Happy Day After! Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and did not stuff your self too much. I know I did, and then I napped. On my way into work this morning, I was laughing at all the freaks standing outside Best Buy, Circuit City, KB Toys and Toys R Us waiting for the stores to open at 5am. Ya know what, come December 23rd when I go shopping, all those people will be laughing at me. I'm gunna do my shopping online, while at work! I am not going to fight crowds in malls, for broken products this year, nor will I stand outside when it's snowing in freezing weather to shop before everyone else. How was your holiday? Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Arianne Progress Report 4: Arianne, which is currently in the remodelling stage for their website has posted up their 4th progress report. Items they breifely cover, "due to a lack of interest" are: - Tools and models for new era - Changes to keep this moving - RP Game itself - Overall vision of the project Check it Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Asheron's Call 2 Updates: Two updates appeared over on the Asheron's Call 2 site. The first for those playing is a post by Citan about the proposed changes to the Alchemist Class. Next is an article over on the Fallen Kingdoms fansite explaining why "Asheron's Call is not for Rambo". I used an analogy once that AC2 is more about precision SWAT teams than it is about being Rambo. And what that means is that the more rewarding content in AC2 is not intended to be soloed. Oh sure, you can solo to some degree and that's good for those times when you want to login for a bit and make a little bit of progress on your own. But AC2 is fundamentally a social game, about the people and relationships you make in game, and is going to be focused on group play ahead of solo play. Check it. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Ballerium Progress Report: Majorem is the latest game in development to offer up their progress report on the latest happenings in Ballerium. Aside from tech developments they had this to say about beta: 3) Beta Timeline : Currently development seems to be on target towards the 5000 registered testers milestone, by Christmas. We will start off right away by giving additional players beta access, and if everything goes ok, we will gradually sign in more and more testers until we hit the 5000 player benchmark. In the meantime you don't have to do anything other than being a registered member of this community, and having an accurate email and platform records (changeable using the website's control-panel). Check out the full report. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires Round Up: Peter Tyson has a new dev diary up about himself for Dragon Empires, tracking his movements during a typical work day minute-by-minute. Or thirty-minutes. Or something. Check it. Codemasters is preparing to add another round of beta-testers so it is important that, if you want to test, your information is updated correctly. Read the gospel to become an uber tester. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Final Fantasy XI Drops to Ten: NPD/TECH World has released thier latest numbers in game sales for the week ending of November 15th. Still on the charts, but dropping to tenth is Final Fantasy XI. The Run Down: 1 The Sims: Makin' Magic 2 Call Of Duty 3 The Sims Double Deluxe 4 Lord of the Rings: Return Of The King 5 MS Age Of Mythology 6 Halo: Combat Evolved 7 MS Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection 8 Finding Nemo 9 Civilization 3: Conquests 10 Final Fantasy XI Will it fall off the charts next week? Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Lords of EverQuest Goes Gold: Lords of EverQuest, the RTS game taking place in the EverQuest world o Norrath has gone gold, and is expected to be in stores this Monday, December 1st. From the Press Release: Highly-Anticipated Real-Time Strategy Game Brings the EverQuest(r) Fantasy Universe to RTS Gamers Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming, today announced that its fantasy Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game set in the rich fantasy universe of EverQuest has gone gold. Lords of EverQuest is expected to ship to U.S. and Canadian retail stores on December 1, 2003. The game is getting hit pretty hard with negative reviews so far as nothing major. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Middle Earth Online Updates: Middle Earth Online's, Daniel Greenberg, the Creative Director for the Tolkien franchise at Vivendi Universal Games gives a dev diary about his job, to make sure that the games based on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are faithful to Tolkien's works in letter and in spirit. In doing so, he tells us about the Sorcerer class within game. Meanwhile, Turbine has announced Vladimir Starzhevsky to its development studio team, as the new Executive Producer. From the Press Release: Turbine Entertainment Software, a leading developer and publisher of online subscription entertainment, announced today the addition of respected video game industry veteran Vladimir Starzhevsky to its development studio team. As Executive Producer for Middle-Earth Online, Starzhevsky oversees the direction, development and production of Turbines latest project, which is based on the world famous The Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. Tolkien. Starzhevsky brings more than a decade of game industry experience with him to Turbine, with expertise in product development and international business development. ... Previously, Starzhevsky served as a senior game producer and group manager for Vicarious Visions, Inc., overseeing a number of handheld and console game development projects. Some of Starzhevsky's titles included high profile games such as Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 and Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, which became a PlayStation Greatest Hits title, selling more than one million copies worldwide. Before that, Starzhevsky was a director of overseas development for Papyrus, Inc. where he worked on numerous NASCAR titles. In other Turbine related news, they are hiring for a number of online service members. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Mythica Does Gaming & Gods: The Mythica website is now offering it's insight into Norse Mythology with their look into Loki, the god of mischief. Be warned though, this is not how Loki may manifest within game. Also, be sure to check out the line-up they have heading down to GenConSoCal next weekend. It's sure to be a good show, especially since Val Kilmer is the latest Guest of Honor to make an appearnece. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

PotBS Small Galleon Sails into Port: Pirates of the Burning Sea has a new update for ships, as the Small Galleon Sails into Port. The feature article on this ship player's can captain even comes with new renders and screenshots, so be sure to check it out. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

PlanetSide in Testing Updates: For those who are still heavy into PlanetSide, tons of new updates in testing. Outfit Base Ownership, Outfit Ranking & Credits, and Player Recertification which will group vehicle and and equipment categories, are all coming down the pipe. Be sure to check out the new vehicle, the Lodestar, a new single person ship that can lift and carry ground vehicles. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Prince of Quin Celebrating X-Mas Early: Players in Prince of Quin are getting a nice holiday suprise, early even, this weekend! Holiday events are coming with Santa delivering Christmas gifts all over the game world. We will be celebrating christmas early and this weekend, there will be special event. NPCs will play Santa and drop "presents" randomly throughout all maps and towns. We will announce what you can do with the presents after the event so I suggest you might just want to keep them in your storage for the time being. Check it. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Rubies of Eventide Closing: CyberWarrior's President, Marc "Huan" Howe, posted disheartening news to the playerbase and fans of Rubies of Eventide stating that the game will be closing. Following a 'Company Status' in which he shows a trust to the players, he explained the losses and financial difficutly due to lack of growth, followed with the farewell letter in which the game will be forced to shut down as it was unable to compete with major MMO's which suck and toss cash away on major marketing. It's a damn shame this game could not get off the ground, as the folks at CyberWarrior are not "scumbags," and have one of the best relationships with players ever seen. Ofcourse, it's times like this that scumbags come out of the woodwork claiming they will save the game, asking people to donate cash to them to save the game. The "Corpoarte Investors" cite that Marc "Huan" Lowe is dead, which he is not. How low can they go? Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane Updates: Several new updates by Ubi for Shadowbane. With players jealous of the Vengeance server last month, new server world plans have been announced which breathe a whole new life into the game, with the long misses beta wars. Check it. While the Rise of Chaos expansion is still in closed testing, the Chronicle of Strife has been updated with the Sentinel and Doomsayer professions to the class section along with the Conjurer and Darksworn disciplines. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

The Matrix Online Economy: The Matrix Online has a new transmission posted from Toby "Auberon" Ragaini in which he dwells on the subject of money within the Matrix. He tells how the economy will work and players will craft items by writing code. Since, there is no need for cash within the matirx, but everyone is looking for information. It's a very differentr approach to an economy system within a MMO. Check it. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Ultima X: Odyssey Pricing Plans! EA has released their pricing plans for Ultima X: Odyssey and offer a reduced pricing plan if you are a subscriber of both the original Ultima Online and UX:O in a pricing system that really is not that bad. If you subscribe to both games, it will only run you 29$ per month saving you almost 6$ Check it. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

WoW, Tradeskills Revealed: Blizzard has released some information about Trade Skills within World of Warcraft. Listed are the first eight skills, with the promise of more to follow, and a base overview of how skills work, and how to aquire them. Learn More. Posted November 28 2003 by Div Devlin

