While I was away... Well, a whole lot of things happened while I was on a mini-vacation the week past that I doubt I'll ever be able to catch up with. It's hard to find time when you are part of a large guild and run a gaming site and help at times on a fansite. Not to mention when scripts break, and an internet virus get's unleashed. I think we need more writer's here. Recaps, because recaps are cool! - BioWare hiring! They need to fill a number of positions in Art, Production, Design, Programming, Sound, Community Development, and Quality Assurance! If you ever wanted to work in the game industry (or already do), here's your chance. Check out the jobs page for more info. - Capcom and Game Factory announced they will release a new cross platform MMORPG called Makimura Online (Ghost n' Goblins Online) as reported by Magicbox. Eh? - Dark Days Ahead for those who use Dark Tool in Dark Age of Camelot. (Thanks Lorri!) - EA (Electronic Arts) has closed by Westwood Studios. Earth and Beyond will continue as staff is relocated. - In other Earth and Beyond News, the newest "Glimpse Inside" was posted, which is the second of two parts describing how in-game missions are created. - Eve Online has recently redone their site with tons of new content as they enter Phase 5 of Beta Testing racing to release in March. - Horizons has a new looking website as the game continues to progress. - Nexon Patrons were issued a deep apology for the problems caused by the weekend worm, and for down time caused by it. To compensate as best they can, they have extended all accounts, on all games, that were active on the 24th by two days. That rocks. - Shadowbane added another 5000 beta testers, which was either a 2000 tester addition to the 3000 we learned of last Friday, or an increase bringing the total to 8000 testers. Even Ronald from WTFMan got in, which pissed off some of he folks at WaterThread, not to mention all the folks who entered into the "Magazine Contest" on Val's site. Rokin also brings to light an issue on the restricted races not being so restricted after all the restrictions that made the races restricted. - Ultima Online's newest expansion "Age of Shadows" has gone gold. Expect it in stores soon. The Live Team does another (buried way down in the middle of the page) "Take 5" at Ian Storm in a mini-interview. Posted January 30 2003 by Div Devlin

3000 Beta Testers Join Shadowbane! Unofficial word has been released that 3000 new beta testers are being added today for Shadowbane's closed beta test. This by far is the largest addition to the closed Shadowbane test to date. Checking the official website for news, which has not been announced we tracked down Chris “Vosx” Mancil for the word which was confirmed! "We want this next wave to come in and break Shadowbane. We need them to tear it apart, so we can put it all back together - and then we will do it again." Louis Lamarche, Assistant Producer Shadowbane Congrats to all you new testers joining the party! Discuss: Remember, the NDA is your friend. Posted January 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Changes in the MMO Market: Rumor has it via Computer and Video Games that Microsoft is about to/or may have purchase(d) Vivendi Universal Games, which would add more weight to the (unconfirmed) rumors last year that Turbine is going to be the developers of Middle-earth Online instead of Black Label Games. Isnt hyperlinking grande? Two new MMO Games made their official debut! Whats been in talks sometime, is a version of GURP's (Generic Universal Role-playing) by Steve Jackson Games to bring this classic pen and paper game to the market. After an announcement last year, the official development web site for "Gurps Online" has gone live. The first two worlds to laucnh will be based on their Wild West setting as well as a intergalactic space setting. Flying Lab Software has introduced a new MMORPG to the market with their title expect to release in the third quarter of this year. "Pirates of the Burning Sea" is set in the Caribbean islands of the 18th century where you play a sea captain in charge of your own ship and crew, as you seek glory and adventure across the trackless deep. Arrrggggg. Posted January 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires Developer Diary: Dragon Empires is kind of quiet this week as they wait to see the new buildings and models which are going in game. While waiting though, Scott Cowie, the senior world builder, has written up a new dev diary, titled "The Road(s) To Nowhere." In it he talks about roads and how they effect players: Roads will play a large part in determining how the players travel around our world – without them players would easily get lost and stumble around the wilderness for ages. Read the full diary. Posted January 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Earth & Beyond's epic story to unfold... Starting this week, the Earth & Beyond galaxy will never be the same. A mysterious alien race is deploying around the galaxy. The warrior faction starts construction on a massive defense shield in preparation for war. The tradesmen begin building a new long-range stargate, in preparation of potential profitable trade agreements with the aliens. Most explorers are obsessed with the acquisition and decoding of more than 50 encoded data fragments. With this month's game update, Earth & Beyond's developing story officially starts, and players will see the galaxy change, and take on missions that uncover key plot details. Each month, new content and events will develop the story, a story of invasion, politics, greed, sacrifice and ultimately, the survival of the human race. This month's game update includes 15 new missions, most of which deal with the ongoing story. Other enhancements in this week's update include: Improvements to the Cloaking, Environment Shield and Negotiate skills. Vanentine's Day content. Mission terminal improvements (issues new missions faster). Improvements to the in-game stores. Three level-50 promotion missions. These historic galactic events can be experienced by all gamers, subscribers and non-subscribers, thanks to the Earth & Beyond 5-day demo program. Check it. Posted January 24 2003 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane is teh car3baer! Folks anxiously awaiting to find out if Shadowbane will be the next best thing to Hostess Apple Fruit Pies (I'm like addicted to these all of a sudden) want to know, Will there be player looting or not damnit! Vosx, the man behind the mask jumped onto the message boards to say: What we have in beta right now, does not automatically translate into what we may or may not have at release. Looting, in all its forms, is a huge balancing issue. Wolfpack has been taking looting very serious of late, and when we get closer to release - the final system will be revealed once it is finalized. So, could that be a maybe yes, or a maybe no? Time will tell. Posted January 24 2003 by Div Devlin

