We just received the official word from NC West and can confirm that the North American NDA has dropped for Aion. This is great news for the 5% of testers who exhibited enough self-control to uphold the NDA, while the other 95% spoke freely as if it didn't exist at all. Some bloggers even took the loophole approach and downloaded the Chinese client so they could share their early impressions without breaking the NDA.

We can expect to see all sorts of new goodies release now that the NDA is no more. One such tool is called the Aion Armory, which is a database project partnership between AionSource and Curse. Anyone familiar with WARDB or WOWDB will find themselves quite at home on this site. AionSource also opened a new free guide subforum you may want to check out before participating in the Asmodian beta event taking place this weekend.

An early September release is looking more and more likely every day.

Today's The Daily Grind is a bit of a personal pet peeve of mine, as I've been seeing this happen more frequently in the world of gaming journalism. I'm speaking of the growing practice of breaking NDAs. Not only is this something practiced by beta testers more and more frequently, as Johnny Blogger decides it's okay to brag about this shiny new beta he's in, but "professional" game journalism sites are joining in the fun more frequently by revealing embargoed information the day before the embargo actually lifts.

Where this really chaps my hide is when there are no consequences for it. The larger gaming sites can get away with this, and the game studios will continue to give them the exclusive information because of traffic numbers. No consequence equals repeated NDA breaks. So my question to you, Massively readers, is if this bothers you as well. Sure, it's great to get the info a bit earlier than you were meant to, but it's a question of integrity here. Should there be harsh consequences for those sites or blogs that break their beta NDA? Oh, and don't even get me started on those large-name gaming sites that don't even play the games they discuss. Seriously, don't.

Earlier this afternoon, the Non Disclosure Agreement for Darkfall Online has been lifted, in preparation for next's week's highly-anticipated launch. With this NDA lift comes complete information on the game's pricing, availability and system requirements.

According to the announcement by Tasos, the European launch is still on track to happen next Wednesday, February 25th. North Americans are welcome to participate in the European launch, with North American servers coming soon. They say the option will come to migrate servers later. Continue reading below the cut for the complete announcement, and look for our own post-NDA coverage of Darkfall's beta coming soon from Massively.

With Darkfall set to launch in Europe a couple weeks from now, MMORPG.com caught up with lead developer, Tasos Flambouras, for an interview. Things have been a bit quiet on the Aventurine front since late January, which Tasos attributes to them working furiously on getting the game ready for release and supporting thousands of beta testers.

Several interesting things were revealed in this interview, including denial that they are planning on delaying release yet again, their plans to lift the NDA to give players enough time to make an informed decision, and that they aren't looking past the EU launch for a North American one just yet. The most interesting piece of information is that they plan to release a limited number of pre-order and launch copies of Darkfall to ensure their infrastructure can support the initial rush of players eager to get their hands on the game. This is a very different strategy than most MMO developers take. Usually, players are forced into long server queues or servers that can't handle the player load and crash frequently. This can lead to more servers being opened that spread the population too thin once the initial rush is over. Given Aventurine's strategy, you may want to keep your eyes on eBay if you miss out on a pre-order or launch copy.

The latest news surrounding Darkfall should have some gamers whipped up into a frenzy -- the first wave of invites for clans and for individual testers has been sent out. Those for whom the pearly gates open will be able to download the Darkfall installer and patch their way in to the game.

The announcement from Darkfall's creators, Aventurine, states that they're spacing out the invites to better accommodate the number of people they'd like to bring to test Darkfall. So if you haven't been invited yet, there's still hope that you may be; they'll be sending out more invites each day until they've hit their capacity. The NDA will remain in effect throughout this first phase of testing, however. The final bit of info Aventurine put out there deals with their website issues: the site and forums have been coping with denial of service attacks, which Aventurine is working to resolve... it looks like the PvP has begun before the game's even launched.

[Via MMORPG.com]

We here at Massively are happy to announce that the Non Disclosure Agreement for Lord of the Rings Online's Mines of Moria beta will be officially lifted tomorrow! We've spent several weeks in the beta, exploring the deepest depths, leveling the two new classes and experimenting with the new Legendary Item system all for you!