Anarchy Classic and Deluxe: Funcom announces two new modes for Anarchy Online if you have yet to check the improved game out with their Classic and Deluxe editions of the game. The Classic Edition download offer includes an updated version of the original Anarchy Online as well as 30 days of included gametimefor only 9,95 EUR* / 9.95 USD. The Deluxe Edition includes 30 days of gametime, full access to an updated version of the original Anarchy Online (Online Game Of The Year 2001 PC Gamer US), Notum Wars, and Shadowlands for only 29,95 EUR* / 29.95 USD in a downloadable file. Both the Classic and Deluxe Edition's includes a Free 7 Day Trial. Worth it no matter what false impression you may still have with the game. Download either version. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Arianne Progress Report III: Arianne the open source MMO Project by SourceForge has the third part of their progress report up. In this edition they about: - Client and LibClient: Foundation - Objects and Object class - Logging and Traces. - Alternative methods for PerceptionManager. - Lua scripts. - GFX and SFX base Check it. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Atriarch Development Updates: Atriarch also has their latest developer updates posted. They tell us more on improving Native (npc) Pathing and Collision Detection as well as on multiplayerifying features, a new word! Yes. It is too a word! You'll find it on page 45 of the Atrian dictionary. It means that as the developers add new features and enhancements, they are first tested on a local, solo version of Atriarch. Then the feature is integrated and tested to work multiplayer, hence, multiplayerified. Check It. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Caeron 3000 Recent News: Here is a title we thought to be dead, but thanks to Magique Productions we were sent a copy of all their recent news updates for Caeron 3000. Check it: --November 16, 2003 7:30pm-- Magique Productions has chosen the Lithtech Game Engine to complete the development of Race for Andraeus, Caeron 3000: Online as well as all other outstanding game projects. The existing game is currently being ported from our previous engine and new screenshots will be posted as soon as possible. --November 14, 2003, 2:32pm-- The first Caeron 3000 desktop graphic has been added to the downloads section. Download and enjoy. --November 5, 2003, 8:30am-- The Caeron3000: Basic Rulebook is now on sale at RPGMall.com for only $5.00 for a limited time. To get your copy, go to www.rpgmall.com/product_i...s_id=32721 --September 4, 2003, 6:35am-- Syk66 at MMOWorlds.com interviewed Thomas Scott about Caeron 3000 online. Also submitted is some concept art, some of which has not been released before. In addition, the web-site is packed with great new artwork for character species and creatures. Check them all out at www.caeron3000.com\media.htm Check out the Official Site to learn more and be sure to sign up for the beta test. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

As the Market Turns: AT&T Sues PayPal While PayPal sues Bank One claiming infringement (October 20th Story), AT&T files lawsuit against PayPal citing they own the patent for taking money online from people. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

City of Heroes ArchType: City of Heroes give us the newest Defender Archetype Walk-through! Even the simplest of accidents can change the direction of a man’s life. No one knows this better than Marco "Scooter" Curioso, a ruffian who never knew what real trouble was until the combination of a chemical accident and an emotional tragedy transformed him into Impetus – a Science Defender. Avenging wrong and patrolling the streets of Paragon City, Impetus is the subject of our latest archetype walkthrough. Join us as we bring this hero to life! Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Community Chats: Anarchy Online MMORPGDOT talks with Jorgen Tharaldson from FunCom. Eve Online MMORPGDOT chats with "Hellmar" from CCP. Lords of EverQuest GameBanshee chats with James Parker from Sony Online. RPG Vault also does a Q&A with the team from Sony and Rapid Eye. Middle Earth Online GamerNo chats with Chris Taylor from VUGames. Matrix Online OGaming chats with David Hall from Monolith. PlanetSide Action Vault chats with Dallas Dickinson from Sony Online. Realms of Torment MMO Worlds chats with Dan Antonescu. Shattered Galaxy GameGossip chats with Terry Park of Nexon. Star Wars: Galaxies HomeLan chats with an un-named person representing Lucas Arts. Ultima X: Odyssey RPG Vault chats with Rick Hall from EA. URU: Ages Beyond Myst Warcry chats with Katie Postma from Ubi Soft. Wish GameRifts (Doh! Thats us!) chats with Dave Rickey from Mutable Realms. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

MagicCosm Nears Beta: MagiCosm is nearing beta and the folks from NavTools is teasing us with 5 new screenshots from the games engine dealing with Spell Effects, the Games Interface and Foilage (Grass, Tress, etc.) You can check those out here. Picture is worth a thousand words after all. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires Newsletter: The latest Dragon Empires newsletter hit e-mail boxes giving updates from Codemasters in development game. Highlights include an update on Beta 1: November has seen us continue to progress towards Beta1. The programming team have been working on finalising the quest and economy systems as well as working on the server, skills and progression systems. These are some of the major milestones for Beta1 so seeing them progress has been quite exciting. The world team has been placing the buildings for the Empire of the Lady and very impressive they look too! Most of the Lady Empire cities are on top of giant monoliths which tower above the surrounding landscape and dominate the skyline for miles. The art team continue creating and tweaking monsters, armour, weapons and the user interface. The quality of work being done now is outstanding and most of it will be visible in Beta1 which is great news. We haven't yet announced a firm date for the next phase of Beta but we will as soon as we are clearer on the timing. Until then, keep an eye on the news and watch out for a great competition in December's newsletter! Here's something to make everyone draw a gasp, Codemasters is working on the chat system now! Communication is crucial in an MMORPG. After all, if you can't talk to friends what's the point of the MM in MMORPG! Dragon Empires features an excellent and detailed chat system that lets players talk and shout locally, chat with their guild mates as well as send messages to friends anywhere in the world. Further, any player can create a custom chat channel and let people search for and join these channels from anywhere in the world. You can create a private channel for political discussions or to hatch your next evil scheme. At least someone has figured out to make sure the chat system works before the game goes live. Also included is a new letter from Gadsolme who returned from his vacation, with the tale of 'The Revocation' led to a brief period of political anarchy. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Final Fantasy Online Tops Sales: Final Fantasy XI the MMO version of the popular FF series from Square Enix is topping the sales charts according to NPD/Tech World as the game takes second place for the week ending on November 8th. 1 The Sims: Makin' Magic 2 Call Of Duty 3 Final Fantasy XI 4 The Sims Double Deluxe 5 Halo: Combat Evolved 6 Max Payne 2: Fall Of Max Payne 7 MS Age Of Mythology 8 Civilization 3: Conquests 9 MS Flight Simulator 2004: Century Of Flight 10 Dark Age Of Camelot: Trials Of Atlantis Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

New Lineage II Screenshots: NCSoft released four new screenshots for Lineage II depicting a Human Knight, Mob Scene, a Succubus, and an Elve. Shadowbane should of kept the Succubus. Lineage II graphics are looking sweet. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Middle Earth Online Roundup: Middle Earth Online reveals two of the playable classes within game. The Scout, an Elf class and The Soldier, a class for humans. Hobbits and Dwarves will be coming soon. A New Dev Diary is also availabe from "Zahir" one of the Team Leads in the World Graphics Department. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Mythica Loki Teaser: Something all of us have been waiting for from Mythica, more info on Loki. Jade Dragonfly, Community Relations Manager for Mythica, sent Mythica Stratics this exclusive teaser about Loki, the Norse god also known as the Trickster. Why is she torturing us so with this little tidbit? Because more about Loki will be revealed to us next week on the official Mythica site, Mythica.com - so be sure to look for it! To check out the teaser, the torment, the sneak peak at what is coming about Loki, check out "Mythica.com's Loki Teaser - The Trickster" at Mythica Stratics. (Thanks Marizelle!) Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

PotBS In-Game Movie: Flying Labs the developers behind Pirates of the Burning Sea are teasing us with a glimpse inside the game with a movie – the first of many – showcasing in-game footage of ship combat, day and night scenes, and amazingly detailed, historically accurate ships, such as the Flute and Xebec on the NVidia Games page. Release is scheduled for Spring of 2004. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

