Things got a little slow for me in Aion around level 18 or so, so I for one welcome the introduction of regular double experience weekends, giving me good reason to hop online for a few hours and kill what little free time I have killing virtual things. The experience point boost counts towards crafting experience as well, so those of you who'd rather sit in one spot clicking things for hours are covered as well.

The only limitation here is that only levels 1-35 can take advantage of the extra experience. You've already surpassed level 35? That's what you get for out-leveling me. Take that.

Every weekend until the end of the year will bring double the experience points, with regular double XP weekends planned for once or twice a month thereafter. This is only a temporary fix, however, and NCsoft continues to study the progression process in order to find ways to make it less painful.

Speaking of less painful, this week's patch will also bring with it a reduction in the cost of Soul Healing, for those of you who keep dying for some silly reason. Silly Daevas.

Upcoming Double Experience Weekends [Aion]

While I wasn't a big fan of the original Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 is shaping up to be the sort of game I can really get behind. It's got amazing artistic direction, a nice selection of races to play with, and an expansive world to run my adorable little asura through.

This trailer features the voices of Troy Baker from Fullmetal Alchemist, Steve Blum from just about everything, Jocelyn Blue from Invader Zim, Felicia Day from The Guild, and Kari Wahlgren, who has appeared as countless video game and anime characters. Need to figure out who's who? Check out the Q&A NCsoft provided with the clip under the video.

RACES OF TYRIA TRAILER QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS with Ree Soesbee - World Designer and Writer

In the Races of Tyria, the latest preview video for NCsoft's upcoming MMO Guild Wars 2, we explore the world of Tyria through the eyes of the five playable races in the game. Meet the noble and resilient humans, the war-mongering charr, the brilliant inventors known as the asura, the mighty shapeshifting norn, and a new race of nature spirits, the sylvari. From these five races, mighty heroes shall rise!

Who are these characters in this video and what's their significance in the overall story of the game?

The characters in the video are the members of the famous adventuring group, Destiny's Edge, renowned for their bravery and skill. Although Destiny's Edge no longer travels together, tales of their heroic deeds are told in every part of Tyria.

· Logan Thackeray-Captain Logan Thackeray is a commander in the Seraph guard of Divinity's Reach, defender of the last human kingdom. When danger threatens, Logan faces it with the determination of a man who knows that he is the only thing standing between all that he loves… and its utter destruction.
· Rytlock Brimstone-This ruthless charr warrior has risen quickly through the ranks of the Blood Legion to become a Tribune of great renown. He stands foremost among the charr of the Black Citadel, carrying a sword of fire and leading their armies to greatness.
· Eir Stegalkin-Eir is a norn hero and tactician of great renown. There are those who call her a visionary, who say she speaks to the Spirits of the Wild. With her companion wolf, Garm, Eir roams the icy Shiverpeaks, bow and blade in hand, searching for meaning in the snow's silence.
· Zojja- The foremost apprentice of the venerable asura inventor Snaff, Zojja seeks to live up to her mentor's legacy. Zojja's intellect is unrivaled even by members of the Arcane Council of Rata Sum, and her ability to multitask across a spectrum of disciplines inspires awe and jealousy among her fellow asura.
· Caithe- Her blades are as swift as a blooded sunset, her movement as silent as the fall of night. Caithe was among the first sylvari to step upon the earth of Tyria, but where the others turned toward the sun, she sought shadow. She has never been afraid to gaze into darkness – or to seek truths that others fear.

You show off some very interesting environments in the Races of Tyria video. Can you tell us more about them?

The video takes us across the vastness of Tyria to the homelands of each of the five signature races of Guild Wars 2.

· Divinity's Reach-A breathtaking monument to the human spirit, this shining city is the capital of Kryta and a bastion of hope to embattled mankind.
· The Black Citadel-Capital of the Iron Legion, this massive charr war-keep was built on the ruins of the conquered human kingdom of Ascalon.
· Hoelbrak – In the frigid heights of the Shiverpeaks the norn have built this grand encampment, with huge lodges where they seek the wisdom of the Spirits of the Wild.
· The Grove-Deep in the Maguuma Jungle, this mystical settlement has grown around the Pale Tree, the birthplace of all sylvari.
· Rata Sum-Rising from the jungle, this metropolis of geomystic generators and giant ziggurats is full of brilliant asura and their golem servants.