The Sims Online Super Bowl Sunday! For all da ladies in da house, from The Sims Online! Attention Football Widows and the Indifferent! Join the Fun in The Sims Online This Super Bowl Sunday If the only "turnover" you talk about is of the apple variety and a "tight end" is what comes to mind when you are walking behind a guy in designer jeans, grab yourself a plate of nachos and a cold one and enter the exhilarating world of The Sims Online™ this Super Bowl Sunday! Here is just a taste of what you can do and where you can explore: If you are looking for a romantic get-away or a place for creative inspiration visit the Secret Garden in Fancy Fields. Scenic landscapes provide the backdrop to a host of Zen endeavors including music composition, painting and chess. Check mate or soul mate, you decide in this tranquil and serene setting. In the mood for some thrill and chills? Visit The Haunted House in Calvin's Creek. Dance the night away in the Voodoo Lounge or get the ride of your life on a mechanical bull in the Icee Hot Dungeon. Grab a cocktail in the Mad Scientists Lab or contact a lost and beloved Sim in the Grand S?ance Room. The eerie activities are never-ending in this spooky place. If fortune tellers and freak shows are your fancy, visit the Circus Maximus in Alphaville. They truly put on the greatest show on Sim earth. Wrestle a fellow Sim, flex your muscles in the iron man competition, or clown around on the roof top stage. Join the dancing bears and contortionists for an afternoon full of fun frolic. If the only reason you are going to watch the big game is for the innovative ads, change your plans! Get out of that lazy lounger and turn on your computer. There is endless fun to be had in The Sims Online. Heh. The Sims Online! Posted January 24 2003 by Div Devlin

AO Refocusing the Community Work: Or... "Were not making enough money for us to dedicate so much time to all of you who complain!" According to the Anarchy Online site, they are shutting down half of their message boards and redeploying staff to other resources which sounds like a military move! But, I have to commend them for this part: Lately, an evaluation has been done on how to best satisfy the community's needs, and one of the most important wishes has been to give more back to those dedicating a lot of their time to run AO community sites. We want more life on those sites, and to be more present there ourselves, as we feel that's something the people working together on the sites deserve. Lately we've agreed on several regular events with the major sites, and you might have noticed that some already have regular rounds of questions and answers with us. It's always a bad thing when you shut the fans out. But, if they give attention to the fansites, that's always a good thing! Read the full story. Posted January 22 2003 by Div Devlin

Asheron's Call2 Allegiance Registry: Asheron's Call 2 released thier newest guild tool to the community. The "Allegiance Registry" allows you to post or search for other players' allegiances. It's actually a pretty generic search engine that does not compare to the guild listing services that Ultima Online or Dark Age of Camelot has. I keyed in the name of five major guilds I know of, that are in AC2 and got no results back. But, still a useful tool I suppose, if ya register yer alliegance? Posted January 22 2003 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires, that end game thing! Peter "Calistas" tyson from Dragon Empires entered into some good discussions with the fans discussing what it takes in an MMO to reach that end game. Most people are unaware the end game doesnt occur until the people can PvP, which opens a whole new enjoyment of a game. (Read Hedron's take on the Six Circle's of Gaming) Peter talks about his time and comparison's to Dark Age of Camelot and his current enjoyment in Neocron. Check his wordage! Thanks Massive-Mulitplayer. Posted January 22 2003 by Div Devlin

