Greetings Aion Players,

It has been a very busy year for us here at NCsoft West and our executive producer would like to take the time to address our communities today. Lance Stites is the head of NCsoft West’s Game Production Studio in Seattle, overlooking many game franchises; including Aion, Lineage and Exteel.

In order to keep you updated on what is happening with our games, Lance would like to provide some insight into recent events and a scope of what is on the horizon for our studio as a whole. Please read on to gain a piece of unparalleled insight into NCsoft West’s current operations.

Greetings and salutations,It’s been just over three months since I’ve settled into the Seattle office, and I must say it’s been an incredibly busy 100 days. The restructuring has resulted in the staffing of the NCsoft West Game Production Studio, which, as previously mentioned is tasked with supporting the Lineage and Aion franchises, as well as Exteel. At this point I’d like to pause and address the wider audience of all of the products supported by our NCsoft West Game Production Studio—Lineage, Exteel, Lineage II, and Aion.

Our major release with Lineage II on the North American 5 year anniversary was a big accomplishment on April 28. This was Producer Sam Han’s first launch at the helm of this project. His many years as Associate Producer and Customer Service experience with the project served him well. Sam and team are currently in planning stages for the upcoming months. Recent additions to the team include Assistant Producer Marissa McWaters and Community Manager Lauren Duncan.

With Lineage and Exteel, we welcome a new face via our European and Korean office. Hyunah Chun will be taking the lead of both projects as Producer. Hyunah will be in transition mode while she relocates to the Seattle office from the European office. We’ll continue working with the existing Lineage team to deploy weekly maintenance, events and also work to deliver our next big update. We are also working to update Exteel with the latest content from Korea. While we are making every effort to deliver timely updates, our resources are being stretched supporting existing and upcoming projects.

Of course, all eyes are currently on our next big release: Aion. We have some staff announcements of the team that will lead this project through launch. Brian Knox has been functioning as the project’s Producer for the past few months and is doing a fantastic job. He’s wrangling all the production elements and working with the various teams to ensure a top quality product and service. Supporting him in this role is Chris Hager, recently transiting from the Lineage II team. Chris is ensuring Quality Assurance support, age ratings submissions, beta tests, coordination with IT teams for server and software deployments, and host of other support issues. Adding to this leadership is Lani Blazier, whom I am happy to report has transitioned from Community Manager to Associate Producer. Lani will continue to support the community effort, but from the production standpoint and will provide guidance to our other Community Managers, Martin Rabl and Sebastian Streiffert. We’re interviewing for the French Community Manager position—I’m personally well aware of the enthusiastic French gamer community, having witnessed the Festival du Jeu in Paris of last year, so I do consider this a priority addition to the team.

I know that many fans are extremely anxious, impatient even, awaiting the release of Aion. I can assure you the team is fully engaged in the release of this product. We’ve got an army of creative writers generating an enormous amount of rewrites as we execute to our total commitment of quality of content. Our Localization Manager has vendors in place, keeping pace with the French and German translation. We’re actively recruiting an additional native German speaking localization Project Manager and have added QA Testers (native French and German speaking) to the Seattle office. We’ve got Voice Over recordings underway (of course for all three languages) and our PR and Marketing teams are releasing the hounds—you’ve likely seen the articles on class descriptions hit the internet. We also have tutorial videos in production, this should provide a great Aion first experience—both to novice and experience MMO players. We’ve shared details of our Collector’s Edition recently, our first public access beta event was very well received, and we’ll continue these events through our launch. We’ll have a flood of information in the upcoming days and invite you all to share the experience as Aion takes flight in North America and Europe this fall.

Faith and arms,

Lance Stites
Executive Producer, Game Production Studio
NCsoft West

It’s time to see another locale on the Aion zone tour! Stop by Kotaku and Massively to get your first look at the icy lands of Beluslan in Asmodae. Beluslan is no place to relax and chill out - this is a realm of ice and shadow, inhabited by some of the most chilling creatures in Asmodae.

Want to venture out on more video zone tours of Elysea and Asmodae? Check out previous videos on Kotaku for your look at the lands of Aion.

