Aion Gold

The Abyss is a giant PvP-enabled zone, but it also includes the very best PvE rewards in the game. Aion's third faction, the Balaur, may be NPCs but they will generally attack the more dominant side, hoping to bring relative balance to PvP. Finally, players are encouraged to raid their enemy's PvE lands by traveling through rifts (aka portals) to complete quests and generally cause havoc. Players gain Abyss Points (AP) by participating in PvPvE, which raises their Abyss Rank. These points lead to new titles and can be used as currency to purchase better gear and even buffs. The best explanation we've heard is that Aion's PvP is roughly in the middle between the RvR you'll find in Warhammer Online (relatively low impact with a positive sum) and Darkfall (relatively high impact with risk and loss). You gain AP by killing players and NPCs in the Abyss but you also lose them when you die. That said, it isn't so harsh that someone can fully loot your corpse like they can in DF.

Character customization reveals itself in numerous ways in Aion. First there's character creation. Next there's modifying your character's stats, weapon procs, and abilities. Finally, there's additional visual customization beyond the creation process in the form of armor skins and dyes. Aion's character creator is only slightly behind Champions Online and City of Heroes in terms of visual diversity. You are presented with a number of basic models, but once you unleash the power of the various physical attribute sliders, the options are nearly endless. Any character can be made to look like a halfling, dwarf, human, or half-giant. Heck, someone even managed to make a reasonable facsimile of President Obama.