AO: Shadowlands Trailer Released! The official trailer for the Anarchy Online expansion Shadowlands is now available for download in Divx, Quicktime and Windows media format. The scheduled release date for Shadowlands is set for 9th September. Download in divx format, quicktime format, or windows format. Posted August 29 2003 by Div Devlin

Community News: RiftWar MMO Iron Realms Entertainment, an award-winning California-based developer of massively multiplayer games (MMORPGs) announced that it has acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to produce online games based on best-selling author Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar series of books. Were awaiting official word from company reps to let us know if it will be a text based mud, 2d or 3d game engine. Flight Simulator Review Dre from Extreme Gaming Radio has an exclusive review up and running for MS FLight Simulator: 2004 up and ready to read. Warcry Overload Warcry has an interview up and running with Luca Pancallo the Director of Planeshift, some Warhammer screenshots and a review of Nexagon Deathmatch. Posted August 29 2003 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires Beta Tester Diary: Dragon Empires has released a new Diary from inside the closed Beta Testing from a player inside game, which showcases several images of the still in-development GUI and characters. This is the first MMORPG...THAT HAS IT FIGURED OUT! Class balance and PvP are the FIRST things being tested. That´s right folks, finally after having to put up with EQ Druids, AC Mages, SB Enchanters, and SWG Knockdown artists, a developer has figured out that a game MUST ship with character balance. See what you are missing. Posted August 29 2003 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane New World Maps? Rumors are running rampant when Chris "Vosx" Mancil made a post on the General Discussion (Registration Required) boards yesterday for Shadowbane that a new world map is going to be unleashed onto a new server coming soon. Two of the older servers are going to be consolidated into the new one as well as feature enhancements to make the new server enjoyable. The original post was quickly removed, and replaced with: Those of you who read the previous post by me - please keep this secret until it is announced (probably next week). I posted it here by mistake and its not finished yet. Please do not share the information yet. Wow that was a big mistake - I got too excited and put it in the wrong forum. Check out the details below for the removed post. Full Story Posted August 29 2003 by Div Devlin

SW:G Has 275,000 Players! Lucas Arts has revealed the numbers which everyone has been wanting to know. Star Wars: Galaxies is now being ranked the second largest MMO game to date in the U.S. with over 275,000 registered players. On the heels of the most successful introduction of a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game to date, LucasArts announced today that Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided has surpassed 275,000 registered users. Releasing on June 26th 2003, An Empire Divided has quickly become the second largest MMO in the U.S, in terms of registered users, and is the fastest growing MMO role-playing game (RPG) to date. But the question is, how many "registered players" are actually giving green-backs? I know tons of people who already quit. Ya know, Mythic could actually be considered the second or third largest MMO game in the world as they have over 200,000 people world-wide "paying" them to play. I hate when folks fluff the numbers, it makes me wonder if Smed wrote that press release. Posted August 29 2003 by Div Devlin

WoW, Beta Delayed. GFrazier has given some bum news to the folks following and eaer to get World of Warcraft as he announced on the boards that beta has been pushed back until the 4q this year. The new updated estimate is Q4 (October, November, December). No other details are available beyond what is in the F.A.Q. For more information on our release windows check out http://www.blizzard.com/inblizz/genfaq.shtml The Warbucket guys are probably bummed. Posted August 29 2003 by Div Devlin

B5/EnB Contest Extended: If you noticed up above todays news, were running a Bablylon 5 and Earth and Beyond Contest, in which three random winners will each get a complete DvD set of "Babylon 5: Series Three from Warner Bros. and a copy Earth and Beyond thanks to Electronic Arts. The contest was due to end today, but due to the overwhelming response and request of users (who no doubt keep submitting multiple entries via hotmail accounts (like tuk123@hotmail.com and tuk124@hotmail and then tuk125@hotmail, etc.), we've extended the contest (also because I'm going to be really tied up the next couple of days and cannot come back to this until Saturday) until this Saturday! So, if you have yet to enter in one of the easiest random contests "Evar!" now is your chance. Check it. Posted August 27 2003 by Div Devlin

DAoC EU Has Problems: Dark Age of Camelot over in Europe is having it's share of problems in the form of malicious players that have, in the broadest use of the word, been hacking the servers and utilizing server side tools to grief the game and players. An announcment on the Camelot-Europe site announced that all players were getting new passwords to their game accounts which in turn caused more grief as players may not be getting the emails due to information not being changed or account trades that never were updated. Stupid Europeons! Anyways, some concern grew here in the states about the issues plauging Europe occuring with Mythic and our DAoC accounts. We gave a call to Sanya Thomas who assured us, that: "It is absolutely not a server flaw and the chances of these problems occuring in N. America are remote at best. The problems affecting GOA will not affect U.S. customers." So for everyone getting worked up into a tizzy about this, fret not. Mythic is Love. (Note to Sanya: You rock!) Posted August 27 2003 by Div Devlin

