"Personally, I hope to get a chance to talk with some European gamers, and get to know which aspects of MMORPGs they most enjoy. I believe there are definite differences in preference and tastes between gamers of other cultures, and as a developer, I am curious about what European gamers really want when they play an MMORPG." - Ken Choi

If you're going to GC, track that man down! :)

Link: RPGVault - GC 2007 Information

Four million units in just over two years. Nice work! From the press release:“Guild Wars players continue to join in droves and stay loyal to the franchise thanks to a business model that makes for a very accessible product. We are all excited about the future of Guild Wars with the expansion ready to be released and Guild Wars 2™ on the horizon.” - Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America

That's right.. the biggest gaming event of the year is 5 days away and Seridove and I will be there, scouring the ends of the exhibition hall for information to bring back on AION! 

For those of you who don't know what PAX is, it's the largest gathering of gamers on the west coast.  Located in the Seattle Convention Center, this event spans over 3 days and will bring in over 30,000 visitors. 

Our mission?  To get some face time with NCSoft and see what information we can glean about AION = class information, race information, details on aerial combat.  We'll be checking in and posting any information we are able to make off with and bring it to you... hot off the exhibition floor!

If any of you are going to be in the Seattle area, feel free to stop on by the NCSoft/Vault Network party  at the Elephant and Castle.  Then you can chat face to face with the devs and community managers of NCSoft and get the answers right from them!

It's definitely going to be a packed weekend of gaming...I know I'm psyched to go!

"Monthly fees seem like within the next year or so they will become less and less common, but if the upcoming titles do well they could probably stick around a bit longer. If they fail, future releases in America might be a harder sell if they have box and subscription fees."

Link: Will a monthly fee hurt AION?

So far in the poll, we have Race/Class Info, Aerial Combat, and PvPvE as the top three topics people want info on. I'm going to keep that in mind when I head to PAX and see what we can eek out of them.

In the meantime, make sure you Sign Up at the official site to get yourself on the mail list, and watch here for new press releases and updated NA info! Have a great weekend, all!

That's right..the biggest party of the year is 5 days away and Loktofeit and I will be there, scouring the ends of the exhibition hall for information to bring back on AION! 

For those of you who don't know what PAX is, it's the biggest gathering of gamers on the west coast.  Located in the Seattle Convention Center, this event spans over 3 days and will bring in over 30,000 visitors. 

Our mission?  To get some face time with NCSoft and see what information we can glean about AION: class information, race information, details on arial combat.  We'll be checking in and posting any information we are able to make off with and bring it to you..hot off the exhibition floor.

If any of you are going to be in the Seattle area, feel free to stop on by the NCSoft/Vault Network party  at the Elephant and Castle.  Then you can chat face to face with the faces of NCSoft and get the answers right from them!

It's definately going to be a packed weekend of gaming...I know I"m syked to go!

It's only been recently on this side of the globe that item malls have started to catch on. Several years ago Puzzle Pirates sailed out into those waters to return with untold riches, and since then several others have followed. Combine that with the Asian F2P games catching on over here, it looks like F2P games are the direction many MMOs will be heading now. Even the heavy hitters like NCSoft have taken notices, and games like Guild Wars and Dungeon Runners offer payment models other than the classic monthly fee.

PvP-centric games never really do well with the American audience, so I am wondering how AION will fare when eventually released here when you combine the PvP gameplay and a monthly fee to play. Will the lack of grinding, state-of-the-art graphics, and aerial combat be enough to carry it or will it becone another Lineage 2?

There's several highly-anticipated titles coming out over the next year that might help keep the monthly fee model alive. Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, and Pirates of the Burning Sea are several poplar titles in that category. I'm not going to speculate whether they're going to sink or swim, but it's safe to say that people are getting fed up of getting burnt by MMOGs, so a bad release or a dud game on any of their parts could greatly contribute to people looking for games that aren't going to cost them $­50 up front plus a monthly fee to play*.

Monthly fees seem like within the next year or so they will become less and less common, but if the upcoming titles do well they could probably stick around a bit longer. If they fail, future releases in America might be a harder sell if they have box and subscription fees.

* = PotBS will also be available on SOE's Station Pass

A few MMOG devs lately have claimed the title of "Next Gen" or "Third Generation," with one of them being as bold as to say "We usually use the word 'generation' more like an 'era'..." to rationalize how they can actually apply that term to their offering to the genre.

Of all the ones looking to bring us into the next generation of gaming, AION seems to be the one that goes the extra mile to do so. Although still locked into the standard class/level design of MMOGs, it takes a lot of the basic aspects of MMOGs to the next level.

Every action is recorded... and serving a purpose - each player's accomplishments, deeds, and progressions are stored. While several recent MMOGs have stepped up to the plate on this one, they really haven't seemed to use it for anything more than leaderboards and player blogs. In AION, the actions of the individual players can "control and transform the world" based on what the players have or have not done.

Engine rendered cut scenes - When completing certain missions or aspects of the storyline, the player is sent to a cutscene rendered within the game engine. The character in the scene is that player's character which really enhances the level of immersion to the gameplay; You're watching your character - your looks, your armor, your weapons, your everything - confronting the bad guy or escaping near certain death and watching the story unfold.

/jump? Nah... let's FLY or CLIMB - In most MMOGs, your character is pretty much locked to the ground and "jump" is more akin to an emote than any useful feature of movement. AION has flying and climbing as standard features of movement. Add to that the concept of aerial combat and you have a major leap in game tech for MMOGs.

PvPvE  - This is an interesting one and I want to find out more about it. Is it a cutting edge new system or is it an 'easy out" for the devs to intervene? Either way, it's a step beyond DAoC, SB, and other games where their PvP system is decent but it seems to miss that extra component to keep things in check or "mix things up."

If a game had one or two of the above, I really wouldn't consider it next generation, but the fact that AION is offering up that entire list really leads me to beleive that with the coming of AION we are about to see our first truly "next gen" MMORPG.

Let's hope for the best. :)