Players who purchase copies of the Aion Collector's Edition or a first run Aion Steelbook Edition will be treated to a code that unlocks a special Aion wings emote in the free-to-play massively multiplayer game Guild Wars. The wing emote will be bonded to the player's Guild Wars account, meaning that any GW character on said account will be able to break out a pair of wings that Aion players will have to struggle weeks if not months to acquire.

The promotion will only last as long as the first run of the Steelbook Edition of Aion, so if you're interested you might want to get that preorder in now. Aion will be released on September 23rd in North America.

"We are humbled by how gamers have responded to Guild Wars over the past four years, and we are proud that the game and its community have helped to continually shape, define, and expand the genre," said ArenaNet studio boss Mike O'Brien. "Our subscription-free business model has proven to be a big hit with gamers, bringing an enormous and diverse online community to the game."

ArenaNet has released a new content update to commemorate this — with a new quest and extra storage. There will also be in-game anniversary festivities to boot!

To date, Guild Wars is comprised of three campaigns and an expansion pack. All three campaigns were bundled and released as Guild Wars Triology.

Guild Wars [NCsoft]

Gamasutra reported that while NCsoft's sales were up 5 percent year-over-year, including a strong December quarter-over-quarter profit increase of 60 percent. But overall, the delayed launch of Aion: The Tower of Eternity helped contribute to a yearlong slump for the Korean MMO publisher.

Guild Wars 2 was announced in 2007; a public beta planned for last year was scrapped and will be launched closer to the game's release. According to VE3D, that's 2010 to 2011 (although VE3D doesn't say where exactly it got this.)

This week NCSoft shed 70 to 90 workers in its ongoing consolidation of its NCSoft West offices in Seattle. The company, however, expects strong growth in 2009, banking on continued sales of Aion in Korea and its release in North America and Europe.

NCSoft Profits Down, Guild Wars 2 Delayed, Player Numbers Revealed [VE3D via EvilAvatar]

It almost makes me glad that Auto Assault failed, as an armed-to-the-grill road warrior vehicle wouldn't have fit in with this festive scene. Look at chibi Stateman. Isn't he just precious? And I'd daresay I like this look for the Aion and Lineage II characters much better than their cookie-cutter Korean MMO counterparts.

This really just makes me crave an MMO where players take up the roles of toys in a child's play room. There could be raids on pre-school recess, and fantastic journeys to the inside of the family mini-van. Perhaps I've just got toys on the brain. Christmas does that. Either way, Happy Holidays, NCsoft!

City of Heroes and City of Villains show off their holiday spirit with special gifts for every player logging in between today and January 4th, including a special holiday badge, fuzzy earmuff costume pieces, and two special temporary powers - Holiday Spirit and Holiday Cheer. Players will also be able to participate in special quests and ski challenges while pursuing gifts, such as candy canes and a special holiday enhancement set.

Guild Wars sees the return of all the special events from holidays past, complete with all the prizes, all of the quests, and the ever-entertaining annual snowball fight between the followers of Grenth and the followers of Dwayna. On top of the usual events, there will be new quests, more items, and a chance to see the Eye of the North lands in festive trimmings for the very first time.

Finally we have Lineage II, which celebrates Christmas with a kidnapping. Thomas D. Turkey, angered by the treatment of his fellow birds and jealous of the special treatment St. Nick gets every year, has kidnapped Santa Claus, and it's up to Lineage II players to find him and defeat him in a "turkey style" battle before it's too late.
You gotta love MMO holiday celebrations. Official blurbs follow!

City of Heroes Winter Event 2008

The City of Heroes developers have been making a list and checking it twice, but whether players are naughty or nice, Heroes and Villains alike will receive gifts this holiday season. By simply logging in between December 15th, 2008 and January 4th, 2009, City of Heroes players will receive a gifted badge, fuzzy earmuffs costume piece, the Holiday Spirit temporary power and the Holiday Cheer temporary power. Also available for players will be a new Father Time mission, ski challenges, holiday auras, candy canes and Gamester's gifts, as well as a winter gift enhancement set.

