MMO Roundup: Last week on Massively

LFM: Massively is looking for a few good bloggers!
Massively is LFM! We're looking to expand our ranks with an MMO-loving writer (or two). So let's cut the small talk and get right down to business. Please read this entire post before submitting any kind of application. I know it's long, but to do this job, you need to be able to read and follow instructions. Proving that you can starts right now.

NCsoft aims for Aion to be second only to WoW in US
NCsoft has big plans for their fantasy MMO Aion in the west, and they're hoping to emulate their Asian success in the North American market. Kris Graft reports for Gamasutra that Aion generated 40.6 billion won (USD 32.7 million) in Q2 2008, which he notes is a strong start. In an earnings call, NCsoft CFO Jaeho Lee said, "I believe the performance of Aion in the US and European markets will be very successful. ... We are guessing that Aion will be -- could be -- the second [most] successful MMO in the US market next to World of Warcraft."

Champions Online open beta has begun and NDA has dropped
Champions Online closed beta testers, please observe a moment of silence for your now-deleted characters. They died yesterday as part of the server wipe to make the world a better place for open beta, which kicks off today. The biggest news here is that the NDA is now lifted, and we're expecting there will be a flood of impressions about Champions Online in the coming days from people who've spent time in the game.

ArenaNet co-founder leaves NCsoft
MMORPG.com is reporting that both Jeff Strain and David Reid have recently departed NCsoft West. Strain, the President of Product Development for the newly-restructured NCsoft West and Reid, the President of Publishing are both said to have left for "unrelated" reasons.

Snafzg returns to WAR (week one): An introduction
Hey folks; my name is Snafzg. You might remember me from such internet adventures as "Author of TheGreenskin.com," the now-defunct but first dedicated WAR blog, and "A somewhat elusive gobbo of Phoenix Throne!" Welcome to my little experiment: Snafzg returns to WAR. You see, I haven't played the game for quite some time, so I'm going back in for one month (with an open mind) to give it another shot.

GenCon Indy 09: Mythic and BioWare and Cryptic, oh my!
Syp of the BioBreak blog drove five-and-a-half hours to Indianapolis to experience GenCon Indy 2009 for a day and he surely didn't waste any time chatting with a few of the biggest MMO developers out there. He managed to get some one-on-one time with Robert Mull and Andy Belford of Mythic, Chris Priestly of BioWare, and Jack Emmert of Cryptic.

Star Trek Online's Vigilant class revealed
Oh, man. We can just hear the cries of Star Trek fans who know they won't get to pretend they're Worf gliding around the battlefield with this new Vigilant class vessel for Star Trek Online. You can bet that we're one of those fans, but who could blame us with this thing's sleek design? If you're a Deep Space Nine fan, then the acquisition of this bad boy is an unquestionable must.

Redefining MMOs: Pesky Persistence
Here in Redefining MMOs we've been over terminology, working with lore, the place of soloing in our online games, players acting as developers, and attempting to get away from the carbon copy feel of the genre. With all of that in mind, where could we possibly head to next? Well, how about dealing with persistence?

Remember Mythos? It's back
Things are stirring behind the scenes in the world of Mythos, the little MMO that could. A newly launched site offers a very small teaser, but also, a closed beta registration form which is of far more interest. While Mythos was much-loved in its previous form, we don't doubt the followers of the Diablo-esque dungeon-crawler are keen to see if the magic is still there in HanbitSoft's re-envisioning.