PlanetSide Dev Diary: A new PlanetSide Dev Diary appeared from programmer Scott Martin talking about what it takes to get into the game industry. Also, check out the "Commanders List" of concepts which may never make it into the game. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Realms of Torment FAQ: Limitless Horizons has published their detailed FAQ for Realms of Torment which deals with the history of the game world as well as gameplay issues. An interesting tidbit: 15. Q: Why is the game called Realms of Torment? And what is this I read about another title? A: Realms refers to kingdoms mostly, and Torment to the upheaval and increasing wars happening during the current Noblesse as societies and races expand territories and seek the hidden truths of the world. There is no ‘other title’ but the full title is kept hidden until the day you read it on the game box. Check it. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Rubies of Eventide Trial: Rubies of Eventide announced a new ten hour free trial for just anyone to come check out the game. Without a credit card! Now just about anyone can sign-up and try Rubies without providing credit card information! The new 10-hour option is restricts signups to the Amethyst server and players have 7 days to use their time. As far as game characters go, 10-day trial members can upgrade to full membership and keep their characters however, 10-hour characters are wiped after the trial period is up. Also, they have opened a new RoE store for you to buy junk, just in time for the holidays. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Ryzom Ends in France: Nevrax announced the end of their collaboration for Ryzom with French publisher and operator in Europe, Wanadoo. From their featured news: We regret to inform you that Wanadoo France and Nevrax have decided to put an end to their collaboration. Wanadoo France is therefore no longer the publisher and operator of the game Ryzom in Europe. This common decision has been reached because of divergences of views regarding the evolution of the game, as well as the postponed release date scheduled by Nevrax for the end of Q1 2004. From today onwards, www.ryzom.com becomes the official website. Moreover, Nevrax will proceed with the development of the game and be in charge of the Beta-test. Wanadoo and Nevrax w Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane Dev Journal: (Ganked from the Chronicle of Strife for Shadowbane) The State of Shadowbane developer journal has finally returned to the Chronicle of Strife! Shadowbane design guru Ubiq writes a lengthy SoS address to all Aerynthians. Ubiq discusses what the Shadowbane team has been working on, reveals details about the Rise of Chaos expansion pack, and finally announces the newest new world map currently under development! Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

UBO FAQ Published: Ultimate Baseball Online, the MMO/Sports game based on the All American past-time of baseball has published their Official FAQ answering the many questions players have. Topics include: Fielding Pitching Batting Running Bunting Sliding Chatting BenchWarming And Watching a Game. Check it. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

WoW, Gnomes and Trolls: Blizzard sent out a new race update for World of Warcraft. Highlighted are Gnomes and Trolls - the last two player-character races announced for the game. Included in the update are descriptions, screenshots, art, and information on which classes are playable for these races and where their starting locations are in the world. The Blizzard Insider has more information as they interview their own Chris Metzen on Gnomes and Trolls. Is it me, or does this seem so EQ? Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

World War II Online Review: It's been some time since most of us walked away from World War II Online in a rage of disgust at a game that was horrendously broken. MMORPG.com's own Mark Schembri braved the virtual battle fields of Europe to give a new, fresh review of Cornered Rats MMO/War Game. Check it. Posted November 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Interview with Dave Rickey on "Wish!" Dave "Mahrin Skel" Rickey took time out of his busy development schedule to talk with us about his current project, "WISH," the 'Ultra MMOG' in development by Mutable Realms which is currently slated to begin closed beta testing this Decemeber. In our usual style we ask questions, we should never ask! Check it. Posted November 19 2003 by Div Devlin

Introducing Fairyland Online: Here's a new game we just learned about titled "Fairyland Online" which is currently in open beta. Who say's adults can't play fun kid's games? It even has pets! Check this: With the popularity of comics and video games, kids no longer turned to fairy tales. Aren't they just some corny old stories passed down from generation to generation? This loss in faith towards fairy tales has finally breached the very foundation of this land of fantasy and it is breaking up piece by piece because of it. First went the lesser known tales then later on even the more well known were no longer safe. All the surviving denizens lived in fear that the day would come when the entire realm would disappear for good. This situation called of immediate action. Snow White, Cinderella, the little matchstick girl, the federation of witches, the guild of step-mothers and all the other surviving characters gathered for an emergency meeting. The meeting lasted for days and finally they came up with the final solution, to seek an answer from the Wise One, a great sage of immense knowledge. Learn more about the game, now! We know you want to. Posted November 19 2003 by Div Devlin

FX Golf Makers Hiring: K2Networks, the folks behind FX Golf, the first MMO sports game based on Golf as well as their import title Renewal is in the market to hire a "Well Experienced Game Manager/Game Master to help oversee their customer support. K2Network, Inc., a leading massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) provider in North America, is looking for well experienced full-time/part-time Game Managers and Game Masters for the new upcoming massively multiplayer online games. Requirements: Ć Strong Gaming experience or interest preferred. Ć Must be available to work in the office. (K2Network is located in Costa Mesa, CA) Ć Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, along with high proficiency in basic computer skills, are essential. Ć Bilingual capability of English along with Korean/Spanish/Chinese/Japanese is a benefit. Ć At least 6 months experience in a similar field is a major benefit, but is not required. Ć A positive and active attitude along with willingness to share and accept ideas with other team members is necessary. Ć For the full-time position, the ability to fulfill a year basis, regular employee contract, with three months work probation, is required. You need to be local to Costa Mesa, CA and know they will not reimburse for relocation. If intereseted, they want your resume. Posted November 19 2003 by Div Devlin

Those MEO Screenshots: Because html is Hard. So is spelling. Thanks to everyone who mailed (too many folks to reply to) who were looking for those 38 screenshots for Middle Earth Online that were 'supposed' to be in our gallery section. They are now there, so go check out the Barrows, Bree, and the Prancing Pony. Like we said, some new, some not. Posted November 19 2003 by Div Devlin

En-Tranz: "Were Developing Shadowbane!" Well in not those specific words at least. Shadowbane developed by WolfPack Studios is changing hands over in the Asia/Pacific Region. Hosted by En-Tranz for the players, En-Tranz says that due to the needs of their players, which differ from those of us in North America, En-Tranz will be making significant changes to the game, in-house. They ask for feedbacl also in the discussion thread. Read On: Over the course of the past year, it has become evident to us here at En-Tranz that the needs of the Asia-Pacific players are quite different from those in North America. Due to this, the version of Shadowbane currently published by En-Tranz will begin to change significantly from the version published by UbiSoft, and all development of Shadowbane Asia is being moved to a new development team. This new team is hard at work on a vast number of improvements to the game including epic mobs, more Asia-centric content, and a full fledged resource system - not to mention stability and performance issues. We plan to release more detailed information in the near future, so check back soon to get the scoop on the next big thing coming to Shadowbane Asia! Now, What if Ubi Soft says due to the needs of North American players, they will be developing significant changes to the game in-house? Both Wolfpack and Ubi Soft reps were unavailable for comments. Were going to be following this story in the days, weeks and months ahead. Posted November 19 2003 by Div Devlin

Adellion Updates: The dev's at Honour Bound are cranking out news for their game Adellion. Three new writings have been added to the Book of Tales. A Dalmite tradition (The Rites of Passage), an epic fight (The Curse of the Black Medallion) and a study written by a Salanian historian, The Fire Dancers. They also introduce the Brewing Skill that players can learn as well as their newest soundtrack addition titled "Drulon Adventure 3." I don't have anything that can play an OGG file. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

Anarchy Online Does ReBalance: Marius Enge, Game Director for Anarchy Online sent up a note to players regarding their recently released expansion Shadowlands was in need of some fine tuning and made some major improvements to the risk vs. reward system. After looking at the progress and the risk versus reward offered in Shadowlands, and after reviewing tons of feedback on the issue we have made some major improvements in this update. First, the XP in outdoor areas in Shadowlands has been increased dramatically. Be sure to check out the full patch notes. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

