sack, Witch’s Hoard, Witch’s Surprise and more. Each bundle contains a number of possible prizes – including Halloween costumes, scrolls, amulets and Harvest Ale.
• Lineage II's Halloween Treats. Begins Oct. 26. Your highest level character per server, per account will receive a Halloween Hat, a Halloween Gift Box and a Golden Jack O’Lantern Mask 7-Day Pack.
• City of Heroes – Dr. Kane’s House of Horror. Through Nov. 2. This event will add even more panache to the existing Zombie Apocalypse and Deadly Apocalypse, as you venture into a nightmarish mansion full of danger. Take on the doctor’s zombie horde as you make your way through this terrifying house of horror. Will you be able to stop the doctor from creating a zombie army?
• Guild Wars – The Mad King Thorn. Through Nov. 2. Once a year, Mad King Thorn and his spooky cohort visit the land of mortals for a creepy celebration full of holiday quests, the Costume Brawl PvP event, Halloween-themed guild vs. guild battles, two new costumes, and lots of other tricks and treats.

Aion 2.7 is live! Here are some of the major features that have been added to the game:

•  The new Crucible Coliseum PvP Arena, which includes two PvP-inspired dungeons: The Arena of Discipline and The Arena of Chaos.
• The new Padmarashka's Cave Alliance dungeon, which is a reimagining of the Padmarashka encounter with new quests, loot and a few twists.
• Numerous refinements to PvP in Balaurea, including improved Platinum Medal quests, and retuned Mastarius and Veille encounters that offer additional rewards.
• New rewards from the merchants in the Kaisinel Academy and Marchutan Priory, including powerful PvP equipment purchasable with currencies from the Crucible Coliseum.
• Numerous refinements to existing skills, including reductions in the cooldowns and DP cost of several abilities.

NCsoft is celebrating Aion's Second Anniversary with all sorts of in-game celebrations! If you'd like to jump back into the game and participate in the party, all accounts in good standing have now been reactivated through Oct. 2 at 8 a.m. PDT. Here's the list of events:

• Ascension Festival Event: All of Atreia gathers to remember the ascension of the first human Daevas, and to praise Aion's blessings. Collect Ascension Energy while adventuring throughout Atreia, and trade it in for costumes, hats, and gift boxes through October 26.
• Increased XP and Drop Rates: Get more experience and loot from monsters through October 5.    
• For War and Glory AP Event: Increases the amount of AP gained from defeating monsters in the Abyss and Silentera Canyon, and reduces the amount of AP lost from dying in Player versus Player combat in the Abyss and Silentera Canyon through September 28.
• Behind Enemy Lines Rifting Event: Removes the defensive buffs in Heiron and Beluslan through October 5.
• Picking Up the Past Event: Collect Fossils by defeating monsters and bosses, and trade those Fossils in for clothing, medals, and gift boxes through October 5.

NCsoft has also announced that the Aion 2.7 update will hit the Public Test Server on October 13 and go live on October 19. It will introduce two new Crucible Coliseum PvP arenas: the Arena of Discipline will feature 1v1 deathmatches, while the Arena of Chaos will support free-for-all bouts on a grand scale. The patch will also feature a 48-person instanced boss fight in Padmarashka’s Cave.

Put your party hat on because NCsoft is hosting Aion's Two-Year Anniversary Celebration from September 21 to October 5! All accounts in good standing will be reactivated for the festivities, so it will be the perfect time to log back in and see what's new in the game.

Here's a list of what's happening in-game during the celebration:

• Reactivation surveys with anniversary gifts will arrive daily.
• Double Drops and Double XP will be turned on.
• Ascension Festival Event: Every 20 minutes that you're logged in, your character gets an Ascension Energy token that you can trade in for rewards. Use them to get costumes, fun weapon skins, and mystery gifts that can give you dyes and candies.
• NCsoft will be giving away White, Black, and Pink Dyes, Fall Uniforms (Uptown Apparel), and sailor outfits (Mini Dress Blues and Whites) every day on the official forums.
• The Picking Up the Past event continues during the celebration, which means the drop rates for those Insect Fossils will increase.

Aion's Picking Up the Past event kicks off today, September 7, and runs through October 5. Help the Aetrian Natural History Musem unearth the past and reap the rewards! Here are the details:

"Museum curators need help gathering fossils from ancient plants, insects, and animals in order to found a new Atreian Natural History Museum. Retrieve fossil specimens from the monsters and instance bosses, and claim additional fossils from in-game Surveys. Daevas who support their researchers with fossil specimens will be rewarded with medals, Abyss relics, consumables, crafting materials, T-shirts and more!"

NCsoft has clarified that the surveys will be going out at noon PDT each day, and you'll have to collect them on a daily basis because they don't stack. You can collect it anytime after the survey goes live, which gives you about 24 hours. You can also only claim them once per server, so make sure you collect them on the correct character.

Aion 2.6 is now live! Here are some of the new features that the patch has added to the game:

• The new Crucible Challenge Solo Instanced Dungeon, an extension of the Empyrean Crucible with six new stages, and a hidden stage!
• The new Auto Group feature, capable of auto-creating Groups for Instanced Dungeons!
• New Godstones from the Crucible Challenge.
• Tabled Loot Chests from Fire Temple and Steel Rake.
• Runaway Poppy; a new production pet with a chance to produce Platinum Medals!

Speaking of pets, you can now purchase the new Worg of the Dead loot pet in the NCsoft Store for $14.99. This undead beast will automatically loot your kills for you. Once you buy the pet, every character on your account will get their very own worg.