Gamescom 09 recap

During the Gamescom NCsoft posted a lot of stuff and the community team used twitter to talk with people. Like with every MMO most of the things said are just marketing blahblah and don't give any new infos mainly answering questions with facts we already know or just telling us the devs are "discussing" it. There were a few interesting tidbits i did gather from the interviews tho:


# Open Beta announcement this week. Open Beta version will be patch 1.5 already.
# Pre-Selection will let you create your char and choose a name *before* the headstart, so you'll be able to just jump into the game once headstart servers open.
# Patch 1.5 download will be around 4-5 GB for beta players and will be provided via BitTorrents and Partner Downloads (probably like Fileplanet and such).
# Pre-Order rings will add a visual effect and a small resist to the elemental type pending on ring version. Cool thing: It's not really a ring, but an item you keep in your inventory for the effect.
# Confirmation NCsoft is working on a housing system.
# cross-server battlegrounds are being explored by the devs.
# Some new Abyss zone with more compressed PvP (did not sound like they'll change the current Abyss but more like add a new zone)
# Mounts will be added, but not for transportation. So probably either for sieges or just being fluff with the possibilities to customize them.

Videos can be found here:
Interview (en): Lani Blazier & Producer Brian Knox
Interview (en): Lani Blazier & Lead Designer Yongchan Jee
Interview (en): Gamona (german fansite) & Lead Designer Yongchan Jee
Gamescom 09 Game Demo (en): Part 1 & Part 2

Edit: Two new HD videos from Gametrailers: part 1 & part 2.