As the Market Turns: Cyber X Gaming Selects Ultimate Arena Cyber X Gaming has selected Ultimate Arena Inc., the leading online action game tournament site, to run the ATI/AMD Cyber X Games 2004 Counter-Strike online qualifiers. Ultimate Arena's guaranteed cheat-free platform was a key factor in Cyber X Gaming's decision. N-Gage Hacked Last week it was announced that Hackers broke the code for the Nokia N-Gage allowing copied games to be downloaded off the net. Priceflo.com Goes Live Priceflo.com, a new online comparison-shopping site with cutting edge navigation and more research tools, is making it easier for consumers to find the perfect PC or consumer electronics product and locate the retailer or online e-tailer site with the best price. Zboard keysets target Online, Strategy and Roleplaying Games In a steady advance on the gaming world, Ideazon, Inc. announced agreements with computer gaming giants Sony Online Entertainment, Atari, Activision, Epic Games and Artifact Entertainment that will see Ideazon develop customized keyboard keysets for popular video games brought to market by those companies. Starting in November, gamers will have access to more advanced gaming control with six new specialized keysets for the Zboard™ input device: EverQuest®, EverQuest® II and PlanetSide™ by Sony Online Entertainment; Empires: Dawn of the Modern World from Activision; Unreal® Tournament, Unreal® Tournament 2003 and the upcoming Unreal® Tournament 2004 from Epic Games, Digital Extremes and Atari and Horizons: Empires of Istaria from Artifact Entertainment, published by Atari. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

Dark and Light Interview: WarCry had a chance to chat with with Stephane Quilichini from NPCube on their MMOG Dark and Light which will be the largest game world we as gamers have yet to see. From the Chat: Why Fantasy RPG? Even if you boast that your game is much better than anything now or in the near future, don't you have to fight with the entrenched fantasy RPG MMOGs (of which, you have the biggest and most successful MMOGs lists) in order to gain any sort of audience? Does DnL provide any draw to players that aren't already playing online? Of course we will be on the same hardcore gamer’s market segment as our opposition, but we do hope to create our own market segment in the moderate gamers and the women demographics. The game design was not conceived as just a levelling game, but one where every one can find pleasures, no matter his level in the game. You can progress in the world without having to kill monsters or fight. We feel that all of that should attract other online types of gamers. Check it. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires Updates Galore: Dragon Empires has a new Dev Diary up and running from Scott Cowie, the lead world builder covering building the cities within game. Snip: Each empire has a distinct pattern for the design of their towns and we world builders follow that pattern for each individual town - with more features or buildings being made available in larger, more built up areas. The Monkey Empire places all its buildings in a pattern around a central market building in an almost haphazard style, which befits its primitive origins. The Bird Empire bases its architecture in stilted platforms, which tower above the trees giving impressive views. The Fish Empire has an oriental style of architecture running through it and all of its towns are entirely floating on water, whereas the buildings in the Insect Empire create close dark streets where you are overshadowed by tall oppressive buildings. The Woman Empire is a special case, where the towns are built upon huge monoliths that tower into the sky – an impressive sight! Check It. If that's not enough, then be sure to check out the huge Lore Update which tells of the first people on Fortitude and what happened to them and how the Dragons came by their current forms. To go along with the lore are also a dozen new screenshots all zipped up which include the Blackfly (insect)Empire as well as images of the often-hinted Ancient Masters. Also included are images of characters with body paint and pictures of Yellowback and Redwing towns. You can find those in our gallery. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

Trials of Atlantis Takes Top: The Trials of Atlantis expansion for Dark Age of Camelot has been named not only the #1 Selling PC Online Game, but also #1 Selling PC Game by NPD Techworld for the week ending November 1, 2003. Mythic had this to say: "In the first two weeks of the release of Trials of Atlantis, almost half of Dark Age of Camelot subscribers in the U.S. have already bought the expansion, and this reflects the strength of the community and overwhelming enthusiasm of the fans," said Mark Jacobs, president and CEO of Mythic Entertainment. "Trials of Atlantis offers challenging new experiences for players, and we encourage all fans of the game to delve into the mysterious world and see the phenomenal graphics found in our latest addition to Dark Age of Camelot." The ranking was: 1 Dark Age Of Camelot: Trials Of Atlantis 2 The Sims: Makin' Magic 3 Halo: Combat Evolved 4 Max Payne 2: Fall Of Max Payne 5 MS Age Of Mythology 3 6 Railroad Tycoon 3 7 The Sims Double Deluxe 8 MS Age Of Mythology: Titans 9 MS Flight Simulator 2004: Century Of Flight 10 Call Of Duty Congrats to the folks at Mythic! Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

E3Expo Speakers Wanted: The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo), the world's leading interactive entertainment trade show, today invited industry leaders from across the globe to apply to speak at the show's conference program. E3Expo conference speakers provide hands-on training and expertise to the industry professionals who gather annually to acquire insight from this esteemed faculty and to preview thousands of never-before-seen computer and video game related products. The 10th annual E3Expo, "Where Business Gets Fun," is scheduled for May 11-14, 2004 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. "Each year, we welcome the industry's leaders and visionaries to E3Expo to help us create an in-depth forum for discussion of the latest trends and cutting-edge advancements that make up the present and future of this rapidly growing and ever-evolving industry," said Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association, the trade association that represents U.S. entertainment software publishers and owns E3Expo. "Once again, we aim to offer attendees a strong portfolio of options ranging from development issues and business strategies to content delivery and global trends." Those interested in speaking at the E3Expoconference program can apply online at www.e3expo.com until November 21, 2003. Selected speakers will be notified by the end of January 2004. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

Endless Ages Booster Pack: Avaria Corp has unleashed their booster pack to the servers for Endless Ages adding new features and upgrades to the game as well as a new Unified City. If you have yet to check out Endless Ages they offer a free five day trial that does not require a credit card to register. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

Horizons Server Hosting: Artifact Entertainment announced they have partnered with NTT/Verio Hosting to manage their online game environment for Horizons. From the Press Release: To support the estimated market penetration and level of anticipated demand on the network, Artifact Entertainment has teamed with Verio to provide a fully managed, highly scalable and redundant multi-server configuration with load-balancing and managed security services. "With the volume and growth we are expecting, as well as the type of dynamic content experience we are delivering, and rapid increases in game user volume requiring immediate managed hosting infrastructure changes with less than 15 days notice, we needed a solutions provider that could meet the performance and infrastructure requirements our complex massive multiplayer game demands," said James Jones, co-president of Artifact Entertainment. "Because of Verio's experience in the industry, and the knowledge of their technical team, we have worked hand in hand to construct a solution that will be scaleable, secure, and above all, deliver high availability for our customers." The Artifact Entertainment Horizons' solution leverages the full redundancy and global capability of the NTT/VERIO IP network. "Network capacity and bandwidth is certainly a big consideration given the business we are in," added Jones. "We found that the infrastructure and support systems in place at Verio will help deliver an on-demand solution to meet our anticipated but periodic massive traffic spikes." Have to blame someone if the servers crash? Horizons is due for release in North America on December 9th following a December 5th release day in Europe per David Bowman on the Vault boards. Remember, no release date was real until he said the date. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

MEO Dev Diary: A New Dev Diary for Middle Earth Online appeared giving a look at Characters, Classes and Skills within game, telling why characters will be structured into classes and how skills will tie into each class for players to embark upon the leveling grind. Of course these skills aren't all just waiting for you. At least, not all of them. Some skills you will learn by advancing your characters generally, but others must be learned from the people of the Middle-Earth. The legendary characters of the world, along with many NPCs you don't know yet, have a lot to teach you. Then there are ancient books and new armors and weapons to learn and master. Check the Dev Diary. Meanwhile check our Gallery for these new 38 screenshots for Middle Earth Online. Some new, some not. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

