"What makes a good MMORPG?"

I've decided to devote a bit of my time and a few articles to exploring this. In my last few pieces, I wrote about character progression, followed by gameplay mechanics and combat, and in the one before I spoke of story and premise. Today I'll talk about my favorite aspect of any MMORPG: PvP!

I have a confession to make. As a self-described PvP enthusiast in all things MMORPG, I've never played what many consider to be the holy grail of world PvP: Dark Age of Camelot. Even worse, the reason I missed out on those golden days was that I was firmly entrenched in two very distinctly PvE heavy MMORPGs: Ragnarok Online (before War of Emperium) and then Final Fantasy XI. Still, in spite of my transgressions, I'd like to think that I've acquitted myself quite well by delving deep into almost every PvP-oriented game since: Defense of the Ancients, League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, Bloodline Champions, Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, the short-lived Fury, Atlantica Online, Champions Online, Aion, Rift and World of Warcraft. In other words, I've seen most of what MMORPGs have to offer, so let's just get down to talking about what makes for a thriving PvP system.

Aion 2.6 is now live on the test server. This update introduces numerous features, including The “Crucible Challenge,” a solo version of the Empyrean Crucible instance. Check out the updated patch notes for all of the details.

The patch is scheduled to hit the live servers on August 3, unless something drastically changes on the test server.

It's pretty easy to make an attractive character in Aion. Angelic? Check. Beautiful wings? Check. On the other hand, it takes something special to turn your character into any ugly monster, as seen in the winning entries of Aion's Beauty and the Beast contest.

You can see some of the top beasts above. That guy on the left is going to haunt my nightmares. Check out the winners page to see all of the monstrosities, as well as the beauties.

NCsoft just announced that Aion 2.6 will be available on the test server on July 28 and on the live servers on August 3. Here are the highlights:

• The “Crucible Challenge,” a solo version of the Empyrean Crucible instance, with a bonus round.
• A new auto-party matching system for Nochsana Training Camp, Fire Temple, Steel Rake, Draupnir Cave, Dark Poeta, Udas Temple, Lower Udas Temple, and the Empyrean Crucible instances.
• Difficulty level adjustments to Dark Poeta, Empyrean Crucible and Beshmundir Temple.
• A new pet, the Runaway Poppy, which has a chance to provide its master with Platinum Medals.
• New conditioning stones to make your gear even better.
• Improvements to boss looting in Fire Temple and Steel Rake.  You might receive a gear box as your loot, which will have an item that is applicable to your class.

You can view some Crucible Challenge screenshots in our gallery.

NCsoft just posted its Eye on Community segment for June, and it's overflowing with all sorts of Aion-related content. Here's a list of what you'll find in the latest entry:

• Player-submmited screenshots from Aion 2.5: Empyrean Calling.
• Introductions to eight members of Aion's community team.
• Instructions on how to create a Legion emblem with a transparent background.
• The fourth entry in the Atreian Stock Market series.
• Interviews with the players who defeated Sematariux for the first time in the West and Padmarashka for the first time on the North American and European Union servers.
• Five pieces of fan art.

Also, NCsoft is celebrating the Fourth of July today by sending out surveys with Red, White and Blue dyes, as well as Firecrackers as part of the Independence Daeva event. The surveys will only be available for a very limited time so be sure to log in to collect your items.

Over the past several months, we've been working on revamping our forum interface to make posting on ZAM a more streamlined and enjoyable experience. We are proud to announce that our upgraded forums are now live! We've stripped away the clutter and added a variety of new features, from updated contact information options to the ability to embed YouTube videos in your posts.

The main focus of this revamp is to make our forums easy to use. Posting buttons are more prominent, you can quickly reply to a thread directly from the thread view page, and you can now search within a thread. We've also expanded the options for our non-premium members. They can now select from a variety of pre-made avatars, use emoticons, enjoy mouse-over previews and post images and polls after reaching a specific post count.

We have forums for multiple games and topics, and we've made it easier to move from forum to forum. In the top right corner of the main forum page, you can quickly jump to any category. Whether you want to talk about games like Rift and World of Warcraft or more general topics like computer hardware or TV and movies, we've got you covered. We even have a new Star Wars: The Old Republic forum, so be one of the first users to share your thoughts on this highly anticipated MMO!

For more details on all of these changes, check out our design update notes after the jump. We hope you enjoy our forum upgrade! If you have any feedback or comments, please feel free to post them in this thread or send a private message to Kaolian, our senior forum administrator, or Darqflame, our customer relations manager.

"What makes a good MMORPG?"

I've decided to devote a bit of my time and a few articles to exploring this. In my last article, I talked about gameplay mechanics and combat, and in the one before I spoke of story and premise. Now I'll focus on character progression and the leveling process!

NCsoft has announced that due to the amount of positive feedback, the Increased XP event in Aion will be extended! The event will now continue on through June 22. The event is designed so fans can enjoy a scalable XP gain. Lower levels will benefit from a large increase in XP gain, slowly scaling downward as you approach the highest levels in the game.

The extended event synchs up perfectly with the Reactivation Celebration as well as the first ever Aion Free Trial! If you're not playing Aion and have been thinking about joining, there's really no better time than now!

"What makes a good MMORPG?"

I've decided to devote a bit of my time and a few articles to exploring this. In my last article, I talked about story and premise. Now I'll focus on gameplay mechanics and combat!

MMORPG Gameplay Mechanics and Combat

As a competitive gamer who has spent many years entrenched in the fast-paced world of first-person shooters and arcade fighting games, some of the most important things I look for in MMORPGs are strong, responsive gameplay mechanics and combat. To me, nothing is more frustrating than having an inconsistent delay between the time when I want to perform an action and when that action actually takes place. In tournament level games, when competitors are fully aware of all the tactical options available, matches are often won by the player who can adapt to his or her opponent's plans the quickest, while instantly executing his or her own counter-actions. Thus, when that final round comes down to the split-second decision to parry an attack instead of blocking, I'm sure you can imagine how frustrating it would be when your inputs are delayed by even a second.

Aion 2.5 went live this week, bringing with it brand new level 55 abyssal equipment. Watch the video below to see the Brigade General's Weapons and Armor series in action!

If you'd like to try out the new Empyrean Calling update, NCsoft just kicked off Aion's new 10-day free trial program. You can play up to level 20 to get a taste of the world of Atreia. Also, If you have an account that you haven't touched in awhile, you can log back in for free during the Reactivation Celebration from June 3-13!