Warhammer Online Magic System: Warhammer Online released their in-depth look at magic in the Warhammer World. A snip: "According to our 'cosmic background' there is a single source of all magical or psychic energy - this is a coexistent dimension formed of pure energy. This is variously named and conceived by different races in the Warhammer world - but for convenience we call it the Realm of Chaos (the Warp in 40K). There is no other source of magic or psychic energy- even Orc magic is from his source though strained through the remarkable Orc consciousness without them realising it!" Check the full story. Posted January 22 2003 by Div Devlin

Warcraft goes to D20! World of Warcraft is not yet out of development, but already the entire crossmarketing blitz continues as the venerable Warcraft title's from Blizzard partners with Sword and Sorcery (They did EverQuest) to the paper RPG masses. XGR has a press release with the details. Posted January 22 2003 by Div Devlin

For Clay "Nazgul" Towery... Just wanted to give a shout out to Clay "Nazgul" Towery from Wolfpack Studios one of the developers behind Shadowbane. In case you did'nt know. j00 r teh r0x! Weekly suck-upage complete. Excuse me while I clean my nose now. Thanks. Posted January 21 2003 by Div Devlin

DAoC Update: Dark Age of Camelot announced last week thier "State of the Game" letter from Marc Jacobs on the Camelot Herald telling everyone what's instore for the game during the course of the year. Also announced within the letter is the promotion of Walt "Copper" Yarbrough to Content Producer for DaoC, where he will work under Camelot Producer Matt Firor. As an active, avid and avowed player (Hey, he’s a triple-A kind of guy for a triple-A title!) of DAoC, Walt will ensure that this year brings even more goodness for our players by working closely with Matt. Congrats Copper! Posted January 20 2003 by Div Devlin

EQ: The Legacy of Ykesha! EverQuest announced their newest expansion last week to the evergrowing world of Norrath. "The Legacy of Ykesha" website has gone live, with details on how to get the expansion online (it's an online only expansion, great way to save/make money as you reduce publishing costs) and introduces the playable race called Froglocks. I'd guess they are frog-men? Posted January 20 2003 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane, C'mon over! Times running out! We've always wondered what this site would look like as a magazine, so working with Valkyrie from Aerynth Sanctum were finding out. Currently running for the Shadowbane Community is a fan contest to design a "Magazine Cover" based on what real mag's would say on the launch of Shadowbane! Best part is, they are giving away "Ten Beta Accounts," as well as an official Shadowbane shirt to the top three entries as well as a copy of Shadowbane (on release!) to the first place winner! There are some really great entries so far! The contest ends on the 22nd, so don't waste anymore time. That NDA is starting to relax as Ubi Soft released details about their new Siege Warfare system currently being tested inside the beta. The new city sieging system has been dramatically streamlined to be more inline with a number of Wolfpack Studios original design goals. These goals were to enhance the ability of attacking armies to cripple neighboring states through the use of economic pressure, extending the time of a siege to minimize late night raids, and making the overall system more intuitive and easier to manage. They follow it with a Q&A session between the developers expanding on the new Siege Warfare system, and four new screenshots. Wolfpack Studio's (the folks ya know, making the game) goes big time with the announcement of new hires joining them with well known figures from the gaming industry! Joe Ybarra (Age of Empires), Jason "Illyar" Greathouse, Sara "Lietgardis" Jensen (known from Lum the Mad), Ben Roberts, Rick "K'Dah" Fields (known from Shadowclan Orcs), and Damion "Ubiq" Schubert (UO and M59). Welcome to the Shadowbane Community to all of them. For a more detailed introduction of each of them, check J's write up on Shadowbane WarCry. Posted January 20 2003 by Div Devlin

The Sims Online, No you cannot go! Word on the street is that if you wanted to leave The Sims Online, and cancel your account. You can no longer do it via the website, which made it easy to say, "I'm unhappy with this game, you are not getting anymore of my monei!" Now, you have to call an 800 number (hopefully it's not the guys who do tech support for Ultima Online) to cancel your account. Unfortunately they do whatever they can to get you to NOT cancel your account. The best part is how they write, "Once you reach an Account Specialist, feel free to let them know why you are leaving." Which makes us wonder how long the hold queue is to speak to an account rep. Posted January 20 2003 by Div Devlin

