AC2 Community Drama: What is an MMO without drama? Looks like there is community unrest over on the Asheron’s Call 2 boards as fans do battle over the lack of Kingdom versus Kingdom content with the new expansion in development as one long standing player has decided to toss in the towel and say his dramatic good-byes on the boards. Barlog from the guild 'The Black Company,' has "True To His Word" killed off his account. This makes others sad, as the fanboi dance begins in earnest as those who PvP and those who PvE say that AC2 was never a PvP/RvR/KvK combat game at higher levels. An expansion titled "Legions" would make one think that it would have something to do with PvP combat? Posted October 28 2004 by Div Devlin

CoH Costume Contest Entries: The City of Heroes costume contest is in full swing, with players already sending in their entries. Two such entries have been released to tease everyone and in some cases deflate our ego with these awesome costumes of players dressing up as their favorite character from inside the game. Check out Nuclear Nikki (l) and KalamazooDown (r) Click Images For Full Size   The contest runs through Nov. 7. To participate in the contest, City of Heroes players need to submit pictures of themselves in public dressed as a character from Paragon City. To enter, contestants need to provide a digital picture of themselves dress in public as their character from City of Heroes and a screen shot of their character from the game. Those who best re-create their hero in the real world best will be eligible for prizes in six different categories. Those categories are best male, best female, best gargantuan, most daring, most humorous and best overall costume. Thanks to NCsoft for sending these over! Posted October 28 2004 by Div Devlin

L2:C2 Q&A NCsoft has released a self-issued Q&A with Aaron Rigby the North American Producer for Lineage II on their upcoming Chronicle 2: The Age of Splendor. Questions cover some of the main features, the changes to the players game experience (play value!), the new hunting grounds, system changes and more. You can check it out below. Full Story Posted October 28 2004 by Div Devlin

NwN Module Store: No more worries about downloading suck modules from the thousands created by players while searching for the few hundred good ones that have been made for NeverWinter Nights by Bioware as they announce their new online module store where for $cash-ola professional modules specially created from the team can be found. The modules will be developed by BioWare staff, as well as by prominent members of the Neverwinter Nights fan community, and will be produced by BioWare and Atari, utilizing the Dungeons & Dragons® property under license from Hasbro and its subsidiary, Wizards of the Coast. The premium modules will host a wide variety of features, including engrossing storylines, professional voice-over and musical scores, brand new in-game content, and much more. Many features have been chosen according to fan feedback, further signifying BioWare and Atari's commitment to the Neverwinter Nights franchise and its loyal and dedicated fanbase. Three Neverwinter Nights modules will initially be available through the BioWare Online Store when it opens for business on November 10, 2004, with a plan in place to regularly produce and release additional content in the future. I'm actually in favor of this. Posted October 28 2004 by Div Devlin

Saga of Ryzom Everywhere: Nevrax announces that the Saga of Ryzom is now available to players everywhere in the world through their partnership with Jolt Online Gaming via download. The new digital download system will now allow players from ALL territories the ability to obtain the game online, and not just countries without a distribution agreement. The move will further boost already escalating subscriptions to the recently launched MMOG, which is also set to benefit from the newly introduced "Bring a Friend" scheme. No need to put pants on and go out of the houselooking for boxes in retail stores! Posted October 28 2004 by Div Devlin

Board Downage If it's not one thing, it's another. Apologies to all trying to access our message boards and to the private groups! While updating the boards we had an unforeseen system error with no clear resolution. Resident code-monkey Zalaster has been chained to his PC overnight working on a fix, and as soon as he wakes up the boards should be fixed tonight. Thanks and sorry for the inconvenience! Posted October 27 2004 by Div Devlin

Previews and Reviews: It's already been a busy week and things around here are just going to get more hectic with the new games coming out. We kick it with a review of Massive Assault the "Think Based Strategy" game developed by Wargaming.net. Check it here. Then we have our hands-on preview from inside beta for Jump to Lightspeed, the expansion for StarWars Galaxies due out tommorrow. If you have been wondering if anything will interest you before shelling out cash, then check the preview here. Posted October 26 2004 by Div Devlin