Some of the voices in this video seem familiar, can you identify the actors? How big is voice going to be in Guild Wars 2?

Seamlessly integrating voice into the game experience is a key feature of Guild Wars 2, so we have gathered world-class voice talent to help bring the world of Tyria alive. This video introduces the five iconic heroes of each race, all voiced by accomplished actors:

· Logan Thackeray the human defender is voiced by Troy Baker (Fullmetal Alchemist, One Piece).
· Rytlock Brimstone the charr warrior is voiced by Steve Blum (Spectacular Spider-Man).
· Eir Stegalkin the norn is voiced by Jocelyn Blue (Invader Zim, Space Jam).
· Zojja the asura is voiced by Felicia Day (Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, The Guild, Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
· Caithe the sylvari is voiced by Kari Wuhlgren (Wolverine and the X-Men, Aliens in the Attic).

The video ends with the question, "What's your story?" – how important is story in Guild Wars 2?

Story is a huge element in Guild Wars 2. From the moment you choose your character's race, you're taking your first step down a road that only you can travel. You'll explore a vast, living world where your actions have real consequences. You'll immerse yourself in a rich, powerful narrative that is personalized to and influenced by your character.

Called simply "AION Vision", it shows sweeping visual upgrades to the game, along with a battle sequence that MMO fans could only dream of. There's even a Shadow of the Colossus cameo.

It's obviously hinting at the direction NCSoft hope the MMO will be taking in the near future, but question is, when - if ever - will this stuff be implemented? And when it is, will anyone on Earth have a PC that can actually run it?

And that's not even 16,000 globally. It's just from the game's American and European servers. Causes for the bannings range from the use of bots to gold farming to spamming advertisements to other players. NCSoft's Community Manager, Andrew Beegle, says "We are taking a very hard stance on this issue", and if anyone tries to cry "innocent", adds they "have sophisticated processes and procedures in place that help us keep unwarranted banning to a minimum".

Oh, if only the internet let us see literal rivers of blood.

Massive Ban Across All NA/EU Servers [Aion]

We've been following Guild Wars 2 since the first stirrings back in 2007, through the scrapped beta and onwards to this year's big reveal. According to NCsoft West CEO Jaeho Lee, speaking recently during a post-earnings report conference call, we'll be following it for quite a long time coming.

"I believe there will be a certain public event in the year 2010, so at this point it could be at least a closed beta test for [Guild Wars 2 and Korea-oriented martial-arms MMOG Blade & Soul]," he said. "The commercialization will be expected at this point probably sometime in the year 2011."

The dates coincide with a story from earlier this year suggesting a 2010-2011 release for the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the company's free MMO.

That's quite a long time to wait, but it beats getting no Guild Wars 2 at all, right?

Guild Wars 2 due in 2011 [GameSpot]

It's not a preorder bonus, as the game is already out, so should we simply call it an order bonus? Either way, folks who purchase Aion at participating retailers during the holiday season will find themselves in possession of the Aion Holiday Ascension Pack. What's inside? The pack contains a code that gives players 20 Lesser Life Potions, 15 Lesser Running Scrolls, 15 uses of the experience point-enhancing Lodas's Amulet, and armor dyes that vary in color depending on where you purchase it.

Amazon – Hot Orange Dye
Best Buy – Mustard Dye
Game Stop – True Black Dye
Target – True Red Dye
Walmart – True White Dye

Perhaps not the most enticing purchase bonus we've seen, but certainly one of the more colorful ones? Bonus points for anyone who gets the song reference in my choice of colors used in the image above.

NCsoft is operating six games at once? Yes they are, and Halloween is coming to each one of them. The Mad King Thorn returns to Guild Wars, Scarecrow Jack visits Lineage II, the original Lineage has a costume party, the City of Heroes faces a Halloween Apocalypse, and Exteel's Mechnaughts get painted orange and purple.