Lineage I and II Expands Market: Two seperate announcments for the Lineage annd Lineage II community. First is NCSoft announcing they are expanding the game to new markets pre-release. Striking a deal with Gamania the announcement came during a joint press conference held in Taipei, Taiwan. One of the first products to be distributed by the new venture will be NCsoft’s highly anticipated Lineage II. Officials indicated plans to launch beta services for Lineage II in Taiwan by the fourth quarter of this year. NCsoft’s role in the venture will be to provide NC Taiwan with rich online game content, such as Lineage II and other titles to which NCsoft holds publishing rights. Gamania will market, distribute and service NC Taiwan games in Taiwanese regions. At present, NCsoft has joint ventures in Japan, China, and Hong Kong, as well as offices in the US that all support local Lineage services. We also get word that the original Lineage is also now getting a new product, in the version of an anime (cartoon ) televison series thanks to Cyper Media after making an agreement with Anikino Inc. [Cyper Media] is pleased to announce they have signed an agreement with Anikino Inc. to receive the animation rights to the Korean comic book and on-line game Lineage. The agreement includes the rights to produce the television animation series and the use of the characters that are featured in the comic book in the series. Lineage was created by Il-Sook Shin as a comic book in 1993. Due to the popularity of the comic book, Lineage was then made into an on-line game in 1998. The comic book and on-line game both tell a tale of intrigue, betrayal and politics. The on-line game took Korea by storm and boasts about 10 million users and features 125,000 users on-line simultaneously. It is currently available in the U.S., Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan (as announced above). How come none of the games in N. America get this kind of love! I'd tune into the Sci-Fi Channel to watch a cartoon version of our favorite MMO Games. Posted August 27 2003 by Div Devlin

Realms of Torment Adds To Beta: Realms of Torment the MMO in development by Limitless Horizons has word that they have let in "several hundred" new testers into the game. Realms of Torment is the game which will have a full fledged PvP System in place for both single combat as well as Guild vs. Guild, Town Vs. Town and City vs. City. Apply to the Beta Test! Posted August 27 2003 by Div Devlin

SWG Events Manager: Star Wars: Galaxies has a new member to the team. Introducing himself on the official boards is Jason "Pex" Ryan who tells us about his past work leading up to SWG, and what his duties will consist of as Events Manager. I'll be leading the Events Team in a number of tasks. The most visible will be working with my team to create the monthly story arcs. This entails writing the stories and missions and then working with Q-3PO, the producers, the designers, programmers and artists to get them into the game. No small task, especially since we want to create storylines in which the players can interact. Meet Him. Posted August 27 2003 by Div Devlin

Gamer Loses Stuff, Sues MMO: It was bound to happen. Over in Bejing a player logged into Red Moon Online, the MMO Game by Khabal Gaming (A Provider of MMO Games) to find his stockpile of uber weapons gone. When they would not reimburse him for the loss after two years of hoarding, he filed suit. When he discovered all of his awarded equipment had disappeared, he contacted the provider for help, but the company refused to take any responsibility for the loss. It's also being reported that he seeks 1200 due to mental anguish and a return of all items lost. Check it. Posted August 26 2003 by Div Devlin

DarkFall Dev Diary: Warcry is hosting a new Developer Diary from Darkfall Online talking with art director Henning Ledvigsen in which he talks about the inspiration, planning and building of in game architecture for the varied races in game. Check it. Posted August 26 2003 by Div Devlin

EverQuest: Evolution Ships! Sony Online has repackaged EverQuest again and has shipped out "Evolutions" to stores. The new bundle contains EverQuest, and the expansions, The Ruins of Kunark, The Scars of Velious, The Shadows of Luclin, The Planes of Power and The Legacy of Ykesha. As well as a map, and a new updated manual. It's selling for $29.99 on GameStop which is a great buy for all the packs if you are new and yet to experience the world of Norrath. Posted August 26 2003 by Div Devlin

Mythica E3 Vid: Over on the Mythica website they have launched a new E3 Vid with commentary. Check out the "The Liberation of VorAkur" now in high res format, which is based on the demo showcased at E3 and GenCon this year. (Thanks JohnnyG!) Posted August 26 2003 by Div Devlin

WoW! Races Revealed and Jobs: Blizzard has revealed three more races that players will be able to play in World of Warcraft. Joining the line-up of Orcs, Humans, and Night-Elves will be "Gnomes, Trolls and Undead!" This is starting to get pretty cool. They are also gearing up for the game and have three job openings in need of filling. What every MMO game "MUST HAVE" is a Community Manager spot, as well as openings for a Senior Game Master and a Game Master. Dust off those resumes and send them in. You will need to relocate. Posted August 26 2003 by Div Devlin

Editorial: "A Player's Rant!" Koranis a long standing member of the MMO Community is not happy with the way the market is turning out for us, as players when it comes to the games were paying for. He shares his thoughts in this editorial titled "A Player's Rant." A snippet: "Is there a development team out there [willing] to stick to their guns and release a finished product? Or are we doomed to always accept that purchasing the box automatically enters us into the final phase of beta testing?" Give it a Read. Posted August 25 2003 by Div Devlin

Our Review of PlanetSide: So, I've been spending way too much time inside PlanetSide, the First Person Shooter that combines Massive Multiplayer gaming from Sony Entertainment; which has not been good for me to say the least. I could'nt drag myself away to write a review on the game. My thoughts: PlanetSide is a fast action-packed and entertaining game that will become addicting Read Why! Posted August 25 2003 by Div Devlin