Ballerium Halted: Ballerium, the MMO/RTS game which has been in development for almost two years now by Majorem has word that development has been halted and the team is now exploring other oppurtunites after funding has run out for their game. We've been delaying these news for a while since we were seriously hoping for a change as I will soon explain, but unless anything changes in the near future, the project will be burried. It all started about a year ago when Majorem's partners in Taiwan came accross difficulties to fullfil their side of the contract, which left Majorem in a very vulnerable position. Without getting into too many details, over the past year or so we've been in touch with the largest - without giving names - really the largest - publishers of MMO games, but eventually they all prefered to wait and see what will come out of Ballerium before investing their own resources in assisting us "getting there". We were also in touch with several investors, - in fact one ofthe reasons we delayed these news so much were that we were lead to understand such an investment is really possible and probable, but results weren't better. Either way right now we have no money to keep developing and so, with great pain, the team had to start looking for new jobs elsewhere. Lights Out. Posted October 26 2004 by Div Devlin

CoH Test Events Today: City of Heroes will be hosting a special event today at 6pm Central on the test server. Statesman has contacted the Paragon City Council in regards to unusual activities occurring on the Test Server. In order to investigate these concerns, the PCC Event for this week will be held at 4pm Pacific Time/6pm Central Time on Tuesday, October 26th. We ask all available heroes to attend. Go here for details on how to attend. Posted October 26 2004 by Div Devlin

FFXI Harvest Fest: With Final Fantasy XI hitting it's one year anniversary, it's time to part down all week in game with their "Harvest Festival!" Vana'diel's Harvest Festival is all about townsfolk masquerading as ghosts, scaring passers-by, and collecting more treats than the next person! The people who scared existing characters last year are scrambling about to prepare for this year's event. If you happen to run into one of these townsfolk, don't forget to give him or her a treat! However, don't give the same item to the same person over and over again--how would you feel if you received nothing but hunks of Goblin chocolate? Rather, enjoy the different costumes and give as many different kinds of treats to as many different people as possible! Sometimes, certain NPCs will turn you into a monster or beastman upon receiving a treat. While you are masquerading as one of these frightening foes, you will be unable to cast magic or use items. You will also be unable to talk to NPCs, or perform any action that requires targeting, such as opening doors. Fun Times! The event has already started and will run until November 1st. Posted October 26 2004 by Div Devlin

WoW Release Date Confirmed? One of the most anxiously awaited titles for an MMO Game has finally commited to a vieled confirmed release date according to the Detroit Free Press. Putting the date as November 22-28 for World of Warcraft, changing the aintipcated date as the 15th of November from a discussion with Phil O'Neil, the North America President from VUGames, the publisher. Most stores have predicted Nov. 15 would be the launch date for "World of Warcraft," guessing that Sony Online Entertainment's behemoth "Everquest 2" would come out on or near the same day. But Phil O'Neil, president, North America, of "Warcraft" publisher Vivendi Universal Games, said the game will actually launch a week after the company's other hot holiday title, "Half-Life 2," which debuts Nov. 16. Pocket books are really going to hurt. Posted October 25 2004 by Div Devlin

Old NWN Community Reunion: If you were a member of the original NeverWinter Nights game by SSI that was hosted by AOL, the folks from Forgotten World want you to come check them out for a COmmunity Reunion! You are cordially invited to attend Homecoming Week at the Forgotten World! Join us for a special reunion weekend, packed full of events and festivities planned for alumni of our old home! Visit with past allies and foes alike! Highlights for Homecoming Week include: *Tech support to ensure that even the most enfeebled old timer can get in the game *Welcoming packages of magical items so you can start playing immediately *Newbie tours led by familiar old-world characters *Special events for unmaxed players *Alumni PVP -- rekindle old feuds and alliances! *Writing contest for alumni -- share an old world memory *Trivia and roleplay nights at the taverns -- drinks on the house! Join us for this memorable weekend, taking place November 12 - 14! But, Where is Snowie! Posted October 25 2004 by Div Devlin