Yes, the festivities abound, but by far my favorite is what's going on in NCsoft's latest release, Aion. Since the world is split into two halves, there are two different celebrations! The Asmodians, otherwise known as the best faction, celebrate by going on a Wild Hunt, cooking special dishes and having a good time. The lowly Elyos, on the other hand, get plagued by zombies. They totally deserve it too.

Check out the full list of NCsoft's Halloween celebrations below!

Aion – Harvest Revel

During the Fall harvest, the people of Atreia have always celebrated the bounty of the land. Years ago, the joy of the annual revels was troubled by an eclipse-a peculiar and magical eclipse that brought darkness to Asmodae and Elysea. Ever since, for days during Harvest Revel, the sky goes dark and the people of Atreia join in the hunt.

Asmodians celebrate the bounty through the Wild Hunt, racing after the Wild Kurthanir hunt leader and cooking special dishes made from the meat. On the other side of Atreia, the Elyos encounter undead creatures pulled back into a semblance of life by the power of the eclipse. Elyos must join roving Dark Night bands to hunt and destroy the undead before they invade Elyos villages.

Each day during Harvest Revel players will be rewarded for their investment with new lore and tasty treats including a Halloween Hat and candy that will transform players into in game creatures!

· Starts: Sunday, October 25, 2009

· Ends: Saturday, October 31, 2009

Visit www.aiononline.com for more Aion-specific information.

Guild Wars – The Return of Mad King Thorn

It's Halloween in Tyria, and that means one thing: the return of Mad King Thorn ! Similar to years past, the maniacal monarch has come to play, and he's got a bag full of tricks and treats to delight and dismay. But non-tricksters fear not, there are plenty of ways to celebrate Halloween – participate in several special events (a new series of quests and a costume PvP brawl) or explore the decorated cities/towns adorned with Halloween décor.

· Starts: Friday, October 23, 2009

· Ends: Monday, November 2, 2009

Visit www.guildwars.com for more Guild Wars information.

City of Heroes – Triumph over the New Deadly Halloween Apocalypse

Players brace themselves for a new apocalypse as City of Heroes' annual Halloween Event returns with legions of Zombies, Werewolves, Jack-o-Lanterns, and other foul denizens descend upon Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. This year they're bringing even more powerful allies! The new apocalypse is deadlier than ever as mysterious monstrosities join forces with the Eidolons, Shivans, and others. Paragon City and the Rogue Isles are in terrible peril, and only the greatest Heroes and Villains can turn back the tide. The greater the challenge, the greater the reward!

· Starts: Tuesday, October 20, 2009

· Ends: Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Visit www.cityofheroes.com for more City of Heroes information.

Lineage II – "Scarecrow Jack" and Halloween Adena Art Contest

Halloween is just around the corner and players can win in-game prizes by showing off their creative holiday spirit. Players are encouraged to create and share their Halloween and/or autumn themed adena art (visual art created by dropping adena on the ground in-game to create an image seen from above.) For those just looking to have fun this Halloween, players can don a "Scarecrow Jack" illusion featuring two animated emotes. Along with the illusion, players will receive 5 revita pops to refill their vitality bars while in game.

· Starts: Wednesday, October 28, 2009

· Ends: Thursday, November 19, 2009

· Deadline for art submissions is Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 11:59pm CDT

Visit www.lineage2.com for more Lineage II information.

Lineage – " Cavern of Chaos" Costume Party

The Lineage team is hosting the in-game party of all parties this Halloween – costumes not required, but highly encouraged! In addition to free polymorph "costumes," most monsters will drop pumpkin seed, which is redeemable for prizes like a Pinewand to spawn monsters of choice, accessories, and Stat t-shirts from NPCs. No tricks about it, as an added bonus, players will be treated to increased item drops from Bosses. See you at the "Cavern of Chaos!"

· Starts: Wednesday, October 28, 2009

· Ends: Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Visit www.lineage.com for more Lineage information.

Exteel – Halloween Event
Smashing pumpkins and bag snatching is easy! Try picking on a Mechanaught your own size, even if it is painted Orange and Purple! Exteel players are encouraged to celebrate this Halloween colorfully with free Orange and Purple paint. But that's not all! Players will receive +50% bonus credits during the week-long Exteel Halloween celebration!