RoE: We Chat with Julia Howe! We sit down with Julia Howe of Cyber Warrior and gab about their recently released MMO Game, "Rubies of Eventide" in this interview. A snippet: Rubies of Eventide" is setting itself apart from the major players in MMO Games by offering some of the best levels of customer care and community relations in gaming, could you expand on that? What else set's RoE apart from the other games in what is basically a competitive market trying to gain the most users? I believe the best customer care comes from the heart. A lot of companies, including those companies that sell customer-support products, have embarassingly forgotten this basic tenant. Eavesdrop on our convo! It'll be ok. Posted August 25 2003 by Div Devlin

Our UX:O Event Coverage! Hey, while I may not of been there in person, I was there in "Spirit!" Luckily, KarmaStorm from our sister site and guild home "The Shadow Alliance" was able to make it to the closed screening in San Fransisco for the EA unveiling of Ultima X: Odyssey, and he gives us the fully skinny on what he saw go down. His thoughts: "First look at UXO is quite favorable and has the potential to be a wonderful game. I was impressed that the developers actually loved gaming and this shows in the quality of their product." Check out his full write, and then wet yourself on some eye-drooling candy with these screenies. After that, if you are looking for even more on the event, be sure to check out MMORPG's Coverage as well. Posted August 25 2003 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires Dev Chat: Dragon Empires has their newest Dev Diary up and running, this time Peter Tyson takes us behind the scenes of the beta and reports from the other side of the barricade. From his write: Since Day 0 the testers have been busy running various tests on weapons and items in game, making sure they look right and work somewhat in accordance with their design. With a few hundred items to go through and examine the testers have been quite busy! We´ve also been watching how the server handles the load the testers put it under and restarting it after the inevitable crashes. We´ve been heartened by the response of the testers to the game so far, even in its relatively primitive state. Check it. Posted August 25 2003 by Div Devlin

Lineage 2 Concept Art: Warcry is the latest site to toss up some exclusive concept art from the upcoming Lineage 2 game currently under development. Inside they have Humans, Female Orcs, and Dark Elves. Check out this gal. Will they look that good in game? Posted August 25 2003 by Div Devlin

Time of Defiance Publisher Deal: Time of Defiance the MMO being developed by Nicely Crafted Entertainment has struck a global publishing deal with the folks from Oxygen Interactive. From the Prss Release: Oxygen Interactive, the UK based computer game publisher can today announce that they have signed the highly acclaimed Massively Multiplayer Online Strategy title Time of Defiance in a priority deal with developers Nicely Crafted Entertainment. Oxygen Interactive have acquired the rights for Europe, Australia and New Zealand, in a deal which will see the award nominated title brought to the mass market. Still don't know what Time of Defiance is, check them out. Posted August 25 2003 by Div Devlin

UO Housing Update: Sannio over in Ultima Online (The Old One) tackles some common questions about housing, including the upcoming Phase 3 changes, in this week's Team Comments. We've been seeing a number of questions recently about housing, including "Phase 3," house claiming, and the house placement delay timer. Both Publish 20 and housing's Phase 3 appear to be fast approaching, and although the following answers relate primarily to the period of transition at the start of Phase 3, it will hopefully help everyone transition smoothly into the updated housing rules that will exist even beyond that time. Want to read more? Click here! Don't know what's coming in Phase 3? Click here! Posted August 25 2003 by Div Devlin

Ultima X: Odyssey Reports... Reports are erupting after the un-official kick-off of the Ultima Online 2 (Website Not Live Yet!) arrivals last night, as they were introduced to today's official start of the EA Press Event over in San Fransico. GameSpot has already begun accepting pre-orders for the game. While they have yet to place a box cover or describe the game, they have it listed for $49.99 with a release date of 01/27/04 (to coincide with the new release date for EverQuest 2 as announced yesterday by Sony's Community Manager "Moorgard?"). This Press Release gives more detail for those who are not attending, announcing the game will also include Private Dungeons/Adventure Areas. UXO's proprietary and innovative Odyssey Adventure System delivers customized quests to players automatically and enables private adventure zones, providing adventures on demand as players journey through the world. An added bonus in offering players private areas is that they can't be interrupted by "griefers" and other uninvited guests. Everyone is jumping onto this bandwagon! JCal over at HomeLan has his first teaser up and running from last nights intro: The gameplay footage clearly showed that Ultima X will be powered by Epic’s Unreal engine (indeed, Epic’s Tim Sweeny and Mark Rein also were there at the launch event last night) with some awesome looking outdoor environments across a wide range of setting (forest, snow, and more). The character models in the game are also highly details but what was most impressive in the gameplay footage is the fact that this game will be very action oriented with player character going up against large and varied enemies, from two headed ogres to sexy looking female demo types and more. Ultima Online 2 was orignally using the unreal engine while in development, some of the old screenshots are in our gallery. Over in Japan, this website has screenshots are up and running. Down on Markee Dragon, Mekere has phone in updates while Markee is checking things out, in one update he says: It was announced that UX:O is now considered to be in the Pre-Alpha stage. The UX:O Dev Team consists of about 20 people, all who have worked on UO before. Markee was not able to get all of their names yet and yes, Cynthe is one of them. We still do not know what her offical title is. Amy "Cynthe" Sage was until recently the Community Relations Manager for Ultima Online who moved onto another project within EA, we hear tell that she is now known as Amy "Morgaine" Sage and is listed as one of the designers on UX:O. (Thanks UOPowerGamers!) Were awaiting word from our sources in several of the guilds attending for their feedback as well as the Press Kit's from EA, for our covergae (if any). Were sure to learn more as the day goes on. Posted August 22 2003 by Div Devlin