E3'05 Seeks Speakers/Topics: The E3Expo has put the call out for Developers to sign-up and become speakers and are asking for topics which should be covered for 2005. E3Expo, the world's leading interactive entertainment trade event, invites all game industry professionals to submit speaking proposals to be considered for the 2005 E3Expo Conference Program. Professionals are encouraged to submit relevant, interesting, and topical session ideas for consideration by the conference producers. Those who are chosen to participate in the program will have the opportunity to share their knowledge and expertise with the over 1,500 conference program attendees. E3Expo is the yearly event closed to the general public (Har!) which takes place in LA. Oh, and if as a Dev you speak, you get in for free as a "Guest of the Expo." Posted October 25 2004 by Div Devlin

Game Media Sucks! Anyuzer has a great editorial/rant up on why the state of the gaming industry sucks, and it all starts with the established mdia/fansites/networks all sucking up to the Game Companies hoping to get luvin' and not telling them the game is broke with unbiased feelings. And you know what's worse? It truly is bad for the industry. Now that we're lacking any sort of neutral well informed opinions on the subject of gamers, and what gamers want, we have development companies floundering. Their game gets good reviews? Why aren't people buying it? Because it SUCKS. And the few copies they do sell? They end up with a bunch of jaded frustrated gamers on the other end who just spent 50 bucks on what was supposed to be: The Next Big Thing, but turned out to be a manifestation of self hate. Yet, this isn't entirely the companies fault. After all, how are they supposed to know any different? Where are they supposed to get their well informed, unbiased information from? Thats why we are here, we found this out also! We've got a poll of about 200 testers here at GameRifts and we are gamers. We jump into beta's and offer support because we want to see an enjoyable game that we would pay to play. Then there are those who would rather just destroy a game and laugh about it. (Links omitted!) Welcome to the real! Posted October 25 2004 by Div Devlin

EQII Release Date Change: It appears that Sony has changed the original release date for EverQuest II, which is currently in closed beta. Retailers now are shwoing that the new release date is slated for Novemebr 8th. EverQuest II comes in three versions, all of which include a 30-day subscription (excluding SOE All Access subscriptions) to the game's online world. The CD version and DVD versions of the game carry an SRP of $49.99 and include the game, an in-game item and an in-box item. Limited quantities of the EverQuest II Collector's Edition (DVD) are available at an SRP of $89.99. The Collector's Edition includes a number of in-game items, including "paintings" of EverQuest II scenery to be hung on the walls of a player's house, magical talking statues of Antonia and Lucan (voiced by Hollywood talent Heather Graham and Christopher Lee), and an exclusive pet baby dragon. The Collector's Edition also includes an exclusive art book, bonus DVD with trailers, gameplay videos and behind-the-scenes footage, a soundtrack CD, a collector's coin with a velvet pouch, a cloth map of Norrath, and two posters. EverQuest II carries a monthly subscription fee of $14.99 for continuing access to the game world. Players can subscribe using a credit card, or purchase SOE 30-day and 90-day Game Cards, which open the new world of Norrath to those who choose not to use a credit card. Perhaps their will still be time to have an open beta for those who have not been iside to check out the future of the Norrath lands. Posted October 25 2004 by Div Devlin

Bring A Friend To Ryzom: Nevrax has announced their new "Bring A Freind" campaign for The Saga of Ryzom. Grab a bud, have he get's to play free for fourteen days, and if he likes it and subscribes, you get a month play time. The "Bring a Friend" program allows each Ryzom player to invite a friend to try Ryzom for free for 14 days. At the end of the trial, if the friend decides to purchase the account, the player who referred him will receive a free month of play! "Our players have been clamoring for us to help them introduce their friends to The Saga of Ryzom," said David Cohen Corval, CEO of Nevrax. "With the Bring a Friend program, we can help our community grow while rewarding our most loyal players with free time within their favorite game." With an immersive player-driven storyline, a dynamic ecosystem, groundbreaking mass combat mechanics, and lush graphics, The Saga of Ryzom is the answer to the prayers of massively multiplayer gamers seeking a fresh, compelling experience instead of cookie-cutter fantasy settings. Do You Have Freinds? Posted October 25 2004 by Div Devlin

