One of the MMOs I've been keeping my eyes on for the last year or so is Aion: Tower of Eternity. The closed beta sessions are done, the game is nearing its release, which happens later next month. Before that, however, they're going to give everyone a chance to try it out in an open beta format, for about a week. September 6-13 anyone will be able to download version 1.5 of the game and experience the first 30 levels of what this new MMO has to offer. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, since I was unsure if I actually wanted to pre-order the title, or get heavily involved in it at all.
Also announced was the pre-order head-start that we heard about a while ago. If you pre-order the game, you'll get a two-day head-start over the rest of the world. That head-start will begin on September 20. There's still time to pre-order from any major brick-and-mortar store to qualify for that head-start option.
Aion officially releases on September 22 in North America and September 25 in Europe and seems to be shaping up to be a great-looking game. I would expect nothing less from NCSoft.