The Matrix Online, Website Online: The Official website for The Matrix Online has relaunched and has new info. Kicking it is Monolith's Developer Profile for Toby "Auberon" Ragaini, a Developer Letter introducing "Ability Code" and the "Interlock System" as well as four screenshots of the game, and an updated FAQ. Ya'd think this guy Geiger who seems to be the news guy would like alert game sites about news updates? Cause ya know, "Were not gunna fuck this one up." -Ubi Rep at E3'03 Blues News Gives the Quote of the Day: "Does anyone still care about this game, with as bad as the last two movies have been?" -Lokust The guys over at WarBucket who have the higer intelligence to understand the movie on so many more levels than I could, put it into proper perspective for me with this 'toon. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

URU: Ages Beyond Myst Offline! URU: Ages Beyond Myst officially shipped to stores with players burning through the buggy single player portion of the game to meet with disappointment when they learned that the MMO part of the game has been pushed back for pre-orders to catch up allowing Cyan time for launch preperation. Still no pricing structure available for monthy subscriptions as of yet. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

Mythica Art and Buildings: Artist Rob Johnson for Mythica has an important role when it comes to building design for the game since he creates much of the concept art, buildings and textures for the cities of Midgard and Mythica’s other planes of existence. In this article he speaks at length about the creative process behind the game’s cities…as well as the punishment awaiting any Frost Giants who ever dare raid them! Also, over on MythicaHQ is an interview with Hal Milton in which they ask about Shards, Character Development and Play, Worship and Godhood, and about the Inventory and Economy, asking some hard questions. Hal answers. Check it. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

PotBS Details New Ship: Flying Labs has updated their catalog of ships for Pirates of the Burning Sea with the newest ship, The Ketch being detailed, including several new screenshots and renders as well as the history of the ship. As should be clear by now, ketches are a genuinely versatile ship. They're quite likely to be many players' second command, when you're ready to move up from your sloop, because they serve well both as fighting ships and as merchant vessels. Check it. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

PlanetSide Team Letters: Over on the PlanetSide home page is word that Team Letters are back. The first letter is an introduction from artist Francesa "Fisa" Castellanos, the talent behind the Enforcer and the Deliverer designs. She also plays PlanetSide and is a gear head! Being female on a video game team can tell you some things. For one, I am a tomboy. How my boyfriend puts up with this beats me. I spend my off-time working on my car either fixing or improving it. And I play with my mutts. Check her Introduction. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

Realms of Torment Economy: Realms of Torment dev's hooked up with IGN for another peek of the week in which they discuss the economy within game worlds. Snip: The Achilles heel of most MMOs is their economy and the biggest problem is the unbalance. None of them has truly succeeded in making a valid working economy. The developers tried to prevent this unbalance in many ways. The most usual one is by putting unlimited resources at the players' disposal (open economy) or by limiting the world's resources to finite numbers (the closed economy). Check it. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

Second Life Residents Own Creations: Linden Labs is changing all the rules when it comes to thier MMO Game Second Life, by allowing subscribers to retain the full intellectual property protection for the digital content they create, including characters, clothing, scripts, textures, objects and designs. Unlike other games, where the content in game is protected to prevent scammers and Ebay sales, Second Life users can create, and sell derivative works based on content they've made, or license the work to others. Speaking to an audience of digital rights specialists and virtual world enthusiasts at the NYLS "State of Play" conference, Founder and CEO Philip Rosedale described the new policy as a major breakthrough for users of online worlds. "Until now, any content created by users for persistent state worlds, such as EverQuest® or Star Wars Galaxies™, has essentially become the property of the company developing and hosting the world," said Rosedale. "We believe our new policy recognizes the fact that persistent world users are making significant contributions to building these worlds and should be able to both own the content they create and share in the value that is created. The preservation of users' property rights is a necessary step toward the emergence of genuinely real online worlds." Check the Full Press Release. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

Star Wars Galaxies Mounts and Cities: Star Wars Galaxies announces that Player Mounts and Cities have gone live within game in a suprise patch released before the announced date having players scurry to log-in and be one of the first to place their cities. It was so Ultima Online, with players banging the servers to build. Even though, it was not believed players would be able to fill up all ten city building slots per planet, they did. The current caps are not permanent. We will be lifting the caps some time between now and the next publish which will be early December. To find out exactly what that number will be, we will be doing additional Player City Testing on Test Center. We don’t know what that number will be, but don’t despair, we have solutions to address many different player concerns here. Those who missed out will need to await Decembers next patch to build their cities. As to mounts, these are only of the animal variety giving another skin to horses. There are no Landspeeders or Bikes as they would be "vehicles." There were some other items in the patch that may be meaningful. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

UO Bans Expoliters: Ultima Online recently gained information that an exploit is being used to alter characters and gain illegal in-game items. We feel it's important to let our players know that we are monitoring this issue closely, and our team of developers and testers are working diligently to resolve it as quickly possible. Exploiting in Ultima Online is an issue we take extremely seriously, as it affects the community as a whole by taking time away from our development, community, and support schedules. Any player found in possession of any character or item created through this exploit may have severe action taken against their accounts. We have already removed several players from the game, who were found to be abusing this exploit, and we will continue to permanently suspend the accounts of any and all we find to be abusing exploits in Ultima Online. Following the above announcment last week, they brought all servers down to implement fixes. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

Ultima X Updates: Number of updates appeared on the Ultima X: Odyssey website. Amy "Morgaine" Sage, whom all of us remember as Cynthe has her Bio up in the Meet The Team section talking about her gaming history and the reason for her netnick change. A new piece of fiction is up about Humans with concept art. And finally some more info on the PvP system, this part explaining "One on One Duels." When challenging another player to a duel, you'll have two sets of options to choose from. First, you'll choose whether the duel will be set as "rated" or "unrated." Rated duels are considered "official," and will affect the ranking of both you and your opponent on the Challenge Ladder. Or, if you're just looking for a practice round, you can choose to keep it unrated and just duel for fun. Second, you'll determine whether or not the duel will have a wager associated with it. We'll go over wagers in more detail a bit later in this update. Check it. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

World of Pirates RoadMap: The Development Team for World of Pirates has tossed up their roadmap for thier nexr verison .053 for the game with a focus on the Trade System. The main part of the next update will be the trade system. Not only the trade between cities will be improved for using and increasing the trade skill. But also the trade system between player will be introduced, which allows, as already known from other games, the trade of all goods/items. Additional freatures are the food consumption of the crew and the moral on sea. The moral will go down with losses/defeats and will go up with success/victories. The ships will be subject to abrasion. Check it. Posted November 17 2003 by Div Devlin

SWG: Monika T'Sarn Interview! Everyone has heard of Monika T'Sarn now, the player within Star Wars Galaxies from The Combine who became the first player Jedi class within game last week. Taking time out from playing and becoming a Jedi Master, the player behind Monika took time out to talk to us about being a Jedi within game, and what it entails. Check it. Posted November 11 2003 by Div Devlin

Earth and Beyond Amnesty Program: Earth and Beyond is offering a 7 day Amnesty Program, in which past players can revisit the game to check out all the features added since release. From the Press Release: Getting back into the galaxy will be easier than ever. Today, the Earth & Beyond team announced that all former players will be able to play for free from Nov. 11 to Nov. 18. To take advantage of this amnesty offer, former E&B players just need to start the game, then log-in using their account name and password as if they were still paying subscribers. If you don't have the software anymore, you can download it at EBDemo. It makes it sound like we were all banned. Posted November 11 2003 by Div Devlin

David Allen Speaks Out: Original Horizons man himself, David Allen speaks out about his project at Pharaoh Studios and tells how Horizons would of been an entirely different game if he was still involved in this mega interview over on MMORPG. Unfortunately, certain individuals at Artifact felt it was important to make statements that the original HORIZONS was too ambitious and could not be delivered. The sad part is that these individuals lack the design, development, and technical qualifications to even make such statements. In essence, they were simply doing what they could to prepare the community for the only product that they were capable of delivering – something completely different from the original game – their game. And their game will reflect their abilities. Read. Posted November 11 2003 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane Sin Pack: Ubi has three new screenshots from the Rise of Chaos expansion pack for Shadowbane up, showing off the new Sentinel class fighting and a few of the new monsters found on the Isle of Chaos: the Atlaach and the Mulcigorr. The third screenshot also shows a blood storm. Also is word of the Shadowbane Sin pack which consists of the Rise of Chaos expansion, a Shadowbane Shirt, Lighter, and Shot Glass selling for $54.99 Posted November 11 2003 by Div Devlin