For more information, please visit the official site at http://www.cityofheroes.com

Guild Wars Wintersday 2008

Once again, it’s time to celebrate the season in true Guild Wars fashion. This year’s annual Wintersday festival is bigger and better than ever, with new NPCs, quests, rewards, and even holiday-themed PvP tournaments. Players also get another chance at the best prizes and quests from previous Wintersday festivities, including the traditional snowball fight between the followers of Grenth and those of Dwayna. Plus, for the first time ever, players will get to see the Eye of the North all decked out in its best holiday finery!

Guild Wars players are encouraged to clear their schedule from December 19th through January 5th, and make plans to join Lt. Thackeray of the Ebon Vanguard as he oversees and coordinates the most spectacular Wintersday festival ever!

For more information on the Wintersday event, please visit the official site at http://guildwars.com/events/ingame/wintersday2008

Lineage II Saving Santa Event

Santa's Helpers throughout Aden and Elmore are begging for the assistance of Lineage II players. It seems that Santa Claus has been imprisoned by the jealous and fanatical Thomas D. Turkey. Outraged by the treatment that he and his brethren have endured over the centuries, Thomas is holding Santa hostage in an undisclosed location to show the world that turkeys mean business. It is up to the citizens of this fair land to help free Santa. The fate of this and all future holidays depend on all Lineage II players. They must find Thomas and defeat him in a "turkey style" battle. Only then will Santa be free from turkey tyranny. Help Santa's Helpers, help Santa, but most of all, help save the holidays for us all.

For more information, please visit the official site at http://www.lineage2.com/

Hit the jump for more details, including what's in store for Lineage II, and Exteel players. Did someone say free giant mech paint jobs?

Guild Wars

On Friday, October 24, Mad King Thorn makes his return to Guild Wars in yet another ghoulish Halloween season in Tyria. Players can take on the king and his maniacal mini-games, jokes and riddles at their own risk. But the rewards will be worth the effort. Winners will earn fabulous prizes. Losers will be killed. But like any good Halloween event, you can always come back to try again. Other events for this Halloween season include a costume brawl in a newly designed area of Guild Wars, dreadful Halloween peddlers located in Lion’s Arch and Kamadan who will barter for their creepy items and photo ops where you can take your character’s picture amongst some of the holiday props and settings. More information on all the frightful happenings in Guild Wars can be found here, http://www.guildwars.com/events/ingame/halloween2008/.

City of Heroes

City of Heroes’ annual Halloween event is back again with even more evil twists. This season, gruesome zombies are on the prowl and they’re after all heroes and villains. In addition to fighting off the dead guys, City of Heroes’ Halloween event has a familiar look with Classical Costumes. Badges will be awarded to those who collect the most costumes. But don’t stop there. Wear your costumes and go out trick or treating in Paragon City. Check out http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/archives/2008/10/halloween_event.html for more info.

Lineage II

Lineage II players will be celebrating Halloween along with the launch of the latest update to the game, Gracia – Part 2. On Tuesday, October 28th, the day Gracia – Part 2 launches, all players level 20 and above who go to their warehouse will receive a Pumpkin Transformation Stick which will change the player into a pumpkin ghost. Additionally there will be a surprise gift, but we can’t tell you what this is until next week when the event starts. All the details about Lineage II’s special Halloween Haunt can be found here, http://www.lineage2.com/archive/2008/10/halloween_haunt.html.

Tabula Rasa

For the next two weeks players can participate in special Halloween missions scattered throughout Tabula Rasa’s expansive world. Complete them and you’ll get a trick or treat emote and one of nine masks. If you played trick or treat in Tabula Rasa last year, you may recognize some of the masks but some will be brand new. For more information visit http://www.rgtr.com/news/latest_news/trick_or_treat.html.