Ultima Online, You still macro? People still macro in UO? Well, if they do, they are going to get banned. Ultima Oline for quite some time has enforced a no macro policy if you were not at the keyboard. It's that whole unattended macroing thing. Which I think nolonger works with the new rules for skill and stat gain. However, if you are one of the peep's still around who are macroing, they announced the following on their FYI (for your information) page: The Ultima Online policy on unattended macroing has been updated, and our Game Masters will now be taking a more active role in eliminating unattended macroing from UO. Players who are determined to be macroing in the game while not at their computers will now face an immediate suspension from the game of at least 72 hours. Of course, players with multiple offenses, including confirmed use of unapproved third party applications, may find their penalties escalated. It is our goal to provide an enjoyable and exciting co-operative gaming experience for all our users, and we feel that unattended macroing does not help us achieve this goal. For additional details regarding these account actions, and for information on the process by which we determine unattended macro users, please read our Game Master FAQ by clicking here. So, uhh... Don't macro? Posted January 20 2003 by Div Devlin

2003 MMO Game Survey: Ok. So, I’m really bored and need a game to play. This year we have a bunch of titles coming out, and I’m at a loss as to which one to play. I’m probably going to buy each of them, but never actually do an install or play. Since I’m prone to succumbing to peer pressure, I’ve started a new poll (on right). Also, because most other gaming sites don’t have MMO dedicated titles. Which MMO game are you most looking forward to this year. Oh, and while our surveys are not really official, some of ya like to vote more then once. Stop now before doing that. I turned IP tracking on ;p Please to not be hacking my survey. K. Thanks. Discuss: What game are you looking forward to this year, and why? Posted January 15 2003 by Div Devlin

AC2 Expands Market: Asherons Call 2: The Fallen Kings has officially announced they are expanding the game to larger markets outside of North America. Beginning in mid-February, players in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Hong Kong, Finland, Ireland, Singapore and Sweden will be able to purchase the game at retail, pay for their online subscriptions in local currency and play on servers based in Europe or the United States. In response to customer demand, anyone who already owns Asheron’s Call 2 will also be able to subscribe and play. Most of the North American's I know, who have been playing this game since it's release have already left. I still have it sitting on the box of games I got for Christmas unopened. Meanwhile, Episode 2 dubbed Cacophony, is scheduled to begin on today (January 15th). All game worlds will be brought down from 12:01 am to 6 am PST (8 am to 2 pm GMT) to prop the episode. Posted January 15 2003 by Div Devlin

Earth and Beyond, Glimpse and Death? Earth and Beyond has the latest "Gimpse Inside" up and running, this one takes a look at how their dynamic storyline is being developed. With the upcoming advancement of the Earth & Beyond storyline, we thought this might be a good time to explain some of the challenges and issues inherent in providing a dynamic plot and story. Chris Klug, lead content designer for E&B, explained some of the issues his team faces while developing the ongoing storyline. Meanwhile over on Player2Player, Spelter speculates that Earth and Beyond is headed for the great beyond, based on his review of current program's and pricing of the game. Posted January 15 2003 by Div Devlin

Frontier 1859 Interview: Spridal from GameBunny sent us word they have an interview up and running with the the folks from Cosmic Origins regarding their upcoming Wild West MMOG - Frontier 1859. A snippet: "Cosmic Origins is working toward; offering players a new innovation upon the worn out 25 year old RPG system. Part of that innovation implements accountability for the role you play - whether good or bad - the player must deal with the repercussions of the choices they make, and since the cost for bad choices is high - the tension mounts." Be sure to check the interview out. Thanks Spridal. Posted January 15 2003 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane Tease: Waylander has released his latest War Journal, this one taking a look back to almost a month ago and the events which transpired before the holidays. Check out "The Embrace of the Dark Hand." I did'nt notice this part at the bottom of it where he writes, "Two new city states, the Shadow Alliance and the Lok-ri Dragons went to war towards the end of the Tyrranth life cycle and Zalaster will record their battles for the history tomes,"but yes Shadow Alliance is the guild I'm part of with some really great folks. Also, this is teh funnei. A new comic is up from W. Lesmana for the fifth episode of Shadowbane Tales. In this installment a look is taken at what it's like to be a Herald recording event's within game. I won't say more. Check it. I'm teasing ya now. Be sure to keep an eye on Valkyrie's site, Aerynth Sanctum this evening for an announcement... or something. Posted January 15 2003 by Div Devlin