· Starts: Wednesday, October 28, 2009

· Ends: Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Visit www.exteel.com for more Exteel information.

Between the Mission Architect and the recent addition of power customization, City of Heroes is a much more interesting place to be than it was at the beginning of the year, and Paragon Studios wants lapsed players to come back and see what they've been missing next weekend. From October 8th through the 11th, all accounts in good standing will be reactivated so players can simply download the client and go to town...or city. On top of that, everyone who plays during those days will earn experience points twice as fast. Just be prepared for that sudden stop when the event comes to a close.

During the weekend several tipsters emailed us with horror stories about the European launch of NCsoft's new MMORPG Aion. Like North America, many citizens of the UK and Europe found themselves waiting in line for hours at t time to get into the game. Others didn't even get that far. Kotakuite Andrew pointed us to a set of screens like the one seen here, telling players that there were simply too many people connected to the servers to join a queue.

NCsoft responded in much the same way they responded to initial queues with the much the same response they did the North American version, though today they announced the opening of two new servers, one for English and one for the French. Hopefully those two will help ease the pain of eager players across the European continent.

The shopkeeper system has been abused terribly since the North American launch of Aion. Here's how it was supposed to work: a player turns on the private store option, putting items up for sale into special slots, assigning prices. They then become a clickable shop that players can browse.

The problem that arose is that becoming a shop acted as an anti-idle, allowing players to remain connected for long periods of time with no input on their part. A player would slip into store mode, set one item at a ridiculously high price, and then wander off to eat dinner or run to the store, without fear of coming back disconnected and having to wait in line again. This contributed greatly to the long lines of people waiting to get into the game during peak playing times. With less people disconnecting, the wait time only grew.

This morning Aion's servers went down for maintenance, and came back up with a 30 minute timer on personal shops, which should go great lengths towards cutting down wait time. At least until everyone figures out my special method of anti-idle, the pecking bird egg timer on the W key.

Server Maintenance [Aion - Thanks Alex!]

We've learned how big a focus ArenaNet was putting on the art for Guild Wars 2 during our annual pilgrimage to the Penny Arcade Expo, which really puts the The Art of Guild Wars 2 into perspective. This isn't just concept art. As far as ArenaNet is concerned, this is the game itself. Consider the book a way of getting your hands on the MMO a little early.

North American fans can snag the book from the Penny Arcade Store for $30, while our friends in Europia can order directly from NCsoft for £20.00 or €25.00.

The Art of Guild Wars 2 [Guild Wars 2 Website - Thanks Connor!]

Forcing customers to wait upwards of several hours during peak game-playing time is not the sort of first impression you want to give the player base, but Aion associate producer Lani Blazier says that this sort of bottlenecking is something that they had anticipated.

"Aion's Head Start period and today's launch (note interview took place late yesterday) are strong, and we are happy to see huge numbers of players diving into the game. The excitement that has impelled players into the game is obvious. We see it in the high numbers of concurrent players online in the game's servers. This is the only time that every single player who wants to play Aion is online at the same time, so many players online have an expected impact on the world servers."

Of course, anticipating is one thing, and fixing it is another thing entirely. The team is apparently looking at each server on a case-by-case basis to determine the best course of action to help alleviate the wait times.

"Some servers will have intermittent queues for a period of time, although these are dependent on each of the specific world servers. We are monitoring and tracking the server statistics in real time to ensure optimal experiences for players, and we have planned steps for each server to manage periods of high player demand."

This goes against the general practice with new MMO launches, which is to simply throw new servers at the problem until players stop complaining. Lani explains that the Aion team is taking a more cautious route in expanding the number of game servers Aion makes available.

"The roll out of the original servers and each additional server has been planned with an eye toward a sustainable and stable release of each new world server. We have plans to build, test, and roll out each new server, to set them to appropriate time zone settings based on the whole community's needs, and to balance each of them appropriately as to faction. We are managing the roll out of game servers at a steady and deliberate pace. We want to give players the gameplay they deserve in the long term, as well during the expansive burst phase of Head Start and the short-term post-launch period."