DAoC Adventure Journal: Is it tommorrow yet? Chernevog one of my guildmates from the Shadow Alliance jumped into "Trials of Atlantis," the latest expansion pack for Dark Age of Camelot and lived to tell about it. He tell's me he is having a blast and sent over a journal of his adventures within the game. A Teaser: Aerus, a land of great beauty, rises from the morning mist as the ship draws near to the docks. Again, I find a city greeting the weary travelers, with NPC's ready to prepare you for the adventures awaiting outside the safety of their town. Upon leaving the city I find great trees rising up from the land before me. As I draw near to this great forest, I sense that I am not alone. Read More. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Matrix Online: A Question? Like everyone else this weekend I rushed out to see "Matrix: Revolutions." Now, when I saw the original Matrix I was hooked. Then came "Reloaded," and I'll admit, I was pretty bored with it. It could be that's becuase I saw it at the E3Expo, was coming down off a good buzz, and had been dead tired from all the expo goodness. I rented Reloaded and watched it just the day before heading out to Revolutions, and ya know what. It still bored me. So, I figured that Reloaded was just the set-up for Revolutions and that Revolutions was going to be the bomb as "The Matrix Online" is going to be following this movie within the next year. What a let down Revolutions was. I think I nodded off at least four times during the film. So, here is the question, even though it just made like 50 million dollars and was the number one movie over the weekend, according to news reports, it's making less that the second movie did for the same time. Since Revolutions is bombing out at the box office, will Ubi file a lawsuit againt Warner Bro's since the movie sucked so bad it will probably have a negative impact on the games sales and subscriptions, when it's released, or will Ubi just walk away from the entire package now? Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Middle Earth Online Updates: Two new updates appeared over on the Middle Earth Online site. The first is a Dev Diary from Keeper who talks about her role in the design department helping out to fill in some of the vacant area's which she helped create with role as an artists on the team. It's an interesting read as you see how the city get's filled with items. There is also a new Team Letter from Turbine which takes a focus on the Classes players will get to play as they become part of the MEO world. It's a huge teaser which will have you waiting until next week to find out, just what theose classes will be. Check out these four new screenshots released last week, to wet your appetite. Click images for larger view!     Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

SWG's First Player Jedi: After months of powergaming and speculation within Star Wars Galaxies when it comes to players becoming Jedi, Monika T'Sarn the reknown PvP/PK'er from those great players over at The Combine unlocked her force sensitive slot and became one of the first player Jedi characters over the weekend. Monika was quickly joined by at least four other players who also joined the ranks of the Jedi club. Sounds like a conspiracy! Q3P-0 made the announcment on the official boards towards the end of the day Friday: A long time ago, in this very galaxy... I made a promise to you all that you would be the first to know when the first force sensitive slot was unlocked. It is my privilege to announce that this monumental event has happened today. Now I’m not going to give more details on the character at this time and chances are they probably aren’t going to give themselves away (though I could be mistaken on that), so you may have to take my word on it for now. We will give some more information about the first Jedi (like which server) but given that this happened right before the weekend and I need to discuss it with LucasArts, don’t expect a more formal announcement until next week. I can tell you that we will likely see a couple dozen more Jedi over the weekend. May the Force be with you first few (you are going to need it...) Also over the weekend a quest change went in from Dath Vader within game, geared towards Bounty Hunters to keeeel Jedi's and they would be awarded 150k in credits. The appearance of the games first Jedi coincides with the expected release of Cities, Mounts and the Holidays. No word on the space expansion, but on EBay there is a private closed auction for a Force Sensitive Character that was going at $900 bucks. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Warhammer Online Evil Question: Warhammer Online has a newer article up titled "A Question Of Evil" penned by Robin Dews. He talks about players not being able to play some of the evil races. The Warhammer World is an unpleasant place, where most people’s lives are solitary, brutish and short! In keeping with this background, we’re reserved the ‘evil’ races of the world for the game system and the GM’s. This was a tricky decision, as we knew that many Warhammer fans would love to play an Orc or the leader of a Skaven clan. On balance, we feel that reserving these races for the game itself would allow us to offer the players a more vivid and challenging world experience. The big problem is that in an MMOG, we simply cannot determine what the players will choose to do with their onlin time. If an Orc player decided toget together with a Dwarf and and Elf and go 'adventuring' then there is nothing we can do to stop it and this would just make a mockery of the world background. It makes sense... in a way. Meanwhile, it's been quite some time since I was actually involved with any items from the Warhammer games, I know, what kind of fanboi am I. Well, thanks to Games Workshop and The Black Library, I just finished reading, "Dead and the Damned" a Warhammer novel by Johnathan Green. This is a great book to introduce yourself to the Warhammer genre. I did a review of it for you. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Anarchy Online Game Director Speaks: Marius Enge, the new Game Director for Anarchy Online speaks out to the players in an article which covers the current status of the game, priorities for the near future and hints as to what the future may hold for AO Shadowlands. A snippet: What is in store for the world of Anarchy Online in the future? It is our goal to bring the game, and ultimately the players, to new levels of entertainment. It is my vision to stay loyal to the Science Fiction theme and the original concept of AO as a social and fast paced action game filled with creative adventure, beautiful graphics and an ambience like no other game. We continue to develop new tools and enhance the social atmosphere and while this process moves forward, we have already initiated work on the next expansion pack. It's too early to go into details on this, however it will focus on the social aspects and I am confident that the next expansion will please most players whether they are new to AO or they have been loyal since the beginning. New projects are cool. Read the full article. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Atriarch Updates: Atriarch unleashed a whopping update to their news section regarding the development of the game in development by World Fusion. Items covered are: - Unique and Persistent Grouping System - Native (npc) Pathing - Native (npc) Death - Overpowered Spawnlings - Combat Animations and Other Misc Fixes Listed as coming soon is the death system: We will be working on implementing the first iteration of Atriarch's Character Death System which is a bit different than most other games. It incorporates the possibility of permanent death to your character with in-game Atrian solutions to prevent it from happening. More on this in a future update. Check the site for full details. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

As the Market Turns: In this installment: BlackIsle Resignations EA Appoints New Member to Board of Directors GameSpy offers Full Game Downloads Maestro Starts Website Oprah Wants You, to Ridicule? Vivendi Sales Slide by 59% Check the Full Story. Full Story Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