Exteel

Starting Wednesday, October 29, Exteel will be celebrating its first Halloween by giving all of its players the opportunity to paint their robotic Mechanaughts orange and black at no extra cost. They’ll also be able to enjoy their new Halloween-themed paint schemes while earning 50% more credits and experience for every match played in the game. Be sure to take advantage of it quickly—Exteeloween ends on November 5! For more information about Exteel go to http://www.exteel.com.

Into the Pixel is a juried art exhibition that selects sixteen works of video game art to be displayed both digitally and in actual exhibits, like the one currently at E3. The exhibit is an opportunity for video and computer game artists to showcase their work and receive critical feedback from both digital and fine art experts; it also showcases the actual visual art of games in creative and unique ways. The pieces range from playful to serious, and utilize a variety of visual styles to convey their subjects. Now in its fifth year, the selected entries are usually quite impressive, and this year was no exception.

The exhibition hall was quiet compared to the chaos both above and below it — a few people wandered through, but it was otherwise silent. The exhibition included some of the winners from the 2007 competition (including my personal favorite, "Defeated Dragon" by Daniel Dociu (Guild Wars)), and it was nice to see the art in large format. Four of the sixteen entries were takes on Guild Wars (I was particularly fond of the one entitled "Four Knights" by Richard Anderson); also covered were games like flOw, Fallout 3, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, and untitled DS game (seen at the top; "Puzzle World Twilight" by Jay Epperson).

The exhibition will be headed to E for All in October, but you can all see the winning entries over at the Into the Pixel website, which also includes archives of art and commentary from previous years. A few selections from the silent gallery hall are below.

If not for the write-off, NCsoft stood to gain in profit 48 percent on the quarter and 8 percent on the year. The publisher's sales increased 4 percent to $84.3 million on the popularity of the Lineage series in Asia and strong performance for Guild Wars and City of Heroes in North America and Europe.

In particular, NCsoft said its first quarter brought all-time record sales for Lineage II, which launched in 2003 and continues to be the company's top-selling title with 35 percent of the publisher's total sales.

NCsoft's U.S. sales reached $10.4 million in North America and $8.5 million in Europe, and $9.2 million in Japan, numbers dwarfed by its $47.7 million performance in Korea, which accounts for 57 percent of the publisher's total sales.

Later this year, NCsoft will launch its third closed beta for Aion, slated for a launch later this year. NCsoft will also roll out a more casual online portfolio with Point Blank, Punch Monster, Dragonica and Love Beat

"As proven once again in the Q1 financial results, we strongly believe our key franchise products, such as Lineage and Guild Wars, will meet our sales target with a strong customer base and continued content updates going forward," said NCsoft CFO Jaeho Lee. "We plan to ensure the smooth launch of many new products in the next two to three years, which will strengthen our position as a global leader in online games."

... I look back all the way to the dawn of mankind: to ruins, and Greek architecture, and Mycenean architecture, all the way up to the architecture of the Crusades, and castles in North Africa, and the Romanesque and Gothic and Baroque and Rococo - even to neo-Classical and art deco and Bauhaus and Modernist. I mean, there are bits and pieces here and there that make a strong impression on me, and I blend them - but that's the beauty of games. You don't have to be stylistically pure, or even coherent. You can afford a certain eclecticism to your work. It's a more forgiving medium. I can blend elements from the Potala Palace in Tibet with, say, La Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí's cathedral. I really take a lot of liberties with whatever I can use, wherever I can find it.

You can find more examples of Dociu's work at his website or BLDGBLOG's Flickr photostream.

Game/Space: An Interview With Daniel Dociu [BLDBLOG]

"Guild Wars is a proven success and has set a new standard for online RPG games with its unique business model and superior playability," said NCsoft CEO Taek Jin Kim.

Guild Wars Tops Five Million Units Sold

Guild Wars franchise breaks major milestone in less than three years.

