AION 2 Early Access servers vs launch servers
Starting on 30 September does not cut you off from friends who start free on 5 October. They can make characters on your Early Access server if it is still open to new players that day, and dungeon groups form across every server in your region anyway. What an early start really decides is the server you live on.
Start on 30 September, or wait for 5 October?
Start on 30 September if…
- Your friends are happy to join your server on 5 October, or they own a pack too.
- You have settled on a faction and a class. Each server holds one faction only, and several pack items lock to the character that claims them.
- You want the five-day head start the pack paid for, maintenance permitting.
- You don’t mind Abyss PvP pitting you only against other Early Access servers for those five days.
Wait for 5 October if…
- Your friends want a brand-new launch server and you want to level at their pace, not five days ahead of them.
- You have not picked a class or faction yet. The pack items wait for you.
- You would rather see which servers fill up before committing to one.
A middle way works too: play Early Access on a character you are sure about, and on 5 October make one on your friends’ server as well. Just remember that the outfits, the pet and the membership stay on the server where you claim them, so claim those where you mean to stay. The pack comparison lists which item binds to what.
Where the two waves come from
Pack owners get the first wave of servers on 30 September. On 5 October the game opens to everyone, a second wave of launch servers appears, and new players choose freely:
“New servers will open at official launch, and players will be able to choose their preferred server. Players who did not purchase Early Access will also be able to join Early Access servers if those servers remain open and available at launch.”
Which Early Access servers will still take new players on 5 October is not known yet, and neither are the server names. If your group is splitting between pack owners and free players, agree on a region and a faction first; regions and servers has the four regions.
Playing with a friend on the other kind of server
| What | Same server | Different servers, same region |
|---|---|---|
| Dungeon party matching | Yes | During Early Access, matching spans the Early Access servers in your region; from 5 October the pool also takes in the launch servers |
| Friends list | Yes | Yes |
| Trading on the Market | Yes, on your server's Market | No: the Cross-Server Market is not open at the start |
| Membership, pack outfits and pet | Shared by all your characters there | Stay on the server where you claimed them |
Party matching stops at the region border, so a friend on a European server cannot be matched into your North American dungeon group. The Abyss works by server rather than by friend: during Early Access, Early Access servers meet only each other, and after launch servers are matched by how far along and how strong each one is. How the Abyss plays is on the PvP and Abyss page.
Skipping Early Access does not cost you the pack
The pack items are sent during Early Access, but you do not have to log in during those five days to keep them:
“Yes, if not claimed during the Early Access period, items can still be claimed on any server after Early Access ends via the dedicated Founder’s Pack claim button.”
The 30 days of membership in every pack start when you press Activate, not on 30 September, so waiting does not burn them either. The membership page covers what those days unlock.
Can you move later?
Not at launch. NC says it is committed to a server transfer service, but there is no date or detail yet. Early Access servers are part of the live server list, with no wipe announced, so a character made on 30 September stays where it is. The rest of the rules are on the Early Access page.