CoH: Archetype Walk-through! City of Heroes has a new walk-through for another Archtype up. The newest focus is on the "Controller." Francis McCormack, a Magic Controller, was entranced by the legends and ancient texts he studied as a boy, and it was these very legends that eventually led him down his own unique heroic path. In the latest addition to our archetype walk-throughs, we join Francis as he combines magic and myth to become the subtle, yet strongly manipulative hero, Caduceus. Come join us in exploring the creation process of this latest hero archetype! Linkage above. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Community Chats: Anarchy Online: Shadowlands Gamers Hell chats it up with Jørgen Tharaldsen of Funcom about the Shadowlands expansion. Eve Online Eve Gate chats with the developers from CCP about Eve Online. Pirates of the Burning Sea Warcry chats with Lead Designer Taylor Daynes. Middle Earth Online Warcry chats with Chris Clay all about Hobbits. Warcy MMOG Developer Roundtable Warcry does a roundtable with game company gals to discuss Sexual Harassment in Online Games. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Dark Ages Evolutions: Nexon announces that Dark Ages continues to evolve with their newest upgrade to the game bringing it to version 5.51: The deep and amazing online role-playing world of Dark Ages has undergone another evolution forward, with the game client update to version 5.51! Many of the changes reflect a continuing improvement in the look and feel of Dark Ages. The updates and additions are: -- Updated Graphics: A large portion of the previous Dark Ages game graphics have been updated to match some of the more recent, improved graphics that have been added. -- Updated Effects: In addition to the terrain and environment graphics, numerous visual effects have been added or greatly enhanced. -- Legend Book: There is a new skill and spell options where players can view all of the skills and spells for their class, and reveal their requirements. There is a portrait album, where players can save their portraits when using the new portrait capture feature. In Dark Ages, players from around the globe are immersed in a uniquely social and rich massively multiplayer online fantasy role-playing world for the PC. To find out more about Dark Ages, and to download the latest version of the game offering no-risk free trial play, visit http://www.darkages.com, it's a free trial after all! Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires Newsletter: Codemasters released thier latest newsletter for Dragon Empires. Contained within this week was a feature on Combat: Making fighting monsters and other players fun and interesting has been a goal of ours for a long time. To achieve this goal we have created a system which gives players a lot of choices to make in combat and a lot of flexibility in choosing a course of action which brings them victory. For starters, you have to chose which weapon you go into combat with. Different weapons will do different damage types and give you access to different abilities. You also have to chose the abilities you use carefully because if you drain yourself of too much energy you will be weak for the rest of the fight. Finally, you should look at your enemy's weapons and armour and think about their tactics and their weaknesses. Only by carefully thinking about the combat you're in can you get the extra edge to ensure victory over a tough opponent. Gadsolme is on holiday this week but Thursday the 15th be sure to check the web site for a great new story about the origin of the Dragons and the mysterious ruins that dot the landscape of Fortitude. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Savage Eden: Battle for Laghaim! iEntertainment Network announces that Savage Eden: The Battle for Laghaim is coming to the United States this week with closed Beta Testing.The original game, Laghaim in Asia, is developed by one of the foremost game companies in Korea and has over 1,000,000 registered users. Now, this extremely popular and successful game is coming to the Americas in a new and improved version! Savage Eden: The Battle for Laghaim is the US version of the highly successful game Laghaim, which has received numerous awards and rave reviews throughout Asia for its content and unique game play elements. Savage Eden: The Battle for Laghaim, has many new upgrades to the original game including: - Unique Feudal system, which allows players to build and protect their own Castles - collect taxes from your subjects. - Unique Multi-weapons systems from swords to futuristic Laser Guns! - Personal Androids that must be cultivated to enable player assistance, power, and assistance in player mission accomplishment. - Excellent 3-Dimensional Art, Characters, and Buildings; Fascinating monsters; great huge playing maps; and the biggest list of desirable Role Playing features of all role-playing games. - Might, Magic, Spells, Quests, Extensive Character Development, Trading, Alliances, and Battling Guilds and Klans. - Expansive game world that can support over 10 million players. - Game environment changes from day to night; even the shadows change in length based on the time of day. Also players will experience changes in the weather, such as varying amounts of rain and snow. - Players can grow special monsters that help characters in game. - Player animations include unique emotional expressions such as smiling, crying, clapping, dancing, and more. How many brave souls are willing to jump into beta? The screenshots look amazing, and the features makes one salivate. But, 10 million players? Is the name "Laghaim" alluding to something? We have to check this out. So, should we call it Savage Eden or Laghaim? Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Mythica The Movie! Chris Lye from Mythica stopped by the boards over on MythicaHQ to talk shop with the fans, where he revealed that the possibilty of a movie based on Mythica is not out of the question. I'm happy to report that we have been approached by a number of Hollywood types to option Mythica. I can't talk too much about it at this point, but we're very excited that Mythica could eventually show up in media outside of video games. I dunno, nothing compares filmwise to Eric the Viking. Also, thanks to the folks at MythicaHQ for letting us know they have posted up a chat log from an IRC with Mythica Warcry which happened last week, that contains some good stuff. Need more Mythica info, be sure to check out the developer profile of Michael Cahill, the teams Lead Environmental Artist in which he talks about his role doing the art for the game. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

PotB Unleashes Ships: Flying Labs unleashed a new section on their website for their upcoming Pirates of the Burning Sea game, which takes place in the year 1720, where the New World which was just discovered by Columbus has become a battleground. The 3 great powers of the day – Spain, England, and France – are vying for control of the valuable islands of the Caribbean. Centuries of European grudges and intrigue now play out in the churning waters of the Burning Sea, where valiant naval captains, savvy merchants and rapacious pirates battle it out for riches and reputations. The new section is dedicated to ships unveiled screenshots and well-researched histories behind two of its twenty-two historically accurate ships. With up to 350,000 polygons per ship, these vessels showcase all of the amazing details found on the actual ships. Check it. Over on Warcry they have a huge Q&A going with with Taylor Daynes the games Lead Designer. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Rubies of Eventide Poll: Rubies of Eventide continues to ask players what they want. This time, they are reevaluating all of their player character models for a major avatar facelift. If you have a Rubies account, stop by and answer ten short questions and check out the concept art they have going for the Female Avatars. The drawings are at the bottom of the poll page. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Star Frontiers the MMO: The original Pen-and-Paper space game, Star Frontiers from TSR is being reborn as an open-source MMO Game! Isn't there some type of copy-right thing that prevents these folks from just using the name and game engine? The website is in frames and has some of the original game info reposted on the site. I still have all my original Star Frontier books, lead mini's and modules, I'm old. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

WoW, Beta This Month? Over on WoW BattleGrounds, Afterburn the site manager after meeting with folks from Blizzard in his article on "How to Get into the Game Businesss" alludes that beta for World of Warcraft may be starting this month! He talked briefly on the state of Blizzard and what they are working on, it was all WoW. He said that they are trying really hard to get the beta out this year and he said that right now it is looking like November. Nothing on the main site. The article itself, is a good read. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

World War II Online Expansion Deals: World War II Online will be expanding game features and combat forces for future releases thanks to a new deal between Matrix Games and TriSynergy. Matrix Games and TriSynergy have signed a development agreement with Playnet and Cornered Rat Software. Playnet and Cornered Rat Software are the online operators and developers of the award-winning MMOG, "World War II Online." David Heath, Director of Operations for Matrix Games, said "Playnet and Cornered Rat Software have succeeded in creating the first virtual multiplayer battlefield with thousands of people playing World War II Online every day. We believe this is an exciting opportunity to participate in the continuing development and enhancement of this massively multiplayer wargame." Jim Mesteller, President of Playnet, said "Matrix is known for their expertise in wargames and for excellent support of their developers. We believe this is a perfect fit for World War II Online's future development, which will take the current game to new heights of realism and expand the scope of our massively multiplayer combat." Matrix Games produces, markets and publishes historical wargames as well as other computer gaming products based in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Posted November 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Warhammer Online Screenies: Another Monday and two new screenshots for Warhammer Online, well... ok so were a wee bit late! Click images for larger view   And check out these screenies on WarCry! Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

Ballerium Skins New Interface: Majorem has tossed up two new screenshots into the gallery for their upcoming MMO/RTS game Ballerium, in which they revamped the interface giving it a sleek new look. Now it looks like a real game! Check em. Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

Gamers Needed in Chicago: If you are in or around the Chicago area, ya can't pass this up. Make a hundred bucks and fill yourself on all the pizza you can eat, if you are chosen to take place in this Gaming Focus Group, but ya must take a survey and be: - be interested in participating in a two-hour discussion about their experiences gaming online. In order to participate in the study, potential respondents must fit the following criteria: - Live in Chicago or the surrounding area, or be able to get to downtown Chicago relatively easily - Be able to bring 3 to 5 fellow gamers to our office in downtown Chicago to participate in this study - Be passionate about talking about gaming and gaming experiences In exchange for their time, each group of friends will be paid $100 (in cold, hard cash, no less), and receive all the pizza they can eat (in addition to being able to talk about games!). (Thanks to Zalaster for pointing this out!) While in Chicago, be sure to take part in the CPL Tourney sponsored by Yahoo Games and Marshal Fields! Yahoo! Games, the leading online game play destination (Nielsen//Net Ratings, Sept. 2003) and Marshall Field’s today announced the Digital Master Sweepstakes and Game Tournament. Four lucky sweepstakes winners will win a collection of Yahoo! branded gear and have the opportunity to test their skills and compete in a two-day online video game tournament hosted at Marshall Field’s State Street location (111 North State Street, Chicago, IL) on Monday, November 24th and Tuesday, November 25th. Registration for this once in a lifetime opportunity couldn’t be easier. Either go to the Yahoo! Games Concept Store located in Marshall Field’s State Street or visit gamesondemand.yahoo.com/master to submit your entry. All entries must be received by midnight Central Standard Time (for online entries) or by the close of business (for in-store entries), on Friday, November 14th. Four winners will be selected at random to compete in an online game tournament to see which of them is the ultimate Digital Master. Wow, we are like a happening town since the EQ Fan Faire blew into the windy city last month. Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

