One thing that that became painfully obvious in our transition from EQ2 to WAR some time ago, was that it's probably not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket. Having launched WAR with almost a full compliment roster off the bat, without really being able to determine if the game had legs for everyone involved, was not the best tactic in hindsight. (btw, WAR was horrible). Going forward, we'll likely try games with our current core members first, decide if it's something we'll be engaged in long-term, and once that's decided, then we'll go balls to the wall, recruit the best, and aim to achieve the highest levels of the game. Will it result in us maybe not server firsting everything out of the gate? Maybe. But it's a better alternative than getting 35 people grinding 24/7 to hit max level to clear content that may or may not be buggy (or even there as in the case of WAR), and burning people out on a game than in retrospect they don't want to play.

But make no mistake about it, DoM will ride again, it's just a matter of finding that perfect game that compliments our game style, specifically engaging (and consequence driven) pvp and end game raiding.

With that in mind, right now the next game on the release meter that may fit the bill is Aion. Set to release September 1, 2009 (according to many retailers, no official launch set from NCSoft yet), this game looks to have amazing graphics, seemless zones, flight, and most importantly dynamic pvp with consequences(5% xp penalty on death?...awesome if true). The hole might be end game raiding, though with over 3.5M subs in Asia, and the NA launch slated for Sept 1, 2009...I think content will not be an issue for NCSoft. There's a weekend open beta starting tomorrow that some will be engaging in, so perhaps we'll have a better idea soon whether this game might fit the bill or not.

Other intriguing games on the horizon but without definitive launch dates that we're keeping our eye on:Earthrise, The Old Republic, Fallen Earth, Mortal Online, Jumpgate Evolution, and many more.

For those of you who haven't seen Aion in action, here is a brief view of actual in game footage that I think gives a little idea of the game...