GameBunny Dev Shakedown Pt.2 GameBunny has issue two of their Developer Shakedown up and running in which they gab with Matt Firor of Mythic Entertainment (Dark Age of Camelot), Daniel McMillan of Cosmic Origins (Frontier 1859), Julia Howe of Cyber Warrior (Rubies of Eventide), and Al Corey of Playnet (World War II Online). An Excerpt: Is a massively multiplayer game ever truly ready for release to the public or will they always be released in a slightly unfinished, fairly buggy state and how do titles without a well known license compete in the marketplace? Check it. Posted August 22 2003 by Div Devlin

Eve Online DOS Attacked: While everyone was suffering this week from the SoBig virus making it's rounds, Eve Online fell victim to another form of attack. CCP announced that the reason for so many players getting hit with CTD's (Crash to Desktop) on Tuesday was due to the game servers coming under DOS Attack: As you may have noticed, connections to the EVE cluster have been dropping along with packet loss and high ping. We have traced the problem to an IP level denial of service attack on our network hardware. Countermeasures have been taken to thwart the attack so things should go back to normal now. More news will be posted as the situation develops. This reminds me of something. Posted August 22 2003 by Div Devlin

MeO August Newsletter: Following the release of the first newsletter for Middle Earth Online, VUGames has issued the newest edition for August. Inside they highlight the newest Team Lead Comments, an Interview from the Team, as well as some updates to the faq targeting the time frame of the game, character appearances and customizing, and the regular fee to play. Check it. Posted August 22 2003 by Div Devlin

Warhammer Online Interview: Warcry has an interview up and running with Robin Dews the General Manager for the upcoming Warhammer Online. Now here's a loaded question: WarCry: Many MMOGs have bugs when they are first released. How “stable” will WarHammer Online going to be? And folks criticize me? Check it. Posted August 22 2003 by Div Devlin

EQ2 Delayed: GamePro is reporting that "Moorgard," Sony Online's Community Manager say's that EverQuest 2 is not going to be released this winter, but in the winter months of (January to Februrary) 2004 regarding an earlier quote from Bill Trost. "Yes, the game is coming out in 2004, not 2003. I can't be any more specific about dates yet." It will not be in stores for this holiday season. Original quotes had it at October 1st this year. Posted August 21 2003 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane Adds Stuff: Check this out. Shadowbane has released their newest patch with a number of fixes to the game. Most important to note is that they have added a new desert zone and players can now own Irekei buildings to create their towns. That rocks! Posted August 21 2003 by Div Devlin

SWG Still in Top 10: NPD/TECH World has released their figures for the top ten games ending the week of August 9th. Once again Star Wars: Galaxies remains in the top ten with an increase to sales. 1 Flight Simulator 2004 2 Warcraft III: Frozen Throne 3 Sims Superstar 4 Star Wars Galaxies 5 Age of Mythology 6 Sims Deluxe 7 Zoo Tycoon 8 Warcraft III 9 Sims Unleashed 10 Roller Coaster Tycoon During the week ending of July 26th they had fallen to fifth from fourth. How many weeks will it remain in the top 10? Posted August 21 2003 by Div Devlin

UO2... UX:O Event: Tommorrow marks the day that certain folks are going to get to travel behind closed doors at EA to see what Ultima X: Odyssey really is. Already noted "industry" sites have departed and many of the larger guilds have had their leaders sent down to check out what is being hailed as an "innovative new MMORPG of the year". More details sure to erupt tommorrow. Posted August 21 2003 by Div Devlin

Uru: Myst Online Beta Live... Our sources that revelaed Beta 0 had started last week have been confirmed. Uru: Myst Online has migrated to a new Uru Live website and has announced "Open Beta" has begun. "As we enter the final stage of the game's development, we are excited to invite interested fans to assist us in improving and shaping the evolving world of Uru." said Rand Miller, founder and CEO Cyan Worlds, Inc. Check out the website and sign-up for beta. Posted August 21 2003 by Div Devlin

Anarchy Online at GC in Leipzig: If you are stationed over in Germany (or a resident thereof) be sure to go to GC and Check out Anarchy Online in Leipzig where FunCom is showing off Shadowlands. GC in Leipzig is the largest European gaming show, with more than 100.000 visitors expected through four days of "showtime". It starts tomorrow, and Funcom will be there. We have thus prioritized to have stand in Leipzig this year, not on ECTS. We will have stand together with our German distributor, Koch Media, and you will find us right inside the main entrance between Sony and Microsoft. I will speak English though, so if you are in Leipzig, please come by. It's a bit far for me. Posted August 20 2003 by Div Devlin

