Ok thanks to hellrose over at aionsource.com for translating this interview for us! Follow the link to check it out.

http://www.aionsource.com/forum/general-discussion/8728-translation-horses-mouth.html

If you cba to follow the link, the translation is of an interview with Tack-Jin Kim the president of ncsoft on the 23rd when the korean open beta was announced.

Heres the all important snippit:

China, NA/EU, Japan and Taiwan within 2009

How 'complete' is Aion?
"Prior to Aion, I had final say on launching dates on all our games. With Aion, the QA team decided November 11th as the open beta date. I've looked over the game very thoroughly and I feel that Aion surpassed the bar in every aspect."
Although the title for 23rd's press conference was 'Aion Global Launch Announcement', in reality launches over-seas will start at 2/3 month intervals from now.

"Within the next year we will have launched in China, North America/Europe, Japan and Taiwan, in that order. By 2010 Aion will also be present in Central/South America."

Even though this interview is very informative, there is still some confusion. The general thoughts are that Aion shall be released "at 2/3 month intervals" from the time it is released in korea, which seems likely.

However, the article does say "at 2/3 month intervals from now." however, I personally think that is quite unlikely.

However, it is clear that "within the next year we will have launched in China, North America/Europe, Japan and Taiwan, in that order. By 2010 Aion will also be present in Central/South America."

I bet on last days of April - beginning of May for NA/Europe

Closer than yesterday

I am hoping that AION shows up in stores in Feb 2009 in North America. Then again I just hope I dont see any, delay announcements or I am going to have to move to korea and vent.

Assuming he means 2-3 month intervals from this exact date, the earliest we'll see it is Late february, latest would be late April.

If he means 2-3 month intervals after the Korean launch, we could be waiting till next summer 

Originally posted by Wakygreek

I am hoping that AION shows up in stores in Feb 2009 in North America. Then again I just hope I dont see any, delay announcements or I am going to have to move to korea and vent.

Lawl, when I first heard about this game the projected date was 2007... >>> Linky

When it finally does release it'll be 2 years later after the original date that was thrown out there. Which is why The Old Republic isn't releasing in 2009... :D

Originally posted by Cynthe 

Lawl, when I first heard about this game the projected date was 2007... >>> Linky

It's not nice to remember how long I've been waiting.

ah i really want this game...:( i was hoping early 2009 but it looks likt it wont make it by then.

still id rather have a late complete game then an unfinished early game.

I would like to see NCsoft promoting the title more often.

This is kind of disconcerning to me. I was hoping this game would launch very early of 2009 but it doesn't look like that is going to happen for us folks waiting and listening to every little thing about Aion. Maybe I'll just go back to FFXI a little more hardcore then I have lately and just pick up Aion whenever I see it at the local gamestore. Forgetting about a game and picking it up out of the blue normally produces better results then waiting and waiting and waiting to just be dissapointed by a product that doesn't live up to the standards you have held it up to for months and months on end.

I won't give up right now though I'll wait for an official release date given by NCsoft. Whenever that will be.

Originally posted by Cynthe

Originally posted by Wakygreek

I am hoping that AION shows up in stores in Feb 2009 in North America. Then again I just hope I dont see any, delay announcements or I am going to have to move to korea and vent.

 

Lawl, when I first heard about this game the projected date was 2007... >>> Linky

When it finally does release it'll be 2 years later after the original date that was thrown out there. Which is why The Old Republic isn't releasing in 2009... :D

NCSoft never said they would release the game in 2007. That link covers the IGN E3 2006 and they were expecting the game in 2007.

I would be happy with a summer 2009 release without bugs.

There is kinda lack of PR on Aion when it comes to the west....

I don't know how the marketing is going in Asia but, it's really under the radar, i'm glad i somehow found my way to Aion, since this mmorpg actually looks like it's be polished through and worth every penny.

Although they have taken the "take all good features from other mmorpgs and combine asian and western modern mmorpgs", I still think it's the right thing to do, afterall it did work for Blizzard, they took from both the asian and western mmorpgs back then.

Just can't wait, were hoping fore feb. 2009 but that is only a wishful thinking now, oh well, as long it's worth the wait i don't mind at all.

Originally posted by Qmire

 I still think it's the right thing to do, afterall it did work for Blizzard, they took from both the asian and western mmorpgs back then.

 

I don't think I've ever eard anyone say that and it's very interesting, how did WoW take from the asian market?

Originally posted by Gabiru

NCSoft never said they would release the game in 2007. That link covers the IGN E3 2006 and they were expecting the game in 2007.

I would be happy with a summer 2009 release without bugs.

Doesn't change the fact some people have been waiting for it since 2006. Or that some people have been waiting for Spellborn since 2005 and Darkfall since 2003. That's the only point I was making, quite offhandeldy too. ^_^

Here are a few numbers to keep in mind:
Lineage II
Korean Open Beta - July 1 '03
Korean Release - Oct. 1 '03
US Open Beta - Mar. 28 '04
US Release - April 27 '04

My guess is Aion will come out Jan '09 in Korea and March '09 in US. Then again, L2 didn't come out in the US until 9 months after Koreans OB so I am guessing worst case scenario: July '09.
 

This game still isn't out? 

To the casual gamer, like myself, as well as for a mmorpg.com member that only visits once a month, we don't care why/when/where/how/omgwtfbbq/lawl  the release date is going to be pushed or not. We want it NOW, plain and simple.

No if's or but's about it.

NOTE: That Hype-level has gone way down since the time that I imput my Hype-level. See what happens when you don't give gamers like me what we want NOW?!

Originally posted by FiresealMMO

NOTE: That Hype-level has gone way down since the time that I imput my Hype-level. See what happens when you don't give gamers like me what we want NOW?!

 

Actually that's what happens when fanboys from a certain game that's been in development forever decide to visit every other's games hype meter and score the lowest possible point to try to bring their own game to the top...

  And when new games get very close to launch you will see hype go up. Its the flavour of the month.

Yup. Besides, really come on guys. Decide what game your going to play through real factors - gameplay, graphics, friends who are playing it etc. Choose the games you like because YOU like them and want to play them, not because a ton of random people you don't know and almost certainly never will know say they like it.

If you just follow the crowd you will never actually acheive your true potential - and that applies to anything in life not just the games you choose to play.

Also keep in mind that kind of mentality is what made AOC the flopfest it was (in part, it's a LOT more complicated, but I wont go into it).

I'm perfectly content to wait for Aion to come out when it's ready. And no I don't mean 'bug free' because NO game is bug free guys. Not even console games and you're deluding yourselves if you think otherwise.

Console games are -mostly- bug free. And like the movie Princess Bride and being -mostly- dead, mostly bug free does -not- mean _bug free_. MMO's are a constant work in progress and there aren't any programmers out there that are perfect. I know coding and am very good at it, but no matter how hard a programmer tries to get everything perfect there are always at _least_ little bugs that make their way through.

The absolute most cleaned up initial release of any game I have ever seen was WAR. WAR had (and still has) very few bugs compared to any other major mmo at this stage. For anyone that remembers WoW was riddled with terrible bugs at release, people seem to forget that. If Aion even equals the polished state of WAR I'll be happy, especially considering I'll be seeing a non-native localized version.  If it's even more polished then I'll have to take the box somewhere quiet for some alone time with the CD.