Bellevue, WA. Feb. 26, 2008—NCsoft® and ArenaNet® have announced that the Guild Wars® franchise of online roleplaying games has surpassed five million units sold in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Published by NCsoft and developed by ArenaNet, the Guild Wars franchise consists of the original Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions®, Guild Wars Nightfall®, and the recently released expansion, Guild Wars: Eye of the North™. The Guild Wars games have been commercial and critical successes since the release of the original campaign in April of 2005. Its award-winning content and innovative subscription-free business model have created a large and loyal following that is highly anticipating Guild Wars 2™.

"Guild Wars is a proven success and has set a new standard for online RPG games with its unique business model and superior playability," said NCsoft CEO Taek Jin Kim. "ArenaNet is dedicated to creating games that expand the market and provide great new content to our loyal player base. This success has built a great foundation from which the next generation of Guild Wars games will grow."

With the development of Guild Wars 2 underway, ArenaNet will continue to provide dedicated support to current Guild Wars games and its millions of customers.

"Reaching the five million mark is extremely gratifying for us at ArenaNet because it shows the hard work and dedication we put into our games has resonated with the fans," said Mike O'Brien, co-founder of ArenaNet. "We are committed to supporting all of our Guild Wars players, and at the same time, we're extremely excited to work on the game's evolution. Certainly the future of Guild Wars is as bright as its past and present."

For more information on the Guild Wars franchise, visit the Guild Wars website at www.guildwars.com. The award-winning Guild Wars series, including the recently released Guild Wars: Eye of the North, can be purchased from retailers or downloaded from the PlayNC store at secure.plaync.com/cgi-bin/Store.pl.

Oh, you can't email more than once a day. The winner will be contacted through the winning email address.
GWEN [Official Site]

Oh, you can't email more than once a day. The winner will be contacted through the winning email address.
GWEN [Official Site]

• 18 multi-level dungeons
• 50 new skills across all 10 Guild Wars professions
• 10 new Heroes
• 40 new armor sets
• New items, weapons, and titles.

With Guild Wars 2 right around the corner, NCSoft and AreaNet have promised that players will be able to transfer the characters they've been working on smoothly from the previous incarnations to the new version with all their accomplishments in tact. I have to commend NCSoft and AreaNet for creating all this new content and continuing to keep it subscription free. After all, you paid for the game, why should you have to pay a monthly fee to actually play it? All of the Guild Wars games, including Eye of the North can be purchased at your local game store or downloaded from the NCSoft Website.

"Four million units sold is an impressive number and demonstrates that Guild Wars is a proven franchise," said Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising, GameStop Corporation. "The Guild Wars franchise delivers an outstanding gaming experience and is clearly an important part of our PC games offerings."

NCsoft's Guild Wars Breaks Four Million

Subscription-free business model sets new standard for online multiplayer games

Bellevue, WA. Aug. 21, 2007—The Guild Wars® franchise of online roleplaying games has broken the four million units sold mark in just over two years. Published by NCsoft® and developed by ArenaNet®, the Guild Wars series (consisting of Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions™, and Guild Wars Nightfall™) has set the standard for online co-operative and competitive play with award-winning content and a subscription-free business model. Since the first campaign launched in 2005, Guild Wars has developed legions of loyal fans who are hotly anticipating the August 31 release of the game's first true expansion, Guild Wars: Eye of the North™.

"ArenaNet's fantastic work on Guild Wars has helped make NCsoft the leading online gaming publisher in the world," said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America. "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."

"Four million units sold is an impressive number and demonstrates that Guild Wars is a proven franchise," said Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising, GameStop Corporation. "The Guild Wars franchise delivers an outstanding gaming experience and is clearly an important part of our PC games offerings."

Guild Wars: Eye of the North
Prerelease Bonus Pack to Hit Shelves July 20th
Tuesday 17th July/...NCsoft® Europe and ArenaNet® announced today that the prerelease bonus pack for Guild Wars: Eye of the North™ is set to arrive on retailer's shelves on July 20th and will include a host of compelling features, including exclusive in-game items and access to the Guild Wars: Eye of the North Sneak Peek Weekend set for later this summer.