AC2 Server Consolidation Done: Asheron's Call 2 has now completed their server consolidation per the Insider. Announced last month in which they were moving from seven servers down to two, characters have been ported and can now change their names. Jessica Mulligan expands more on the subject. Posted August 20 2003 by Div Devlin

City of Heroes - IGN Diary: City of Heroes The Official Blurb: Game development is often a lesson in trial and error where what looks good on paper may not work when held up to the trials and tests of thousands of gamers. Check out the latest IGN Designer Diary entitled "Origins, Levels & Classes" where Jack Emmert, City of Heroes Lead Designer, recounts the changes that have occurred since the game’s original inception. Those of you who are subscription members to IGNInsider get privileged early access to diary entries, and can click above to read. Non-subscribers will have access to this content by approximately 7PM Eastern time this evening Check it! Posted August 20 2003 by Div Devlin

GameZone Does Horizons: The folks over at GameZone got a luck as they were pulled into one of the first groups in the closed beta for Horizons. In their intial impressions they also take a look at crafting, the subject everyone is yearning to know more, and more and more on: One interesting aspect of the player trade system is that while you may find the odd special drop on mobs killed, the truly exceptional or worthwhile armor or weapons seem to be player crafted. And because the game is intent on creating a community of its classes, housing will be available as well - though this must be built. Check the Full Read. Posted August 20 2003 by Div Devlin

Middle-Earth Online Interview: Computer and Video Games has an interview up and running with three members of the Middle-Earth Online team. Taking part is Chris Taylor and Vijay Lakshman from Vivendi and Aatish Salvi from Turbine. One of the questions which has gained tons of flack regarding the games engine was addressed: In what ways would you say your experience with working on the Asheron's Call series is helping with development of Middle-Earth Online? Aastish: Turbine's experience with making massively multiplayer games has been a significant during our development of Middle-Earth Online. We've brought the game engine to a new level and made improvements on everything from the animation system to the very basic physics model. Really worth the read. FilePlanet is also the latest host to carry the Middle-Earth Online Trailer for download, if you have yet to check it. Posted August 20 2003 by Div Devlin

DAoC: Housing Boom! The results are in for Dark Age of Camelot's free expansion "Foundations" which topped 20,000 new in-game homes for players. From the Press Release they have a larger real estate boom than three major cities: Foundations, a free expansion that allows player and guild owned housing in the world of Dark Age of Camelot, now boasts a burgeoning real estate economy that exceeds the actual number of homes purchased in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. combined in the month of June (Source: DataQuick, District of Columbia’s Office of Tax and Revenue). Players want a place to call home! I had several Ultima Online homes, even though I was no longer active in game, paying my monthl fee just becuase I had homes. Posted August 19 2003 by Div Devlin

Helbreath Billing Issues: Over in the lands of "Helbreath" players - are - a bit upset at the new billing system. The Admins have posted the explanation on why after submitting Credit Card information accounts were deactivated. The problems began on the 13th and they are just issuing a statement as to why the problems have been going on. Posted August 19 2003 by Div Devlin

SWG: Raph Koster Promoted! Over in Sony Land, Raph Koster has been promoted from his role in Star Wars: Galaxies to the new "Chief Creative Officer" for Sony Online. According to the Press Release his duties will now include: Mr. Koster will ensure that SOE's products continue to lead the market in innovation and creativity while continuing to lend his expertise to the growing and involving virtual world of Star Wars Galaxies. Congrats Raph! Posted August 19 2003 by Div Devlin

TSO: Get New Clothes The Sims Online has rolled out two new features in their ... game. Since it was released earlier this year the Sim you started with has been stuck wearing the exact same outfit. Now you can go shopping to get a new outfit. Unhappy with the name of your Sim. A New Name Changing Program has also gone in which mirrors the other EA Change Programs for their MMO Games at a small fee. Posted August 19 2003 by Div Devlin

Atriarch Update: The website for Atriarch has a new developer update for their game by World Fusion. This update talks about how monsters will spawn in the world with their system called "birthing." In other games they call it creature spawning. Although spawning is a perfectly good alien-style word, we want a term that captures the reality of what actually happens in Atriarch. When new creatures are born into the world, they are either born from its progenitor (parent) or are born into dens. This is part of the dynamic ecosystem that makes up the world of Atriana. It is part of the ecosystem in which players will influence and live. It's interesting. Check it. Posted August 18 2003 by Div Devlin

As the Market Turns: In the battle for 3DO assets, which when we last checked in, left Turbine and Ubi Soft in a battle for the 'Might and Magic' properties has drawn to a close. Slamming down a wad of cash to the tune of $1.3 Million Dollah's Ubi walked away with the games. Gamers.com has a story up and running that Sony has commissioned LoadStone Games and Solworks to work on two not named Massive Online Games. Warcry announced they are shutting down two fansites and trading them in for two new ones. Venerable site, Shadowbane Warcry which was founded by J. The Damned Vulpine after the crash and burn of CrossRoads Network is being lit to torch as well as Warcry's fansite for PlanetSide. SB Warcry was one of the best news sources for Shadowbane only rivaled by a few others. Being a professional writer is hard, and writing on a Network that won't pay when making money is a real slap to the face. It's really a business when it comes right down to it. Posted August 18 2003 by Div Devlin