World of Warcraft, Map & Races: World of Warcraft gives us some new great info this week, with the unvieling of the world map, two huge continent's, four smaller landmasses and a few scattered isles, as well as the starting locations for each of the races that have been revealed so far (Humans, Orcs, Dwarves, and Tauren). There's also two new screenshots that have been added from the Blizzard Insider. First (18) is what looks like a pumpkin patch and the second (19) a decayed sea creature that was beached. They look good. Posted January 15 2003 by Div Devlin

Unknown Player gets a job: Scott "Unknown Player" Miller goes legit and get's to learn what it's like on the other side of the fence as he spam's everyone announcing he has joined the team behind "Imperial Wars" by Intelligent Life Games, as the newest hire taking on the role of Community Relations Manager. No one really noticed or cared. Congrat's on the new job! All that sucking up has finally paid off! Now you can see what making up stories, printing false information and other sundry articles by sites can do to damage the reputation of a game and the integrity of an indivdual all "to print the story" can do. We wish ya well! We even has some private messages we exchanged regarding his new payscale from him regarding the talking that folks are having discussing how, "all employees are hired with the knowledge that they only MIGHT get paid... if the game ever makes any money or is released at all. They hire employees on the "future revenue of sales". Basically they hope they make money so they can eventually pay you." We even hear how he's already hoaring his game to the major gaming networks, where the site managers stare blankly at his e-mail for five minutes before deleting it. While it's a great opportunity to enter the gaming market, better people tell me that games with IGDA logos on game project sites are a badge of doom. i.e., "we need a publisher, pity us." I'll have to take the higher ground though this one time, and not reprint the private messages we exchanged, because ya know, it was done in trust. Taking over UnknownPlayer.com will be the new site manager, Craig "Daemon" Kirich and the lead editor Chris "Diamonds" Stewart. We know they will do a great job filling in the now vacant shows of UP, the site can only get better!" Discuss: Not that ya really wanted to, so no linkage. Posted January 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane: Chronicles of Strife... The Official website for Shadowbane has launched with an all new look. Now, for events and game community news the "Chronicle of Strife" gives us a ton of new information with it's official press release giving us an all new release date of Feburary 25, 2003! Included in this massively merciless relaunch is a new "Shadowbane Tales" comic update, all new "Lore of the Minotaurs", and the inclusion of 1000 new beta testers being added. Dividing the sites, the old Shadowbane site will now be for product news, while the "Chronicle of Strife" will be for N. America's game community news and related events. Check it. Posted January 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires New Year: Dragon Empires sends out word that they have enhanched an already great looking graphics engine and allows you to see the improvements in these 16 new screenshots they sent to us. In the release they write: The engine enables environment's to be shown with far greater terrain detail so that even landscape features that are miles away in the game world will look natural. Lakes and seas also look incredibly natural thanks to great water effects. Water reflects the colours of the sky above and surfaces and sea states change depending on whether it's a calm day, windy or even a raging storm. Up close, the visual detail goes right down to the animation of individual trees and bushes. The engine can determine how each one sways in the wind depending on the climate and the size of the tree. As players explore the world's different terrain types, the visuals of the varied environments blend seamlessly from one to the other and, as players approach objects, additional detail fades imperceptibly in to the scene. We agree, they look great. You can view all 15 new (There are 14, but one is old) shots in our gallery section. Also in DE news, the second monthly DE Fan Chat will take place today at 9pm GMT and 9pm EST. This will be a moderated chat on the irc.stratics.com network and will take place on #de-devchat. The topics this month are crafting and dungeon design, topics the Dragon Empires developers are keen on hearing fan feedback on. This will be a moderated chat with Stratics question takers. Also, Peter Tyson started a second "Day in the Life of Developer Diary" where I will track the fascinating progress of my day. Posted January 10 2003 by Div Devlin

Myst Online enters beta: Official word is out, and application's are now open for beta testing of (check this mouthful) Uru: Online Ages Beyond Myst. For simplicity sake, were just going to stick with Myst Online. It's the second MMOG that is going to be up and running by Ubi Soft which has been in development by Cyan Worlds. Posted January 10 2003 by Div Devlin