The next Aion closed beta event is coming your way on July 2-6, 2009. Enjoy a long weekend of fun in Atreia as testing concentrates on first 20 levels of the Elyos and Asmodians (yep, that’s right, Elyos AND Asmodians). Choose your side and tell us all about your escapades in Elysea and Asmodae in this exciting event.

We thank all of our players in our first two closed beta events. Your feedback has been invaluable!

For this event, participants must have a full-access beta key or have received an invitation for the third closed beta event specifically. (Single event keys for the first two beta events are no longer valid.)

There’s more than one way to join in the fun:

• FilePlanet is giving away keys to the third closed beta event on Monday, June 29. These keys are limited to North America only; please visit FilePlanet for more details.

• Players who have pre-ordered Aion have access to all beta events. You can pre-order online at NCsoft.com or through participating retailers, including GameStop, Amazon, Best Buy, and EB Games Canada.

• Keep an eye on the Aion team Twitters (@aion_ayase, @aion_amboss, @aion_liv, and @aion_xaen) and Aion Facebook page for your chance to score an invite.

Updated notes for the latest game changes and additions are coming soon.

The third closed beta event starts on July 2 (12:00 PM PT, 9:00 PM CEST, 8:00 PM BST) and we look forward to seeing you there!

GameInformer has exclusive screenshots and a Q&A with Associate Producer Lani “Liv” Blazier about all things Aion! Lani shares the scoop on what makes the game soar above and beyond other MMORPGs, her favorite class to play, and more, along with new screenshots showing off the stunning world of Aion.

Your adventures in Aion begin this September! NCsoft is proud to announce that Aion launches in North America on September 22, 2009 and makes its official debut in Europe starting September 25, 2009.

Not only can you find the game at your favorite retail store, Aion will also be available as a digital download at NCsoft.com, Direct2Drive, and through Steam this September.

Don’t forget to take advantage of the special preorder promotion at participating retailers now to receive access to the Closed Beta events as well as a head start to your journeys in Atreia.

Take to the skies and become a part of a stunning world brimming with otherworldly inhabitants, mysterious enemies, and ancient secrets. Become a part of Aion this fall!

NCsoft’s next foray into the MMO genre hitting Europe on September 25th

Leading MMO publisher NCsoft has finally confirmed the release date of the impressive looking Aion: Tower of Eternity. European retail will welcome the PC title on September 25th.

Aion tries to distinguish itself from the opposition by its use of flight. Not only is aerial manoeuvring key to traversing the game world, but it’s also of strategic importance and plays a key role in combat.

The title also boasts what is being touted as one of the most flexible and detailed character creation systems ever seen in a game.

As well as its boxed retail SKU, Aion will also be available to download at the NCsoft store.

Those who pre-order the game will also be eligible to take part in the closed beta commencing July 3rd. There’s more information on that here.

NCSoft’s new MMORPG finally gets a release date.

NCSoft has confirmed to IncGamers that their new MMORPG Aion: Tower of Eternity will be released on the 22 September in America and 25 September in Europe.

Until today, it had been speculated that the game would see a September release and this confirmation will be welcomed by MMORPG fans who have been looking forward to a final release date, particularly now that the beta process has been ongoing for a while.

The game will be available at retail, will also be available as a digital download at NCsoft.com, Direct2Drive, and through Steam.

For those that pre-order, there is the opportunity to play in the closed Beta and the following beta dates have been set:

Visit IGN.com now to check out the first of four video podcasts from the Aion team. Hear directly from the NCsoft West team as they talk candidly about the world of Aion and its inhabitants, as well as their own thrilling experiences in Atreia.

Take a peek inside the NCsoft office in Seattle and feast your eyes on never-before-seen scenes from the game in this exclusive video podcast!

Good news for all of our fans who received beta access from our partner websites for the first beta event weekend!

If you received a key which originally granted access to the first beta weekend only, you’ll be delighted to hear that your key will get you into the next beta event starting tomorrow.

We’re pleased to give all our beta players the opportunity to create an Asmodian character and see—for the first time ever—the story content we’ve created just for you.

Have fun!

Producer Brian “Xaen” Knox recently sat down for a Q&A with MMOGamer. Brian talks about the process of bringing Aion to the West, the focus on the story of the game, and why he wakes up every morning in this in-depth interview. Read the interview on MMOGamer now to find out more!