Dransik Finds Bug, Squash! Dransik recently discovered a huge bug in their game which was causing the economy to be ruined. The bug would transfer vast amounts of gold to a player. In an effort to correct the damage done to the economy, they are rolling the servers back by eight days. This has to be the farthest rollback in MMO Games evah! It would actually of rocked for them taking the firm stance of doing the rollbacks, but they should not of let it go on for eight days before fixing and rolling back. Unknown if it is related, but Cordelia the Director of Online Community Relations at AsylumSoft announced that it's no longer in the job description on Stratics Boards and has resigned from that position. I no longer work at the Asylumsoft office. I still GM and I help out with other stuff once in a while, but I do not read Support, Abuse, Payments, or Bugs. In the next week, I will no longer respond to Cordelia@Dransik.com since everyone sends support-related e-mails there. They will go to the same place that Support goes. It must be related. Posted August 18 2003 by Div Devlin

EnB Character Transfers Broke: Earth and Beyond announced last week that their new service to transfer Characters and Accounts had gone live. Now players could move their characters to different servers or transfer accounts to friends interested in playing. Bad news is, there were a few kinks that still needed to be worked out so in a follow-up they told us there will be a temporary delay. Oh well. Some gal once told me patience is a virtue. I married someone else. Posted August 18 2003 by Div Devlin

MEO Newsletter Posted: Everyone must be sleeping if you are reading the news. Last month (July 29th, it's in our archives!) Middle Earth Online released their first newsletter to subscribers which has now been reposted for all to see on the Vivendi Site. If you don't want to wait 15 days to catch the news, sign up for the letter. It should come once a month, and you will get to see the juicy details prior to it being tossed up. Maybe we should just start reprining it, since the major "Network Sites" seem to sleep on this news, unless some other major network sites posts about it. (Was I being Smarmy?) In related news, there is another Dev Diary up on the official site from Faustos and an interview with some of the dev's taking on several questions and answers. Posted August 18 2003 by Div Devlin

Weekend Movies: Freddy vs. Jason rocked this weekend. It was a classic "B" style Horror movie made with a big budget. It took number one at the box office and grossed $36 Million. My favorite line was "Welcome to my world Bitch." This has reopened both the Freddy and Jason story-lines. It rocked the way the tied it together. Word has it were going to see Leather Face from the 'Chainsaw Massacre' vs. Michael Myers from 'Halloween' possibly down the road since we already have an "Aliens vs. Predator" coming. Posted August 18 2003 by Div Devlin

PlanetSide Announces Expansion: PlanetSide announced a new expansion at the San Fransico press event held Friday by Sony, so I'm told. I was not actually there. The next expansion titled "Core Combat" takes players into the underground of the Planet 'Auraxis' with six new war zones, new tech available to all empires, underground cities, alien complexes, as well as new environments including lava flows and ice caverns. Already revealed are three new rifles that will be making their way into the game with the release of the expansion. Check out the full details for "Core Combat." Posted August 18 2003 by Div Devlin

UO Changes Faces: Ultima Online is changing their OCR line-up. Leaving the team per Sunsword is the current Community Relations rep Amy "Cynthe" Sage, who will remain within OSI in a new un-named role. Taking over her duties will be Kieth "Sannio" Quinn as point man until the changes all take place. The OCR team is being rolled into the Live Team and will now report directly to the Producer (Anthony "Sunsword' Costoro). Hmmm.... Posted August 18 2003 by Div Devlin

Uru Starts Beta 0! Word has it the first round of invites have been accepted and are now inside closed Beta Testing Zero for Ubi Soft's "Uru: Ages Beyond Myst" in development by Cyan Worlds. Folks got notices towards the end of last week. We've been unable to confirm if this is factual or not, but you probably know someone, who know's someone, who knows someone that got inside. Me, I trust the guy who told me he is in. Posted August 18 2003 by Div Devlin

WoW, Three New Screens! World of Warcraft has three new screenshots up and running. Two of the shots show off the outside of a cathederal, the inner chamber and a hottie dark elf. When does eye candy get old? Nevah! Posted August 18 2003 by Div Devlin

No One Wants Vivendi: The latest folks who were bidding on Vivendi have said no. Comcast, the largest cable company in the US was showing interest earlier on the Vivendi assets have issued a statement that "it does no intend to bid" according to this article from the Pittsburg Business Times. Everyone has walked away including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has dropped out of the auction Vivendi is conducting, and a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., among other bidders, reportedly have balked at Vivendi's $14 billion asking price. NBC Television, a unit of General Electric is a stong contender though. (Thanks Blue!) Posted August 15 2003 by Div Devlin