Community Chats: Adellion Jeux Online (Link is to English) chats it up with Paul Hudson with 30 freaking questions, covering a wide array of topics! That was pretty cool of Paul. Dragon Empires Peter Tyson chats it up with MMORPGDot about cities, launch, and role-playing. Over on EGCore, Peter Tyson also talks on Pvp and treadmills. D&D Online GameBanshee chats it up with the development Team at Turbine about game mechanics and private dungeons. Lineage II Warcry chats with NCSoft. Mythica One of the coolest guys around, Matt Wilson jams with the folks at Mythica Realms, in this second Q&A installment. Rekonstruction WarCry hits it with Chris DiBona talking about buildings, launch and tools. Ultima X: Odyssey Rick Hall chats it up with GameSpot giving details on character creation. Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

GenCon South Cali: GenCon is getting ready to kick it in Southern California, and time is running out. If ya refer some of yer gaming buds, and they correctly identify ya as the person who told them to check out the convention ya get plugs! Check out thier Refer-A-Gamer Program. If ya were getting ready to make it down there, ya need to do the "True Dungeon." Make sure to pre-reg for this event to end all events, as lines are intense! Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

Found A New Game! Rapper Jay-Z has an interesting game that is all the rage with the High School Cmputer clubs. You can play a down on yer luck, broke drug dealer, who is in debt to a loan shark and has to sell drugs; Acid, Extacy, Speed, Weed, Shrooms, Hash, and Coke to name a few. On the way you can kill or be killed by the cops. Watch out for "Five-O, Yo!" Ok, so I'm not hip. Check it: DEALER: Alright this is the drug game dealer. You take the role as a drug dealer in New York and your goal is too make as much money as possible. Think profit, profit, profit and make sure you don't get caught by the hook. I weep for the youths of America! Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

Horizons Shipping: Atari and Artifact Entertainment announced that their long awaited MMO "Horizons," where players can be Dragons will be shipping to retail stores on December 9th! Atari and Artifact Entertainment today announced that Horizons: Empire of Istaria will ship to retail outlets nationwide on December 9th. The highly anticipated massively multiplayer online (MMO) role-playing game was previously scheduled to release in November. The extra time will allow Artifact Entertainment to continue to make optimizations and improvements to the game in order to provide one of the most compelling MMO experiences this holiday season. Available for PC CD-ROM, Horizons: Empire of Istaria will allow players to experience online gaming like never before in a single massive online world primed for exploration, brimming with adventure and rife with danger. How many years was it that we waited to play a Dragon? Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

MEO Newsletter & Dev Diary: Middle Earth Online released their monthly newsletter, in this installment they highlight several updates past. The Team Letter, which higlights Communities. A look inside Kinships. Looking at Customer Service, as well - as several - faq - updates. Player written books, believe it or not is fun. Also, the official website for the game plays host to the latest dev diary, this one from the art director Chris Clay, and as they say, "Gives you a chance to get inside the head of one of our artists while he makes some hard game design decisions." Read Now. Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

Mythica Newsletter: Mythica also released their latest newsletter doing a recap. Highlights include: An Exploration of Midgard, A Look at Character Appearance Systems, and what's planned for the Days Ahead. Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

PlanetSide Core Combat in Stores: Core Combat the expansion pack to Sony's FPS/MMO game PlanetSide has shipped and is now in stores. PlanetSide: Core Combat brings the action of PlanetSide, the world's first massively multiplayer online first-person action game, underground. With more gameplay options for players in PlanetSide's vast game world where thousands of players can battle all hours of the day, PlanetSide: Core Combat takes squad-based combat to the next level. Players choose their allegiance and enlist with one of three unique Empires in the fight for total domination on a global scale. Characters gain experience with every conflict, and can become one of the best in more than 30 combat specialties, including infantry, sniper, stealth commando, engineer, hacker, medic, pilot, driver and more. The expansion we hear rocks so far. Have not checked it out. Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

Game Reviews: XGR sends word they have two new PC reviews up. Here's a quick glimpse of the Max Payne 2 feature: "The storyline is pretty interesting and keeps you glued to your monitor until the very end. The story, penned by Sam Lake, is complemented through the use of graphic novel type cut scenes. The story is actually comparable to today’s feature films. Developers should take a queue from Remedy and work on creating storylines that immerse gamers deeper into the game’s reality... " Here's a sneak peek at the Rogue Squadron III review: "The missions are fairly familiar, if you are a fan of Rogue Squadron: Attack Runs on bases, shooting down groups of TIE fighters, air support for evacuating Rebels, and reconnaissance missions. Any fan of the series will be pleased with the amount of detail that has been put into this game. I distinctly see lots of parallels to the original game, more so than Rogue Leader." Check out XGR for the full scoop. Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

Sigil Games Hires Kevin McPherson: Sigil Games continues to build up their team with the announcement that they have hired one of the first programmers assigned to the original EverQuest, and author of the Ruins of Kunark setting and backstory. Sigil Games Online, Inc. today announced that Kevin McPherson, one of the first programmers assigned to the original "EverQuest" team and author of the "Ruins of Kunark" back story and setting, has accepted the position of Senior Programmer with the company. With over seven years of experience in the game industry, McPherson adds his expertise to Sigil's growing team of all-star massively multiplayer online game developers. Brad McQuaid is up to something major! Now, if only we could confirm what the game is they are working on! Vangaurd: Saga of Heroes? Welcome to the team Kevin! It's like an old home, eh? Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

The Sims Online Upgraded: The Sims Online has some new features including Jobs, Maids, Gardeners, and Pets. Electronic Arts announced the release of an updated version of its The Sims Online™ (TSO) PC online game. The Sims Online’s vast world just grew bigger and better. For the first time ever, Sims can embark on a whole new range of exciting job opportunities, where Sims actually get to do the work instead of having the work action happen off-screen; own pets for a new level of mischievous fun; and employ service Sims to help Sims take care of their properties and daily activities, and new hobbies. With the inclusion of these new features, new and old Sims players will encounter new levels of interaction, new ways to advance in the game and more online fun. To make upgrading a snap, EA has updated the TSO game CDs and packaging to include all the exciting new additions. To avoid consumer confusion at retail and to clearly communicate to Sims fans the strong progression this game has had since its launch, EA is replacing the current TSO package already in the channel with a new, more enhanced packaging and software. I had forgotten all about this game. Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin

SWG Mounts, Cities, & Awards: Star Wars Galaxies announces that mounts and player cities will be heading into game next week, which explains why there have been some huge patches. According to this post on the Developer message boards (Account Required) by Kevin Ohara, aka Q3P-O: In preparation for the upcoming Player City and Mounts update (scheduled for next week currently) we have already started patching assets down to you (I think it was 5 meg today). This is not a huge stealth nerf, it is just files that you won't get any use out of until the big update (like player city art assets). The reason we do this is so that you all aren't downloading a 20+ meg update on the same day. Still no Jedi, other than NPC's in game. SpikeTV nominated Star Wars Galaxies for like three of their awards. Best Online Game, Best Fantasy Game, and GAME OF THE YEAR. They want you to cast your vote to help decide. Go Vote. Posted November 4 2003 by Div Devlin