The Guild Wars: Eye of the North prerelease bonus pack will be available from retailers in North America and Europe as well as at the NCsoft store at PlayNC.com and via the Official Guild Wars online store.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North is the first ever expansion to the subscription-free Guild Wars franchise of fantasy online role playing games, which will be released to the public on August 31, 2007. This expansion will provide new content accessible to players who have any of the previously released Guild Wars campaigns (Guild Wars, Guild Wars: Factions™, or Guild Wars: Nightfall™).

Players who pre-order Guild Wars: Eye of the North will gain access to the Sneak Peek Weekend, August 24-26, 2007, where they will be able to log into the game for a first look at Eye of the North. Players will be able to explore the Far Shiverpeaks region of the world, home of the barbaric Norn. Everything players obtain during the Sneak Peek Weekend, including items, XP, Heroes, and loot, will be permanent and available when the expansion goes live.

The Guild Wars: Eye of the North prerelease bonus pack also comes with exclusive weapons, including the Glacial Blade, the Hourglass Staff, and the Darksteel Longbow. These new weapons are based on the winning designs from the Guild Wars Design-a-Weapon Contest held earlier this year. In addition, the prerelease bonus pack includes a Guild Wars Trilogy Trial DVD that provides access to all three of the Guild Wars campaigns for a special trial promotion lasting 10 hours or 14 days, whichever comes first*.

"We believe this feature-packed prerelease delivers real value to our players," said Mike O'Brien, co-founder of ArenaNet. "From past experience, we expect the Sneak Peek Weekend alone to be hugely popular, and players won't want to miss this chance to get a leg-up before the game goes live."

"Guild Wars has one of the most committed and loyal player bases I've ever seen, and Guild Wars: Eye of the North is our way of delivering prized content to veteran players and creating a link to the future of Guild Wars," said Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North Readies For August 31 Release

NCsoft and ArenaNet set $39.99 price for first ever expansion of Guild Wars franchise

Bellevue, WA., July 2, 2007—NCsoft® and ArenaNet® announced that Guild Wars: Eye of the NorthTM, the first ever expansion to the subscription-free Guild Wars® franchise of fantasy online role-playing games, will be released to the public on August 31, 2007. The Guild Wars: Eye of the North expansion will be available for an expected price of $39.99 in North America and €34.99 in Europe, as well as through the NCsoft store at PlayNC.com and in the Guild Wars in-game store.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North will continue the no subscription fee model pioneered by ArenaNet, and will provide new content accessible to players who own both the expansion and any one of the three previously released Guild Wars campaigns (Guild Wars, FactionsTM, or NightfallTM).

The Guild Wars franchise has sold more than 3.5 million units since the release of the original Guild Wars campaign, in 2005, making it one of the most popular online role-playing games of all time.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North follows up on events told in the original Guild Wars campaign, and is set in previously unexplored areas of the continent of Tyria. The expansion contains a host of new features that will appeal directly to veteran Guild Wars players, including 18 large, multi-level dungeons, 150 new skills across all ten Guild Wars professions, ten new Heroes, 40 new armor sets, and more items, weapons, and titles. Additionally, through the innovative Hall of Monuments, Guild Wars: Eye of the North creates a path for players to carry the legacy of their characters into the upcoming Guild Wars 2. The Hall of Monuments will allow players to preserve their accomplishments and titles from Guild Wars, Factions, and Nightfall, which can then be claimed in Guild Wars 2.

"Guild Wars has one of the most committed and loyal player bases I've ever seen, and Guild Wars: Eye of the North is our way of delivering prized content to veteran players and creating a link to the future of Guild Wars," said Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet.

For more information on the Guild Wars franchise, go to: www.GuildWars.com. The award-winning Guild Wars campaigns can be purchased from retailers or downloaded from the PlayNC store at https://secure.plaync.com/cgi-bin/Store.pl.

While I love the animation, the main reason I'm posting this video is because the MMO by NCSoft has been coming up a lot lately among game designers and gamers.

