Western test points to a less pay-to-win AION 2

JeuxOnLine published a comparison on 20 September 2026 after observing the Western AION 2 Launch Scale Test on 17 and 18 September. Its conclusion is a reported one: the tested Western client appeared less pay-to-win than the Korean and Taiwanese versions described in the article. The comparison concerns how equipment is progressed, how wings and enhancement materials move through the economy, how Daeva Pass rewards are framed, and which currencies or items can be traded. It is not a NCSOFT note and it does not establish the final launch rules. The article itself stresses that the test disabled the shop, the player market and player-to-player trades, so several of its observations describe a limited test state. This page records what the journalist saw and the interpretation attached to it, while keeping every conclusion at the REPORTED level.

The article separates several observations that are easy to collapse into one claim. It reports that the Western test exposed only the first equipment tier directly, with later tiers reached through progressive transfer crafting that keeps enhancement and soul-binding history. The resulting item was described as largely bound to its creator rather than a ready-made high-tier item for resale. It also reports lower example values on a Dragon Lord cuirass, wings whose usable crafted form was non-tradable while a sealed form could be traded, and a smaller return of enhancement stones when wings were recycled. Other examples concern lower Daeva and minor-stat values, lower pet progression in the test and character-bound PvP stones. The article further describes a briefly visible account-trust threshold that may have restricted market access, a free and premium Daeva Pass, and bound Kinah that cannot be used on the player market. These are the journalist’s comparisons, not published NCSOFT figures. Source opened in the browser: https://www.jeuxonline.info/actualite/66495/aion-2-version-occidentale-semble-avoir-reduit-cote-p2w.

For someone preparing for the Western launch, the useful takeaway is a checklist rather than a promise. Treat the article as a reason to watch the first written launch notes for equipment binding, transfer crafting, wing trading, Daeva Pass rewards, Kinah categories and any market-access condition. Do not price a build, plan a purchase or assume that a Korean or Taiwanese progression route exists in the Western service from this comparison alone. The disabled shop and trading systems matter because they remove the very channels through which pay-to-win pressure would normally be measured. If NCSOFT later publishes a complete Western ruleset, that primary source should replace the article for confirmed advice. Until then, the durable guide on whether AION 2 is pay-to-win gives the reader the framework; this dated page adds a reported test observation without turning it into a rule.

This page keeps four limits visible. First, less pay-to-win is the journalist’s reading of a test comparison, not an official NCSOFT verdict. Second, the Korean and Taiwanese baselines are described by the article and are not a complete, independently audited rules database here. Third, the test was incomplete: the article notes that the shop, market and direct trades were disabled, that some systems appeared briefly or disappeared, and that the build stopped before a full service launch. Fourth, a Daeva Pass, bound Kinah or a trust threshold does not by itself prove a final monetisation model; the reward contents and restrictions need a dated primary source. No publisher quotation is translated, no Western rule is invented, and no conclusion is drawn beyond the report opened during this passage.