As The Market Turns Grows: Codemasters Announces New Chief Executive Even though development has been halted on Dragon Empires, Codemasters continues to make games and announces that Nick Wheelwright has been appointed Chief Executive of Codemasters Group Ltd. Wheelwright joined Codemasters more than 11 years ago as finance director. He became managing director in 1996 and led the company’s international expansion and growth through the to the $100 million developer and publisher of today. Massive Ads Within MMO Games For those who have checked out City of Heroes, Neocron, or Ultimate Baseball Online, you may of noticed the ability for them to incorporate advertising within game. Well, now there is a company which can manage all that dor developers. Massive Incorporated has announced the launch of their service, which they say is the world's first video game advertising network, giving top global brands a new opportunity to deliver dynamic advertising campaigns across a network of titles and genres to reach the 18-34 year old male audience that is increasingly difficult to reach through television and other existing advertising channels. Already listed as clients are Atari and Vivendi. Pardus Goes Open Alpha Pardus is a new free massive multiplayer online browser game which announces they are currently in open alpha phase, and would like you to check them out. Located in a technologically well evolved but war-torn universe you play an adventurer who travels around in his spaceship and tries to make money and obtain power - as do many others. There are many ways to accomplish this: Mining raw materials, manufacturing goods in your factories and trading them, carrying out assignments, bounty hunting, plundering buildings, etc. The focus, however, lies on trade, though it is possible to get rich just by doing jobs or vicious piracy. Zango Games Launches 180solutions, a provider of search marketing solutions, announced their entrance into the gaming industry with the acquisition of game development firm, Full Armor Studios and the launch of Zango Games. Zango Games is the latest addition to Zango, 180solutions' service that offers online content and software publishers new and more effective means of monetizing their assets. In addition, Zango now provides game publishers extensive new distribution and revenue channels that extend the lifecycle of video and PC games. Posted October 22 2004 by Div Devlin

Eve Creates Soft Drink: The folks over at CCP have created a new soda that will be heading into the hands of gamers everwhere, hoping to replace our Mountain Dew's and Dr.Pepper's, the choice of gamers everwhere. Created from within Eve Online, the drink called "Quafe" will be officially launched at the EVE Fanfest, which kicks off today. About two months ago, a CCP employee was able to get his hands on the secret formula and after continuous research and testing, CCP has figured out a way to manufacture Quafe and production has already started in cooperation with Icelands largest soda drink manufacturer. CCP has started a contest where current players of EVE can vote for a Quafe Queen which will be the official spokeswoman for the soft drink throughout the galaxy. You must be a registered user to participate. Posted October 22 2004 by Div Devlin

Lineage II Goes To China: NCsoft Corp, the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games, today announced that Lineage II commercial service will launch in China Nov. 10. NCsoft began beta service of the game in August 2003, through the establishment of a joint venture company. The beta service was very favorably received in China, attracting more than 100,000 concurrent game users in one week. Although Lineage II has not yet officially launched, approximately two million subscribers are now enjoying the game. China will be the fifth market in which Lineage II has launched. The game has already launched commercially in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and North America. NCsoft plans to add Thailand and Europe to this list in the coming months. Posted October 22 2004 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane Expansion Pre-Order: Ubisoft announces that the Shadowbane: Throne of Oblivion expansion is now available for only $19.99! If you do not own the original version of Shadowbane or The Rise of Chaos expansion pack, worry not, for the Throne of Oblivion will include both for free. Those who create new accounts with this purchase will receive 31 days of free gameplay. Furthermore, you will be able to purchase and download Throne of Oblivion online while the boxed version will contain Shadowbane, Rise of Chaos, and Throne of Oblivion on it. To commemorate this occasion they are releasing new screenshots, plus the box art for your enjoyment! Posted October 22 2004 by Div Devlin