Community Stuff: Ton of stuff going on in the MMO Community. GameBunny starts off thier first of a Series of Interviews with Dev's from around town. In the first installment of thier "Dev Shakedown" they talk with folks from Anarchy Online, Frontier 1859, Rubies of Eventide and World War II Online about thier opinions on the current and future state of persistent gaming. Check Part One. Warcry has yet another interview up this week, this time with Speed from Asheron's Call. In the background there are always those devs that we know little about. We may know their work, but not know it's theirs. Speed is one of those devs. For years, he's been one of our most beloved characters - Ulgrim. Yet during that time his job was one that many didn't even know existed - Code Integrator. Speed made the code GO. Now, he's doing content design - Fishing! We can't wait to see what's next. Playersbay sent over an announcemnt (Which should probably go under the Cash Category) about their grand opening. It's yet another auction site for MMO Gamers to trade and purchase in game items from other players. Get It.. Players, Ebay... I thought most MMO Games legally prohibit this, when they can. Posted August 15 2003 by Div Devlin

DAoC Gets Shiny Website: So, while trolling for Mythic news, I headed over to the Camelot Herald which has a ton of new updates when I noticed that it also has a new look. Which went in last week. The new site layout done by Georgia Wall looks great, and all I have to say is "Kudo's! The site looks awesome." It's also a bit easier to find things on the page now too. They even have a ticker showing server stats scrolling across some of the deeper linked pages. That rocks! Posted August 15 2003 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires Quickie: Dragon Empires has some new updates out. Testing is underway: Well it has been a very busy week here with the Dragon Empires team. Testing is underway and the bug reports are coming in and everything feels a little more hectic than it did last month. So far we're learning a lot but we've also been quite pleased that nothing game breaking (that we didn't know about!) has popped up. Still, there's a lot more work to do and that's our focus till our next milestone at the end of October. Plus new lore by Gadsolme is out, and RPGDot has an interview up with Calistas. Posted August 15 2003 by Div Devlin

Dungeons and Dragons Soundtrack: Ok, I don't care what anyone says. These guys rock! Midnight Syndicate has been doing "Theme Setting Music" for folks for the past several years. We ran into them for the first time at GenCon last year, and thought that the sountracks would be great to port into games like NeverWinter Nights for those who create their own modules. I had one of their CD's for Halloween and digged their Vampyre Themed Soundtracks. Now, they inked a deal with Dungeons and Dragons to produce a Soundtrack which is sure to make folks scream in terror as they adventure in paper games. From the Release: Under license from Hasbro Properties Group, Midnight Syndicate has released the first official soundtrack to the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Blending over an hour of orchestral instrumental music and carefully selected sound effects, the CD is designed to be a simple yet dynamic way for Dungeon Masters and players to enhance their gaming experience. "Our goal was to create the ultimate musical accompaniment to Dungeons & Dragons gaming," said Edward Douglas of Midnight Syndicate. "We wanted to create a disc that was both a practical tool for DMs and an exciting musical journey that fans can enjoy even while not in the thick of an adventure." Check the Full Release! Posted August 15 2003 by Div Devlin

Horizons Beta for Europe: The Beta sign-up page for Horizons by Atari has some changes which are of huge interest to all you folks in Europe. Now, they have the option for you guys across the pond to sign up for beta! So, go sign-up! Posted August 15 2003 by Div Devlin

As The Market Turns: America Online (AOL) is having Time Warner drop the "AOL" from "AOL Time Warner" because it hurts America Online (AOL). Say that three times fast! (Thanks Pud!) Rumor has it that Dell Computers is getting ready to axe of 600 workers, and move phone support overseas. Most folks should just get an Alienware or Thunder Box PC. GameStop got their hand slapped by the law, after a class-action lawsuit in which they were selling returned games as new. Details of the settlement have been posted up for those who can jump in. Penthouse (NSFW!) has filed for bankruptcy. Maybe now my mattress won't be as lumpy at night? Posted August 14 2003 by Div Devlin

City of Heroes New Screens: Over on the City of Heroes site are four new screenies! Enjoy peeks inside a few local villain lairs, stand at the guarded gates of one of Paragon City’s embattled hazard zones, and take a moment to witness the stunning power of heroes in action in these exclusive new additions to the City of Heroes screenshots page! Posted August 14 2003 by Div Devlin

Mythic Signs New PR Company: Mythic Enterainment the folks behind Dark Age of Camelot and the upcoming Imperator have new representation. Actually it's old I think. FAIRFAX, VA - August 12, 2003 - Mythic Entertainment, developer and publisher of the award-winning massively multiplayer online game "Dark Age of Camelot," today signed an agreement with Kohnke Communications LLC, a public relations agency specializing in interactive entertainment. "We look forward to working with Kohnke Communications as we prepare for the release of 'Dark Age of Camelot: Trials of Atlantis,'" said Mark Jacobs, president and CEO of Mythic Entertainment. "As an agency that focuses on the game industry, Kohnke Communications offers the capabilities we need to launch this expansion and manage our corporate news." EDIT: Mythic had been with PARK AND ASSOCIATES until earlier this year, when they switched to Bohle and were not satisfied with the service, thus yet another switch to Kohnke. Posted August 14 2003 by Div Devlin

