Warhammer Online has been in the headlines again – yes, yet more bad news for the struggling MMO. It was revealed that two more servers are being closed down, after Mythic announced it will be opening up free character transfers from Dark Crag and Phoenix Throne to busier servers. This is another blow for Mythic, which saw over 60 WAR servers shut down earlier this year due to a dwindling player-base, and a third of the company's workforce cut in a recent EA restructuring program.

WAR was the topic of an article we wrote recently, in which we pondered the future of the game. Will it go the same way as the infamous Tabula Rasa, or can it plod along with a couple of hundred thousand subscribers?

On a lighter note, NCsoft's Aion is enjoying a thriving community, despite the bots and RMT spammers. But just when it seemed the dust was settling after the launch of the high-flying MMO, NCsoft got players all excited again. Last week, the company hinted that a mystery video was on the way and, boy, did they deliver.

The video is NCsoft's vision of Aion's future, and it includes almost everything MMO gamers have ever asked for. When Aion launched, players were a little surprised to see that something as simple as swimming was beyond characters – they drown quite quickly if they enter water over their head. The 'visions' trailer not only shows characters swimming, but entire underwater quest lines.

New zones, including a desert with some sort of giant flying sand beast, is shown, and area that is purely for player housing. These houses can be modified on the outside, as well as designed inside to suit the player, with a selection of furniture and fittings. Updated graphics are also on display – something players certainly weren't complaining about in the first place – and finally, mounts. In Aion, characters get around by foot or wing, although flight time is annoyingly limited, meaning the early levels are spent mostly running from A to B. The video shows characters taming mounts, which also look to be able to fly.

The final scene in the video shows what appears to be a city siege, with summoned colossi aiding players, and defenders using something like plasma cannons.

It's not clear if all of this will make it to the game; Maybe NCsoft is using it to find out what players are most excited about. The trouble is, I get the feeling everyone is pretty much saying “WE WANT IT ALL! NOW!”. Or is that just me?

Aion is a game that appeals to players who appreciate amazing visuals and an in-depth character customisation. Adding something like player housing will go down a treat with the player base, not to mention updated graphics, even if it does mean having to upgrade their machines.

However, in the immediate future of Aion we're more likely to see things like fixes to the levelling curve and risk vs reward. That's according to NCsoft's latest letter to the community, which also reveals that the war against botters is going well. Those free transfers we were promised when the server queues were at their worst have been pushed back in favour of kicking the botters out once and for all though. I reckon that's a good thing – most people that wanted to move servers have probably just re-rolled by now anyway.

On a final note, I took a look at the origins of MMOs and how they've become so popular over the last few years in my column on Monday. How did the multi-million dollar industry we know and love grow from a bunch of guys sitting around a table rolling a dice? Why does the computer game version attract so many more people?

That's it for this week folks. As always, be sure to look out for our podcast which will go up later today, where we talk about some of the issues mentioned above, along with other gaming news from the past week.

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