So what about immediate steps? According to NCsoft West's PR director Ryan James, who spoke to us during our communications with Lani, relief is coming as early as this weekend.

"Since the opening of Head Start this past weekend, we've have been heavily focused on striking the delicate balance between managing busy servers with queue times versus overcompensating by adding new servers too quickly that are then under populated and don't deliver a fun experience for players. We did indeed see an initial rush on the first days of Head Start which resulted in longer than desired queue times for some of our servers, and we are working around the clock to alleviate this. In fact, we are happy to confirm we have increased our server caps and are adding an additional server in both North America and Europe by this weekend, and we will continue to evaluate adding additional servers."

Once again, there's that emphasis on using caution. It's a bit of juggling act, really. If they just opened up ten new servers right away, a year from now we might be posting news about server consolidation, which reflects badly on an MMO no matter what the reasons behind it might be.

We'll see if caution is the way to go this weekend, when the players who missed out on the Sunday launch and don't have time to play during the week hit the servers en masse. Fingers crossed!

Speaking of long queue times, last night was simply amazing. I spent 40 minutes in the queue at first, and then my power flickered due to these Atlanta storms. Then I waited 1 hour, 45 minutes, and my PC locked up switching the window into Aion. Finally, after 2 hours, 45 minutes, I got in, killed two creatures, and decided I was too tired and went to bed. Good times.

Still, Lani is pretty damn awesome, even if she does share the first name of the ex-girlfriend who left me for another woman. Again, good times.

If you look closely, you can see my chanter-to-be Caliban, lost amidst a sea of people acting how they normally do when gathered in large groups via the internet. The server is Azphael; the side Asmodian. For the next five hours I would randomly crash three times, say the word "fuck" on at least 120 separate occasions, and eventually make it to level 9, at which point I left the newbie hubbub behind in favor of the more subdued, higher-level hubbub.

Yesterday we talked about queues a upwards of seven hours long, and while I certainly commiserate with those left waiting, it almost seemed as if the servers remembered who was online in case of a crash, letting them slip right back in as soon as they returned. At least this was my experience. I'm almost positive that at one point my server went down completely, and there were a few instances of severe server-wide rubber-banding (running the length of a road and finding yourself snapped back to the beginning), but otherwise things seemed rather smooth considering the huge influx of players.

My main problem was due to the initial rush. With that many people in your starting zone, quest items will be camped, and quest monsters will be slaughtered mercilessly. At first NCsoft had 10 instances of the newbie area available for players to freely switch between, but each one was packed, causing severe quest bottlenecks, especially when the quest required players to click on one item that spawned every two minutes. It was chaotic.

Later in the day I went back through and completed some of the quests I skipped, and things seemed to have calmed down a bit. I suspect the full launch tomorrow will experience similar problems. My suggestion? Skip quests and grind, or simply wait a bit to start leveling up.

I've managed to make it to level 12 so far myself, with Caliban the chanter kicking ass and taking names left and right while searching for a guild that's a little more about roleplay than most. I know, good luck with that, right? Either way, I hope to see some of you in game. If I don't respond, I'm asleep with my face on the keyboard.

"There are more people waiting in cues to start the game than there are in the game itself," writes one tipster. "and this is just the people with pre-orders. This will be a nightmare when the game actually launches."

In that screen above, you see one poor guy is facing down a 7 hour, 30 minute wait at position 2994 out of 3188 in the queue. Others have sent in screenshots showing much shorter wait times. But wait times nonetheless. It seems fair to say NCsoft wasn't prepared for its Head Start campaign to get this much buy-in. I'm sure many are hoping that day one of the full release will open up some sort of extra server capacity, but unfortunately, I have no information. I'll update if I hear anything. Aion players, please do share your experiences in the comments.

Update: This is from Fahey, I'll quote him directly: "Might be worth noting that even with 10 instances of each starting area mobs are camped all over the place, and there's some horrible quest bottlenecking as dozens of players wait for quest objects to spawn."

