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The company licensed to operate World of Warcraft in China – home to 4 million of the MMO’s global installation base – still can’t find smooth sailing after being cleared to operate the game’s first expansion pack two weeks ago.

NetEase’s project chief for World of Warcraft, Li Riqiang, resigned without explanation, the company announced. No replacement has been named.

This latest disruption comes a couple weeks after NetEase had suspended all new registrations for the game, as it waited for government censors to approve the launch of The Burning Crusade.

Source ~ Kotaku

Age Of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is one of the most bloodstained MMOs on the market – and fiercely loved by its community.

Since its release in 2008, the title has has evolved to attract a dedicated fanbase – despite some trouble on the way – with developer Funcom receiving wide acclaim for pulling off a very ambitious project.

This year sees the release of expansion pack Rise Of The Godslayer. Set in the Eastern empire of Khitai – a mysterious setting within the world of Hyboria – ROTG promises a wealth of new features. The pack also introduces the Khitan – an all-new character race.

CVG caught up with Funcom Game Director Craig Morrison to get the full story…

Full Story ~ CVG

Blizzard Entertainment, the makers of World of Warcraft, donated $1.1 million to The Make-A-Wish Foundation on Tuesday.

In a press release Wednesday, the charity dedicated to bringing joy to the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions applauded the gamemaker for its large contribution.

The dough didn’t come straight out of Blizzard’s pocket. Players of the popular MMO pitched in by buying the Pandaren Monk in-game pet (pictured above left). Blizzard promised to donate $5 every time a player made a $10 microtransaction to gain the pet during the months of November and December.

“This donation also reflects the spirit and generosity of our players,” said Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime. “Their enthusiasm for World of Warcraft and for supporting a good cause made this possible.”

Full Story ~ Wired

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 Included, although unpublished, was a fix or a great step to fix the constant crashing during fortress sieges.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. We’re still adding staff to that team, so progress on the bot front will continue and build over time. The unfortunate truth is that even though we’re banning thousands of accounts every day, the amount of new accounts being created with botting in mind does a great job of making it seem that we’re not banning anyone. However, that is not the reality.

Full Story ~IGN

I can speak from personal experience as an Aion player who leveled to 46 that I have encountered the same bots with the same names consistently and in the same areas of each map. You can’t leave many areas without stumbling over many bots. Like many other players, I have used their /autohuntingreport button (it’s on my sidebar).

There are bots that I have reported over a month ago and more than 10-20 times, each, yet they are still there. The forums are full of similar personal experiences. I cannot help but wonder if that button even does anything but to act as a stress reliever to the player who thinks he’s done something and turned it over to NCSoft to hopefully do something, sometime. I wonder if NCSoft even receives the report as action never appears to take place.

The same bots that I and many others have reported since our 20s level are now either level 50 or quickly approaching 50, the highest achievable level. If action is being taken, how is this remotely possible? If bots were banned and replaced by new bots, as Tamat suggests, then why are there so many bots approaching level 50? If NCSoft were as proactive as they attempt to claim, shouldn’t there be far less higher level bots than lower level bots as leveling takes quite a bit of time, even for a bot? I will believe it when I see it. Words are easy. It’s time for NCSoft to make the donuts, so to speak.

As anyone can see from the Aion Source forums from this thread and this thread, the community believes that bots are the number one major problem and have little faith in NCSoft. This concern even tops the heavy amount of game crashing during fotress sieges, which is a critical element of Aion. Many of us crash every few minutes in said sieges and are forced to dumb down the graphics to nothing in an effort to try to squeeze an extra minute or two before crashing.

Other MMOs have died quickly for not quickly correcting glaring issues. I truly hope that Aion will not be the next one to die an early death and be a game of “what could have been” to be discussed for years as people migrate to other MMOs or tire and move to other game types as being burned by so many takes its toll (i.e., Warhammer, AOC, being the more recent).

Aion is a visually stunning massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) where your character wields devastating powers and sweeping wings to explore a celestial world of breath-taking beauty and epic adventure. It features cutting-edge imagery, gorgeous environments, and a unique fantasy world. Your character plays a pivotal role in the fate of Atreia, where the enemy is not only the other player faction but a deadly ancient evil as well.

Aion is a PvPvE MMORPG. PvPvE stands for “Player vs. Player vs. Environment.” The story of Aion is rife with conflict between factions. Elyos and the Asmodians harbor centuries of hatred. They are now at war with each other, with nothing less than the fate of their entire people in their hands. Large fragments of the Tower of Eternity floating in the Abyss that separates the two halves of the shattered world serve as battlefields between these two factions. Players will venture into these areas through portals they discover as they attain enough experience.

Below is a sampling of PVP videos from the aforementioned game Aion, set to be released on the 22nd of this month, less than a week from today.

Aion. NA/OB Group PVP – Nezekan Server

AION – Asmodian Chanter lvl 50 (PvP)

Aion PvP Abyss Fortress Seige – Take Over Rush (Part 1)

Fresh on the heals of the press release concerning the Aion open beta dates, head-start date, and character pre-selection date is the Aion 1.5 patch, upgrading from the CBT (Closed Beta Test) as well as the full Aion version 1.5 installer.

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.

Aion CBT to OBT Client Patch
Filename: Aion_CBT_OBT_installer.zip
Size: 3,075.1 MB

Aion Game Client
Filename: AionFullInstaller-FP.zip
Size: 9,325.1 MB

The above download links will take you to the corresponding Fileplanet download page.

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. Players can still participate in the Aion’s Pre-Select and Headstart programs by preordering the game through several participating online and brick-and-mortar retailers, including Aiononline.com, Amazon, Best Buy, EB Games Canada, Fry’s Electronics, GameStop, Steam and Target.

Unlike any MMO before it, Aion is a uniquely crafted online experience where flight offers much more than just a way to explore the landscape – it is a strategic and integral part of combat, quests, and exploration. Players will dive into battle and plunge through thousands of unique, story-driven quests, all while trying to save a world literally shattered in half from centuries of brutal conflict. Using one of the most flexible and in-depth character customization systems ever featured in an MMO, players will be able to create genuinely distinct characters and explore a visually stunning world of ethereal beauty brimming with otherworldly inhabitants, mysterious enemies, and ancient secrets.

For more information about Aion go to http://www.aiononline.com.

Blizzard Entertainment announced today that its juggernaut MMO, World of Warcraft, has reached 10 million subscribers. The announcement is a note to would-be competitors – listen up Age of Conan, Pirates of the Burning Sea, and Warhammer Online* – the 800 lbs. gorilla keeps getting bigger.

Not only does that subscriber number far surpass the proportions fathomed by MMO-makers pre-WoW, but Blizzard also clarified what the company means by “subscriber.” Specificity further underlines the credibility of the 10 million figure. (The number doesn’t include unused pre-paid cards, for instance.) Blizzard also noted that the game’s first expansion, The Burning Crusade, was the best-selling PC game of 2007, holding the record for fastest-selling PC game of all time. Nearly 2.4 million copies flew off store shelves in its first 24 hours it was available.

Writing this, it strikes me how much WoW seemed like a side project when it was originally announced. Compared to the massive popularity of Warcraft, Diablo, and Starcraft, it seemed, well, marginal. Of course, now the blockbuster title far overshadows any of those franchises. For the time being, in any case.

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