As the Economy Twists and Turns: EBay the gamers choice for selling MMOG stuph, is about to get slapped with a Patent infringement lawsuit that was recently filed. As you may be aware, a patent infringement lawsuit was recently filed against eBay and a large number of e-commerce companies by Charles E. Hill & Associates, Inc. Hill has alleged that we infringe certain patents generally related to an electronic catalog system, a method for producing information related to a selected product on a remote computer, and a method for updating a remote computer as a means of storing and displaying product data. Check out the full story. (Source: F'ed Company) Competition for The Sims Online erupts with a new MMOG game called "There" in which instead of baking pizza's for hours on end to make simoleans, you can purchase 'Therebucks' by using real cash as well as farming within the game for phat lewt. Check out the Press Release and then sign-up for the beta. I can actually understand this game. Themis Group has competition as a new online gaming consulting firm across the pond enters the market. Alien Pants issued this announcement saying they are in business. Once these guys expand to MMOG's as it appears they only cover MUD's right now, it could get pretty interesting. Here's to see what type of marketing strategies they use. Russia has launched an investigation into Harry Potter to determine whether the children's books incites "religous hatred." The investigation was started at the request of a Russian woman who was upset by the novels. I wonder if they will burn the books like the religous priest in the U.S. did last year? Meanwhile, folks in Russia can alway's read a Potter inspired local version with a hero named "Tanya Grotter," which prompted Potter's publishers to threaten a lawsuit for plagiarism. Ain't life grand. Posted January 9 2003 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires Rounds... Damn, this stuff is looking good. Way back last week (on the 3rd) the newest Dragon Empires newsletter released, within they have created five concepts of the (archived locally) Dragon Empires box and are now looking for your opinion on which one is the best. To do this you need to take part in a survey in which you can vote on and have a close look at the five boxes. Be aware that these images are mock-ups and are not the finished image that will be on the box. These box art concepts are just to give you an idea of what the box would look like and to help you when you fill in the survey. There is also a new hire in the DE camp that will be working on quests, lore and more Dragon Empires background, expanding on Piers Anthony's story. Posted January 9 2003 by Div Devlin

Earth and Beyond Rounds: Making the rounds around Earth and Beyond we get word that the newest "Glimpse Inside" has been released. This week's edition takes a look at a mysterious new high-level encounter in the Xipe Totec Sector. A snippet: There is little doubt that a small Shinwa expedition beyond the Intzalan Line was, indeed, lost recently. Indications are that the expedition was led by three students of one of the original Yasarugi disciples, Master Zeh Len. Check it. Posted January 9 2003 by Div Devlin

EverQuest for PlayStation 2: EverQuest sent out press releases for "EverQuest: Online Adventures" for the PlayStation 2 saying this port will be available in Feburary, as this mammoth veteran online game expands to the console market. Thanks GameSpot. Posted January 9 2003 by Div Devlin

Planetside Producer Letter: Planetside has a new letter up from the Producer Dave Georgeson, in which he discusses the beta process, ongoing internal game tweaks, and the game launch date to clear up the rumors that keeping going round. He writes: 5) Just to counteract all those various rumors of release dates you're seeing on various sites. Sony Online has only made one commitment to anyone. It's the SAME commitment we've made since E3 last year. The end of Q1, 2003 is our scheduled release date. If you hear anything else, then it's just simply not true. Read it! Posted January 9 2003 by Div Devlin

Community Rounds: Arcadian DelSol tossed up Episode Eight for "Comics that Suck," in which guest appearances by the folks from upcoming games ask God for help. You need to check out who stops by, and the prayers they ask for in the new year. Taking a trip around the community, Waterthreads has a great Year in Review up and running recapping everything from 2002 that came and went. It's nice to kick a dead horse one more time. UnknownPlayer has an audio interview up with Elonka Dunin from Simutronics. In it she didn't talk about gaming a whole bunch but more about Elonka the person. XGR (Extreme Gaming Radio) jumped the gun before all others with the first annual XGR Best of The Year Awards. Find out what won RPG, RTS, FPS, Console Title, and Game Of The Year as well as XGR's own Product Of The Year Award. A welcome back to my gaming bro, Valeran who is running around filling out ton's of beta app's to get in some of the major games coming out soon. Memorable quote that's he tossing on the PvP Games,"I have pvp'd since before the pentium chip." -Valeran ". Welcome back bro! Posted January 7 2003 by Div Devlin