SWG: JTLS NDA Removed! The gag order (Non-Disclosure Agreement) for Jump to Lightspeed, Star Wars Galaxies expansion which adds the galaxy to the galaxies with ship travel and combat in space has been removed. Now aspiring pilots from the Empire, Rebellion and Smugglers are free to share their thoughts on this epic turn with the game launched a year ago, without ships. It's about time! Posted October 22 2004 by Div Devlin

Asheron's Call 2 Expansion: Turbine announces they are going to release an expansion pack for the near forgotten game Asheron's Call 2 to be titled Legions. WESTWOOD, Mass. - Oct. 19, 2004 -Turbine Entertainment Software Corp. announced today that it is developing and publishing its first expansion pack for Asheron's Call 2, called Legions. The expansion will continue the ever-evolving epic adventure that was begun with the graphically groundbreaking massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) Asheron's Call 2. Currently under production in Turbine's Massachusetts studio, AC2L is scheduled to debut in Spring 2005 for the PC. This follow-up to the critically acclaimed Asheron's Call 2 will provide players with an ambitious new story line complete with an extensive array of new content for hours and hours of additional online adventuring. In Asheron's Call 2: Legions, players will aid the ancient race of Empyreans through a classic tale of mystery and discovery. Centuries before the time of Legions the Empyreans were ushered far away from Dereth for their own preservation. Now these once mighty sorcerers return to rediscover their lost purpose - and their immense powers - as dark evils unite to keep the Empyreans' history lost for ever. Is anyone still playing? Changes to the game are coming, and in a letter to the players, Jason Bell shares with the future holds. Posted October 20 2004 by Div Devlin

EQII Announces Class Changes: With the announcement last week of the NDA being removed for EverQuest II fans have been rather negative. To negate the displeasure they have been accosted to, Sony has announced changes to the character classes which will make their way into release of the game. Since character individualization in EverQuest II has been a hot topic following the lifting of the NDA, we thought it would be a good idea to share our plan for the all-new features that are going live in the next few weeks to give a greater sense of uniqueness to players. We'll be releasing more details each day, beginning with the character traits list tomorrow afternoon. First, let's talk about what's changing from its current state. We're releasing the final class spells and arts lists. These move away from the standard archetype spells and arts we've been using for balance testing and give players access to their class-specific spell selections. The spells and arts you'll see in the next few updates include new effects, class-specific strengths and flavor, and final names. This means huge patch? Learn More and check out the full announcment from Moorgard. Posted October 20 2004 by Div Devlin

Horizons Community Site: Artifact and Tulga Games have released a new Community Site dedicated to players of Horizons with the most up to date news (they say) for the game. Originally the community was home on Tazoon which was hosted by Artifact (bad thing). With the changes inplay with the companies involved though, they have esentially shut Tazoon down as they will nolonger host what was the premiere (only?) fansite for the game. Being the good samiritan, I sent over an email to Tazoon to offer them hosting, but it looks like they are going to close or just chose to ignore our offer of help at GameRifts (wonder why!). The new community site has message boards!@ Posted October 20 2004 by Div Devlin

Matrix Online: Neo is Dead! The Matrix Online from Warner Bros and Monolith have sent word out via newsletter that Neo is dead within game which takes place in a future setting after the movies take place. Neo is dead. However, in his sacrifice, he insured peace between the humans of Zion and the Machine civilization. The Matrix Online takes place immediately following Revolutions. It is a tense time, and while the truce has held, no one is certain how long it will last. It is very much a cold-war scenario with all sides preparing for the worst, but most praying for peace. In the Matrix itself, three powerful organizations vie for control. The Merovingian continues to solidify his powerbase in the face of record numbers of immigrating Exiles (machine programs that have fled into the Matrix to avoid deletion). For the Merovingian and his ilk, the continuation of the Matrix is essential. Their very existence is now housed within the code of the Matrix. And while many Exiles exhibit incredible powers, each one has a Killcode; a specific vulnerability that can instantly destroy them. The Machines reluctantly allow the recruitment of new redpills, but the sheer number of redpills leaving the body pods is of great concern to them. Without energy from the pods, a power crisis will occur; something that the Machines want to avoid at all costs. In addition, redpills performing rule-breaking feats may be having an effect on the population at large. People rejecting the Matrix en masse may very well be a breaking point for the truce. Zion continues its efforts to free those who see past the Matrix, but with more and more people leaving the pods, their organization is becoming fractured. Some believe that the peace Neo secured must be protected at all costs. Others believe that the machines cannot be trusted, and are quietly preparing for the eventual outbreak of hostilities. There are also those who believe that Neo is still alive... Woah, is fitting. No chance of becoming the One though? Posted October 20 2004 by Div Devlin