Last week at GDC I spent a lot of time ranting about MMOs and how they seem stuck in the mud right now. What I suddenly came to realize is that Guild Wars is, I believe, the second largest MMO right now with 3.5 million users. The question is, is that because of the game, which was created by a bunch of former ex-Blizzard guys, the fact that there's no subscription fees or a combination of the two? Brian Crecente

In the spirit of the holidays the festival is being extended for a week, now ending on January 11th in part to give Taiwanese players affected by the earthquake last week time to enjoy themselves. Sounds like a perfect time for lapsed players to stop by and check things out. Say, players who bought the collector's edition at launch, played for a month and then uninstalled the game because they were bored. *whistles innocently* Michael Fahey

Players Flock to Guild Wars in Record-Breaking Numbers and Rack Up 20 Million Hours of Gameplay

Extended Wintersday Festival a Smash Success!

January 8, 2007 (BELLEVUE, WA) — The annual Guild Wars Wintersday Festival kicked off on December 20, 2006, drawing new and existing players into the game in record-breaking numbers. Players racked up more than 20 million hours of gameplay during the Wintersday Festival alone as they participated in holiday-themed quests, festive events, competitive snowball fights and received unique Wintersday gifts. This year's Wintersday Festival was the fifth major holiday festival to be celebrated in Guild Wars, the hugely popular online roleplaying game developed by ArenaNet and published by NCsoft Corporation, the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games.

In keeping with that spirit of giving, the festival has been extended for a week, now ending at noon PST (8 p.m. GMT) on January 11, 2007. This extension allows Taiwanese players affected by last week's earthquake and countrywide Internet outage a chance to revel in the festivities. In an additional show of holiday spirit and goodwill, Guild Wars players have offered to share their Wintersday gifts with those affected. Plans are currently underway for a massive in-game gift donation.

Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions , and Guild Wars Nightfall are online roleplaying games in which millions of players from around the globe explore a rich fantasy world, acquire skills, build personalized characters, and compete in fierce player-versus-player battles. The Guild Wars games have garnered numerous awards, including Billboard Magazine's DEMMX Award for 2006 Multiplayer Game of the Year, GameSpy's Best PC MMORPG of 2006, Play Magazine's 2005 PC Game of the Year, 1Up's 2006 Best Roleplaying Game, and IGN's 2005 Best PC Game, among others.

For more information, please contact Jenny Bendel at ArenaNet at 206.979.2202 or jenny@arena.net.

About ArenaNet
ArenaNet, located in Bellevue, Washington, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NCsoft Corporation. ArenaNet has built a state-of-the-art interactive game network and develops premier multiplayer online games for dedicated game players. ArenaNet's titles, Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, and Guild Wars Nightfall are global online roleplaying games that allow gamers to play with anyone, anytime, and anywhere in the world. More information about ArenaNet can be found at www.arena.net.

About NCsoft Corporation

NCsoft North America is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation. NCsoft, with its own development and publishing offices in Texas and California, also works with other NCsoft subsidiaries and third party developers throughout North America to develop and publish innovative online entertainment software products. The company has successfully launched multiple online titles in the last three years and continues to support its franchises, which include Lineage /Lineage II, City of Heroes /City of Villains , Guild Wars/Guild Wars Factions/Guild Wars Nightfall, and Auto Assault . More information about NCsoft can be found at www.plaync.com.

NCsoft, the interlocking NC logo, PlayNC, Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall, Nightfall, ArenaNet, Lineage, Auto Assault, and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. City of Heroes, City of Villains, and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cryptic Studios, Inc. and NCsoft Corporation. Cryptic Studios is a trademark of Cryptic Studios, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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Over at ConceptArt.org, one of their posters has published a huge amount of really amazing Guild Wars: Factions concept art. Some of it is really just Cthulhu cool. Of course, the actual game looks nothing like this, but there's scarce a picture in the bunch that wouldn't make a great wallpaper. Florian Eckhardt

Guild Wars Factions - Concept Art [Conceptart.org]