You can look forward to several feature articles about Moria coming out from Monday until the release date of November 18th, and beyond. In fact, you can look for our first one, a complete guide to the entire Book 1 of Volume 2 to be released Monday morning, with many more to follow. We'll provide galleries, helpful class guides and much more over the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

The Warhammer Online NDA has been lifted, and a veritable tidal wave of WAR-related information has struck the internet. The open beta test is imminent, but countless pre-order customers are already in the closed beta. The game's launch is only a month away! So this is a great time to ask for your predictions: is Warhammer Online the long-awaited World of Warcraft killer?

Some folks hoped it would be Age of Conan, but while that game is doing all right, it hasn't lived up for the hype for everyone. Are all your hopes placed in WAR now, or will it take BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Online or Cryptic's Star Trek Online to move the genre into the next era? Hell, maybe WoW will never be dethroned by one game.

Make your predictions here, but we have a disclaimer: we won't be held responsible for any shame and embarrassment when you're proven way off base in the future!

The Warhammer Online NDA is expected to lift tomorrow, according to Mark Jacobs, GM of Mythic Entertainment. The announcement has popped up in a few places, but the message is clear: the NDA is lifting. Jacobs' announcement also touched upon why they're running the Open Beta as they are and early client downloads, but it's the NDA lift that seems to be catching most everyone's attention.

Jacobs said, "We expect to lift it tomorrow morning. I was hoping it was going to be today but I wanted to wait till I got the beta reports from the weekend and we just didn't have enough time to get everything coordinated with our partners in order for the press release to go out today." Jacobs also stated that he'll explain the reasons for the delayed NDA release tomorrow. WAR bloggers everywhere are already freaking out (in a good way) over the news, so expect a literal flood of Warhammer Online info for tomorrow.

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	Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Oi you lazy gits, listen 'ere or we'll beat you up good! Warhamma Online 'as got an official North American open beta date an' it's Septemba 7f!

Oh, excuse us, we must have had some kind of green- thing, in our throats. So anyhow, everyone who pre-orders the game (at select retail partners, of course) will get to play free of charge for just over one week until the game launches on September 16th. Also, all testers in the closed beta will automatically receive open beta access, too. What's interesting is that there is no mention of the open beta rank 20 level cap spoken of on the official pre-order page. It's probably just happenstance, but the omission is a bit odd.

If you're just too impatient and want to know everything that can be known about Warhammer Online as soon as possible, then check out our pre-NDA lift coverage of the Dark Elf and High Elf content, tiers one and two. Also, watch out for full coverage of every race and more from Massively as soon as the NDA is fully lifted.

[via Press Release]

[Update] Added source and updated post to reflect information on the official pre-order page

[Update 2] There appears to be an official open beta website, but it's currently down.

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	Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

In this, our weekly query of what you good readers are up to in the world of MMOs, we're probably going to see more and more people talking about playing games that aren't actually out yet, as those seem to be the hottest lately. Case in point: Wrath of the Lich King dropped its NDA a few weeks ago, and ever since, there's been nothing but great news coming out of that. And Warhammer Online, the next big kid on the block, is about to drop its beta NDA, which means brace yourself for a flood of news about that one as well. In this weird dry period of new videogames before the flood of great releases this fall, it seems the games that haven't even come out yet are the biggest draws around.

So what are you playing this weekend? Even if you're under NDA, you can tell us that you're playing "something," and if you're not, drop into the comments below and share with us what you're up to, whether its heading back into Star Wars Galaxies to get yourself psyched about the new movie, still playing around with Tabula Rasa, or spilling guts in Age of Conan. What aRe yoU Playing?

Previously on WRUP...

There have been plenty of previews for Warhammer Online over the last year or two. So when the guys over at Gamespy got beta access they decided to try for something other than the standard preview. They created a journal chronicling their experience as they played through the game. You'll get a more personal experience of the game content in its early levels this way. Of course, the downside is you've got tons of pages to sift through for your information. So it may not be for everybody, especially if you want a concise bullet-point preview of the game.