It certainly says something about nProtect GameGuard when a major MMO developer out of Korea decides that removing it is the best course of action. Commonly used in Asian MMO titles as an anti-cheating device, GameGuard seems to cause more problems than it solves, crashing programs, not playing nice with Windows 7, and just generally behaving like a root kit, which no one enjoys. Odds are if you've had trouble running Aion, this little bastard is the cause. NCsoft recognizes this.

After analyzing our open beta test results Aion will not feature GameGuard at launch. We will however continue to pursue ways to effectively utilize GameGuard within Aion in the future. Right now we're focused on providing players with the best possible Aion experience.

Now the skeptic in me reads that as "right now we're focused on providing players with the best possible Aion experience, and we'll screw that up with GameGuard later," but hopefully NCsoft will step into the light eventually and just drop it altogether.

Aion Launch Version! [Official Website - Thanks Carlos!]

Stephen Nichols, putting it bluntly, says "the game just isn't profitable." Though the game's creative team has some ideas for how to inject life back into it, "they're expensive to implement and pretty risky. Those two facts, coupled with the recent loss of some key developers, make achieving the success we seek pretty much out of the question."

They're just a three man team now. (They were five.) So Dungeon Runners is caput when the big ball plops on Times Square. Until then, they put together some parting gifts for the Dungeon Runners community.

First, those with paid memberships as of Sept. 16 get 30 days free in City of Heroes: Architect Edition and Guild Wars: Prophecies. Nichols added that "any of you guys that need refunds for multiple-month membership purchases will be taken care of."

The other slice of bread in the shit sandwich? "We're going out in style," Nichols said, "with a few changes to the game for the coming 'End Time.'" That means more frequent mythic loot drops, cut rate prices at the King's Coin vendors, and quintupling XP gains "to help you finish the game before year's end!"

And what would be a grand finale without a fireworks show? "We're adding a huge nuke to Townston that will blow up on New Year's and take the game down with it."

Dungeon Runners is Shutting Down [Dungeon Runners, thanks Jason J.]

For an Eastern import, Aion has been making quite a lot of noise among MMO circles, taking the beauty of a Korean game and marrying it with a design meant to appeal to Western gamers. Judging from the preorder numbers NCsoft is definitely doing something right, though calling it the "biggest MMO launch of the year" isn't really saying much, considering the only real competition it has had is Champions Online, a superhero MMO from the same company that created the other superhero MMO currently on the market for NCsoft.

Each of the nearly 400,000 preorder customers gain access to server pre-selection tomorrow, as well as an early jump start that kicks off on Sunday, two days in advance of the official release. I have several different groups of friends who plan on playing, so I currently have no earthly clue which server or side I'll wind up on.

The company, Paltalk Holdings Inc., has successfully settled claims against Microsoft, alleging it infringed the same patents in Halo. The technology in question concerns how multiple players in different locations still see the same events - explosions, monsters, etc. - in real time.

Paltalk bought the patents in 2002, and allege that Turbine and other companies are infringing them. The suit's been filed in federal court for the Eastern District of Texas, which is known as a plaintiff-friendly venue for such litigation. Microsoft's settlement, back in March, certainly makes it harder to deny the validity of Paltalk's claim.

In addition to Turbine, Sony (Everquest) and Blizzard (World of Warcraft), NCSoft (Guild Wars) and Jagex (Runescape) are also named as defendants.

Westwood-Based Video Game Maker Named in Patent Infringement Suit [The Boston Globe]

Power Spectrum isn't all about changing the color of your character's powers. The new update also brings a new scalable difficulty system for missions, a new and improved side-kick system, and more powersets available to more archetypes! Okay, it's pretty much all about changing the color of your powers. NCsoft is thrilled to finally be implementing the feature. Just ask senior lead designer Matt "Positron" Miller.

"We are thrilled to be able to deliver yet another major player-requested feature with Power Spectrum," said Matt Miller, Senior Lead Designer for the City of Heroes franchise. "We aim to build the most customizable gameplay experience in any MMO for our players. Adding Powers Customization to our genre-defining character creator, as well as user-generated content through Mission Architect, shows we are willing and able to give our players what they want."

But what if they want love? Can you give them that, Matt "Positron" Miller? The next update should be the side-switching Going Rogue, but after that we expect love.