Whenever I hear someone complaining about how they'd like to play an MMO without the monthly fees, I usually try to get them to try out one of the hundreds of free to play MMOs out there, if only to eventually lure them over to the high quality subscription games that await them on the other side. In this way, a solid tactic being employed by many MMO development companies is to simply look at what's popular in the pay to play world, and then try to emulate it as a free to play MMO. Runes of Magic is a good example here, in that, despite the fact that it has some unique features that set it apart from World of Warcraft, it is still considered, by and large, to be a free to play spiritual cousin to the subscription based behemoth.

While I certainly have nothing against these F2P adaptations of successful MMOs, I'll admit that the first thing that entered my mind when I started up Shaiya Online was that the game has a lot of that Lineage II flavour, albeit a little bit less developed in comparison to its pay to play cousin. 

Aeria Games, the guys behind Shaiya Online, Last Chaos, Megaten, Dream of Mirror and Twelve Sky are offering refunds for players who purchase up to 5000 AP in the month of April but end up unsatisfied with their purchase. Aeria is basically offering players refunds of up to $50! In reality this gets a little bit bizarre, but I'll do my best to break it down for you:

- Purchases must be made between April 1st and April 30th - anything prior to or after these dates will not be eligible.

- You must SPEND the AP in order to be eligible to refund it. If you buy 5000 AP and then hold onto it, you will not be eligible for any refunds.

- Oddly enough, the refund appears to be a win/win situation for most players, as any items purchased via AP will not be lost if you get a refund.

- As of yet I'm not entirely sure it will be a 'store credit only' type of refund or if it will be a full cash refund to the player. I'm assuming it's an extra 5000 AP.

In reality this system sounds like a free pass to doubling up on your $50 Aeria Points purchase*. Perhaps the only individuals at a disadvantage here would be the illiterate, as players are asked to fill out a form detailing why, exactly, they didn't have 'fun' with their 5000 Aeria points. I suppose the illiterate are always at a disadvantage, so there you have it.

*Aeria games asks that players who are 'determined not to have fun,' and players who are going to 'lie about having fun' (as in they had fun, but now they're lying about it!) please refrain from taking part in this event.

Source: Aeria Games