With the NDA lifting in just a week from now though, you can be sure to find plenty of focused opinions about Warhammer Online all over the net. You can of course expect an enormous information blowout from us here at Massively, too. Hell, we've already got an initial blowout on the site!

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	Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Mythic's Mark Jacobs wrote a post-announcement update on the Vault Network boards today. The purpose of the post was to clarify some of the details about the release date, pre-orders, and the beta test. Warhammer Online fans should definitely read the post. Most of what he said was clarification about known information, but there were a couple big reveals.

Jacob hopes that the nondisclosure agreement (NDA) that prevents current WAR beta testers from publicly discussing their experiences will end next week. He noted that three issues have been preventing the team from taking that step so far, but that progress has been made and resolutions are imminent.

The other big news: folks who pre-ordered the Collector's Edition of the game will soon be invited to participate in the closed beta test. This is probably only a small win for those folks, given the rumors that the open beta is a couple weeks away. Jacobs declined to confirm a date for the open beta, saying that the announcement will come when the game is 100% ready. Not committing is a wise move in light of the problems Age of Conan had in its open beta event.

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	Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Non-disclosure agreements or NDAs have traditionally been thought of as a burden that gamers have only begrudgingly borne because they want early access to a game. For a variety of reasons, developers often don't want people going around and blabbing about their new titles, either because the game is still in a very unfinished state and the comments wouldn't be generally positive, or for marketing reasons having to do with hype and release timing.

So when we read one blogger suggest that a developer actually extend the NDA indefinitely post-release, at first we weren't really sure what to make of the idea. He suggests that it would give developers the leverage to eliminate game guides and third-party sources of information that really marginalize the difficulty of content by letting players gain knowledge of encounters before they've experienced them. He suggests that it would have the benefit of strengthening inter-personal bonds and information sharing within the game. While this is true, we can only imagine the explosive legal battles that would precede this sort of system. Still, it's a novel idea to think about.

[Via Mythical Blog]

More specifically, active players of LotRO: Shadows of Angmar are eligible to participate in testing new and revised content well in advance of any of it appearing on public servers! This is the Isengard Programme, named after the tower in which Saruman consolidated his power (yes, lore fans, I know its history goes much further back, but if I type it all out, I'll never get this post completed).

The requirements for acceptance as a tester are:

• Must be age 18 or older
• Agreement to a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
• A solid grasp of the English language
  

If you're one of those people who keep checking the 'Net for news of updates and new content, this position is perfect for you! If you're interested in participating, please send an e-mail to isengardeurope@codemasters.com and tell them a little bit about your LotRO experience. You should include the following in this e-mail:

Name:
Date of birth:
Forum name:
Best forum post / bug submission:
Your own LOTRO experience:

Here's the originating link, for you purists out there. Seats are limited, so get cracking on this ASAP!

[Thanks, Boltar!]

When I was growing up, Sid Meier's Pirates! was one of my favorite games. Released in 1987, you could choose your own destiny by being a dirty swashbuckler, or serving your King. Pirates of the Burning Sea brings me back to those simpler days, when the biggest dilemma was whether to use a rapier or a cutlass in battles of honor. Alas, I went for the Leisure Suit Larry style of MMO, otherwise known as Second Life. Oh, how things could have been if PotBS had come out sooner ...

During a recent conversation with an SL friend, Bebop Vox, of Natural Selection Studios, he mentioned that he was in the closed-beta program. When asked about the Machinima capabilities, he admitted that they were a bit rough around the edges. However, when the NDA lifted today and he showed me this video, I wasn't expecting that kind of quality at all!

As you can see from this short clip, you can sail the gorgeous seas and engage in gun fights with a rival crew. At the end of the day, you can relax with a brew in the local bar. I'm sure you can even meet a real lusty wench or two, although you could do that in SL as well. There's no doubt about it - PotBS is the action-packed MMO that we've been waiting for, and Massively has all the dirt you're looking for on it!