New Dungeons and Dragons Movie: New screenshots have been released for the Scourge Of Worlds ~ A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Adventure coming to DvD this autumn. For thos not in the know, the movie combines more than 20 decision points, four different endings and more than 990 possible story combinations allowing viewers and fans of the original role-playing game to choose their own adventure. This is going to be pretty cool. Check out the screens. Posted August 14 2003 by Div Devlin

Horizons Q&A on Crafting: Warcry is cranking this week. Grabbing a Q&A for Horizons with some not-named developer from Artifact Entertainment they talk in-depth about some of the more than 20 crafting skills going into the game. A snippet: Can you sell your plot with building intact to the empire or another player? Or do you lose that investment upon sale? You can sell your plot back to the empire or another player. If you sell it to the empire, they will take down all of the buildings on the plot. If you sell it to another player, the buildings will remain intact. Check it. Posted August 14 2003 by Div Devlin

Freddy vs. Jason! I'm looking forward to the release of Freddy vs. Jason tommorrow, it has something to do with being a product of the eighties I reckon. Thanks to USA Weekend we got the scorecard on the villanious duo so everyone can know their stats when going into the theatre tommorrow night. Freddy Kruger | Jason Voorhees Robert Englund < ACTOR > Ken Kirzinger 1984 < FIRST RELEASE > 1980 7 < NUMBER OF MOVIES > 10 A nun < MOTHER > A psychopath Fingerknives < MOST LETHAL WEAPON > A machete Springwood's Elm Street < LOCATION > Camp Crystal Lake Striped Sweater < WEARS > Hockey mask and jumper Horrible burned, scarred face < STRENGTH > Dies, comes back to life Can kill only sleeping people < WEAKNESS > Walks slowly Sleep-deprived teens Hormone-driven teens Johnny Depp < MOST FAMOUS VICTIM > Kevin Bacon These guys are definite PK Griefers! Discuss: Who would really win? Posted August 14 2003 by Div Devlin

Second Life Launches Affiliate Program: Linden Labs, the developers behind the real-life style sim game "Second Life" have launched a new 'Affilate Program' for enterprising websites to earn a commission each time one of their visitors joins the seven day free trial. From the PR: "Once people try Second Life via a small software download, they immediately become immersed in an online experience like no other. From creating an amazing looking avatar and attending events such as fashion shows or building contests, or just exploring a world full of diverse neighborhoods and people, Second Life is a new type of web community," said Robin Harper, senior vice president for Linden Lab. "The Second Life Affiliate Program is designed to help introduce people to Second Life via the websites they already visit for news about video games, technology, web design and other related topics." Discuss:Has anyone actually tried this game? Posted August 14 2003 by Div Devlin

Shattered Galaxy Unlimited Free Time: Shattered Galaxy sends word over that they have tossed billing out the window for their MMO/RTS game. Now players can sign up for an unlimited free trial to play the game, which has certain features disabled. The Official Skinny: The new free play time plan allows any player to experience the explosive action and intense strategy on Shattered Galaxy for free, with no level limits and no time limits. Non-registered players can create an account without a credit card and quickly begin playing the game as soon as they download the latest version of Shattered Galaxy. Players who register their accounts ($9.95 per month) will enjoy the full benefits of the game, including full experience points earned in battle, the ability to buy rare and special units, and many other advantages. If you like the game, subscribe and get the features working. Posted August 14 2003 by Div Devlin

Star Wars Galaxies Mega Patch: Star Wars Galaxies has issued their Mega-Patch to the servers. Fixes include vendors, inventory capacity, housing limits, pet fixes, and server hangs. The patch blew for my buds in the Shadow Alliance as they could not drop any of the items in their inventory into thier houses, because everything was full. Meanwhile, we hear that there is a massive duping bug going on in game, in which SONY is deleting message's about it faster then a rabbit on the run according to the folks on Posted August 14 2003 by Div Devlin

AO: Shadowlands Rescheduled! Anarchy Online has rescheduled the release date for thier anticipated expansion "Shadowlands," which was expected in stores August 26th. The new release date is now set for September 9th. "With Shadowlands, we are literally adding a whole new dimension to our game," explained Funcom CEO, Trond Aas. "The scope of the project is huge, and we have found that we need a couple of more weeks of testing and balancing before launching the expansion." While fans will have to wait another two weeks for the expansion, Trond Aas is certain it will be worth the wait. "I'm convinced everyone will see the sense in our decision. The extra wait will be long forgotten once they start exploring the marvelous world of Shadowlands." For those wondering about the expansion already being gold, were told that all graphical elements of the expansion are in place, with the remainder of the work mostly about tweaks, balancing, and general fixes. Posted August 13 2003 by Div Devlin

Eve Online's CCP Award Finalist: Crowd Control Productions (CCP) the Developers behind Eve Online has made it as a finalist for the highly prestigious 'Developer Industry Excellence Awards', in the category 'Best Online Development Studio' in Europe. From the Press Release: "Sigurđur Ólafsson, Marketing Manager for CCP Games said: "We are delighted to be nominated and recognised in this category for our first title at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards, by our colleagues in the gaming industry. To be amongst the finalists reinforces our belief that our objectives regarding EVE Online are not only valued by the player community but also appreciated by the ones that know by heart what it takes to accomplish a task of this magnitude." The awards ceremony for