DAoC Scammer Alert: Ok, this is a little late. But still needs to be said! I hate folks like this. Dark Age of Camelot has a scammer that was running around trying to ruin the new year by pulling one of these "Send me your account name and Password" scams. He portray's himself as a CSR. Read on: We got another scammer out there, gang - he is using the email address daoc.csr.lariden@carmail.com and asking you to email him your account name and password. We don't use "carmail" - and no one from Mythic will ever contact you and ask you for your password. (Just to be 100% clear: The only times we "ask" you for your password are a) when you log in to the game, and b) when you are logging in to customer services.) So, if you sent this scumbag any information, change your password and call us right away. As the old adage goes,"Never give your account name and password to anyone who represent's themselves for a game company." They already know your password so they have no reason to ask. It's in an encypted database. Posted January 7 2003 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane Stuph: Damn, lotsa stuff here for Shadowbane. Where to begin? Ok, for those who know or do not know, Valkyrie and I merged our Shadowbane related fan sites to create Aerynth Sanctum which can be accesed from either site. She rocks. Vote for me! Rokin and Acheus are there also! I did a review of the year past for Shadowbane and it was rather depressing. Shadowbane fans have this year though to look forward too! (Local Archive coming soon.) Best Buy is adding fuel to the fire with another speculative release date as they advertise April 3rd. A new journal from within Shadowbane's closed beta test was printed, this one the "Tournament of Champions" with alot to read and look at (if reading is hard). J has his write up from the Player Gathering held in Texas as folks gathered at the Ren Fair to hang with Wolfpack and answer ton's of questions about Shadowbane. Cool stuph. Posted January 7 2003 by Div Devlin

The Sims Online, New Years Eve Bash: While I'm still recovering from my New Year's Eve (and New Year's Day for the matter), people partied it up online as well. Word from The Sims Online comes down that people were virtually kissing all over! Over a half million kisses occurred between Sims on New Year’s Eve in the exciting Internet world of The Sims Online™. As frigid temperatures still plagued parts of the United States, things were really heating up on December 31st in The Sims Online. Acquaintances, roommates, friends and loved ones got into the festivities as they puckered up at over 5000 online New Year’s parties throughout the day. The Sims Online was the hottest place to be to ring in 2003. "As our virtual party goers across the country can attest, The Sims Online was one of the most happening places to socialize and celebrate this New Year’s Eve," said Luc Barthelet, General Manager of EA’s Maxis Studio, "This online celebration marks the first of many fantastic events in this unique and dynamic Internet world." I dunno, that's just kinda freaky [Note to Sachant: I did not say phreaky]. The Sims Online released prior to Christmas on December . The Sims Online is a massive virtual world created and populated by thousands of players from around the world. In this never-ending alternative reality players can be themselves or "Be Somebody. Else™." Discuss: I still don't get it. Posted January 7 2003 by Div Devlin

UO: Age of Shadows News... If you were wondering about the Art work for UO: Age of Shadows expansion, worry no more ;p Origin is thrilled to announce that we have contracted with Brom to do an exclusive work of art for our print ad and box cover! Brom is a well-known fantasy artist, as well as an avid UO player. His style is a perfect fit for Ultima Online, and for the theme of our latest expansion, "Age of Shadows," in particular. We are also pleased to announce that we will be able to offer a limited number of signed Brom lithographs of the print ad art through a special pre-order promotional offer with Electronics Boutique, Gamestop and Amazon. This offer is only available online: check their sites for more information! You can check out some of Brom's artwork from other projects here. He rocketh. There also are some clarifications regarding the "Early Settler's Program" regarding housing for those who pre-order Age of Shadows (or something) in which they say: Essentially, what all players will need to do is watch for the dates relevant to their preferred shard of play. If you play on a North American shard, then you'll be bound by the Early Settlers promotion and Age of Shadows publish dates for North America. If you play on a European or Asian shard, you'll need to keep checking back here for the dates for those territories. Doncha hate when sites post news out of context. Posted January 7 2003 by Div Devlin

Happy New Year! Hope everyone is well rested and none too hung-over as you begin the New Year! Hope all you want comes true! Special ShoutOut to Delaney! "What are you wearing?" Div and the rest of us, at GameRifts.com Posted January 1 2003 by Div Devlin