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Aion has had a rocky release, to say the least – bots, RMT, crashing, slow XP leveling, lack of quests at certain levels. NCSoft today implemented a 2nd wave of bannings for bots and appears to be taking this issue seriously. Also, earlier this week, NCSoft release its latest patch. Included, although unpublished, was a fix or a great step to fix the constant crashing during fortress sieges. The future is uncertain but these latest steps may stabilize the subscriptions somewhat and this latest video now may stave off additional defections and regenerate some of the earlier excitement with the game, if the changes come sooner rather than later.

The video shows high-quality graphics that are simply amazing, mounts (with combat?), swimming, underwater leveling areas, housing, killer casting animations, more active weather, city sieges?

A few weeks ago, NCSoft announced an important addition to their Aion staff – community manager for North America Andrew Beegle a.k.a. “Tamat”, whose main job will be to interface with what is perhaps the most vocal segment of any MMO community.

Prior to this, we had known Andrew as our esteemed colleague from ZAM Network, where he worked as a game journalist for four years. This week, we steal a few moments from his busy schedule to answer some questions on forum hot topics, yes including the grind, use of bots, and other fun stuff…

IGNPC: The other hot topic these days is the rampant botting that seems to be taking place in the game. You guys mentioned in your October community address that there is a special team dedicated to hunting down and eliminating these bots. I think the question in people’s minds is, why do we still see a great number of the same bots we’ve been seeing every day, and what can we do to help?

Andrew Beegle: The special division of our customer service team that is dedicated to hunting down bots has made some solid progress.

Players are now one step closer to the release of the year’s biggest massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, Aion.

Within the next four weeks, NCsoft will treat North American and European gamers to two opportunities to jump into the world of Aion and explore Atreia as Asmodian or Elyos characters ahead of its release in North America on September 22 and Europe September 25. Aion’s Open Beta Test featuring version 1.5 will take place September 6 – 13 and will include numerous Western enhancements, including improvements to Aion’s innovative character customization with a host of Western styles, as well as new zones, instances, skills, quests and continued game balancing and improvements. Open Beta will retain a level cap for both Elyos and Asmodians characters at 30 allowing players to focus on getting to the same level so they can explore the lands of Atreia together, as well as the Abyss.

Players who have preordered Aion will be treated to a Pre-Select and a two-day Headstart period giving them the opportunity to explore, organize and progress through the game prior to the official launch. Pre-Select will take place on September 18, while Aion’s Headstart will begin September 20.

Updates to America’s Army 3 were released today.

• Removes Password from AA3Launch.log
• Fix for MBS not working after server changes to a new map
• Fixes TeamReady in Mission Preplanning
• Updated authentication SDK to improve reliability and performance
• Fix for freezing on training mission load
• Improved performance on loading maps/training missions
• Fixed several small memory leaks
• Fixed performance issue with server that caused it to load UI elements into the server (where they aren’t needed) and thus use up additional CPU and memory.
• Modified training authentication so it is more efficient
• Modified AMD negative delta time exception handling so it no longer stops the server or client, but just logs the event
• Fixed Admin add Player Admin
• Fixed Admin kicking of players. Now works properly with Soldier name and has optional kick by player ID
• Add new AdminListPlayers to get list of players and their player ID’s
• Removes most of the server log spam, especially that tied to missions and mission setup and ROE
• Fixes several issues related to ROE firing off when player is bleeding, asphyxiating, or falling after being wounded by ROE
• You can now strafe on ladders so you don’t get stuck in Pipeline or Obstacle Course.

America’s Army 3 Update Released

Updates to America’s Army 3 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

* Removed apparent lag caused by other players entering or leaving a server
* Improved start of round spawn issues
* Resolved problem with training results not saving
* Improved communication with Authentication server
* Eliminated freezing up when moving from one training mission to another
* Cleared up hesitation during training missions
* Significantly reduce number of authentication transactions between player and Authentication server
* Solved achievements save and display problems
* Improved Login communication with Authentication server
* Improved player statistics tracking for better accuracy
* Improved overall performance

Steam News Link

Silver Spring, MD JUNE 17, 2009 – The U.S. Army today launched America’s Army 3, the only action game that delivers an authentic and entertaining Army experience by reflecting the training, technology, actions, and career advancement of a Soldier within an exciting, free game experience. Players can download the teen-rated game from Steam (http://www.americasarmy.com/steam/), as well as from partners listed at the America’s Army website (http://www.americasarmy.com). As with previous versions of America’s Army, AA3 will be constantly updated to include new features and missions and to highlight new technologies being incorporated in today’s Army.

In America’s Army 3, Every Detail Counts and as a result, the game has more authentic military elements including training, technology, weapons, and audio than any other military game. Built on Unreal Engine 3, AA3 delivers stunningly realistic environments, lighting effects, animations, and team-based experiences so that America’s Army players can experience how Soldiers train, live, and advance in the Army. Players are bound by Rules of Engagement (ROE) and gain experience as they navigate challenges in team-based, multiplayer, force-on-force operations.

It seems Blizzard has been taking on unofficial WoW applications in the Apple Apps Store. According to Gaming Angels, Blizzard has asked the owners of Armory Browser, Warcraft Arena Calculator, and Warcraft Characters to remove the apps. Granted, these are all paid apps, but it seems that Blizzard doesn’t plan on stopping there and will target the free apps next. No explanation for these take-down requests have been posted yet, but many speculate that Blizzard may be creating a few apps of their own.

Epic Games has released, for the PC, a patch to bring Unreal Tournament 3 up to version 2.0 alongside it’s hotly anticipated Titan Pack. You’ll want to apply the patch first and then the pack. Get those right here:

* UT3 Patch 2.0 (309 MB)
* UT3 Titan Pack (916 MB)

For full details on what’s in the pack, check out Beyond Unreal’s Titan Pack Reveal. In a nutshell you get:

* 16 new maps + 3 bonus pack 1 maps
* Titan mutator
* Greed and Betrayal gametypes
* Stinger Turret, Eradicator Cannon Artillery and the Stealthbender vehicle
* X-Ray Field and Link Station Deployables
* Slow-Field power-up (pickup version of the deployable of the same name)
* Two new characters: Nova (Liandri) and Kana (Ronin)
* 57 Steam Achievements
* Major enhancements, including AI, network performance, menu and UI, better mod support
* Client-side demo recording, updated server browser, new maplist system, mid-game mutator and gametype voting functionality