PlanetSide Aftershock: Sony announces that they have release a rebundled package for PlanetSide which includes the original game, the Core Combat expansion, and the BattleFrame Robotics action pack: Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming, today announced that it has shipped PlanetSide: Aftershock, the definitive PlanetSide collection. Featuring PlanetSide (the original game that defined the massively-multiplayer online action genre), the PlanetSide: Core Combat expansion pack, and the new BattleFrame Robotics (BFRs) action pack, PlanetSide: Aftershock is the ultimate adrenaline rush for any online action enthusiast. PlanetSide: Aftershock is now available at North American retail stores for a suggested retail price of $19.99, which includes a 30-day subscription for new subscribers to the game's online world. My credit card is going to cry. Posted October 20 2004 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane Vampires: Ubisoft recently announced the second Expansion Pack for their flagship MMO Shadowbane. The Expansion, entitled Throne of Oblivion, spotlights the sudden appearance of its namesake, the dreadful island of Oblivion, where the Lich-Queen Ithriana marshals the unholy legions of the Void. Strange sorceries somehow managed to "reflect" the island across the scattered fragments of Aerynth, appearing everywhere as a foreboding deaths-head of malice. To learn more about Oblivion and its inhabitants, click here or visit the official Shadowbane Community. Vampires are better than Ninjas! Posted October 20 2004 by Div Devlin

SWG: JTLS Release Date! Lucas Arts and Sony have announced the release date for the Jump to Lightspeed expansion bringing the galaxy to players in Star Wars: Galaxies. LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment are pleased to confirm that Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed will release on October 27th, 2004. Haden Blackman, producer, LucasArts: "LucasArts is thrilled with the Jump To Lightspeed expansion, a product of our strong and ongoing partnership with SOE. This first expansion delivers the fun and engaging space combat experience players expect from Star Wars." Jump to Lightspeed adds a whole new level of fast-paced game play to the established Star Wars Galaxies ground-based MMORPG. Thousands of players will now be able to join their friends in exploring and battling across 10 deep space sectors in over 20 different customizable spacecraft, including iconic X-wings, TIE fighters and "Millennium Falcon" type transports. It's been a year since originally promised? Price is $29.99US. Posted October 20 2004 by Div Devlin

ATitD SITE MAKEOVER: eGenesis has done a makeover to the official site for A Tale in the Desert giving a facelift to the game with their sequal in the second telling, which includes links to the linux and mac clients for download. Meanwhile over at GamersInfo they talk about the first month of the new telling in an interview with Andrew Tepper of eGenesis. Posted October 15 2004 by Div Devlin

COMMUNITY ROUNDUP: Seven For One. AGC AND WOMENS CONFERENCE 2005 ANNOUNCED The Austin Game Initiative has announed that the 2005 Austin Game Conference and the Womens Game Conference are slated for next year with a changeup. ACG will be taking place on Thursday and Friday, October 27-28, 2005 in Austin, Texas, while the 2005 Women's Game Conference will take place Wednesday and Thursday, October 26-27, 2005, just prior to and during AGC 2005. This is a great place to listen to what MMO Game Companies have to say to one another from all the greif we as players can cause. The 2005 Women's Game Conference will take place Wednesday and Thursday, October 26-27, 2005, just prior to and during AGC 2005. HORIZONS PLEADING FOR YOUR RETURN Emails from Artifact Entertainment are hitting former beta testers and release customers for Horizons in which it's read that David Bowman is begging for players to come back and try the game, at subscription cost. I.E. No free seven or fourteen day trial. From the blurbs: Friends in Horizons: I know that you have made a choice to discontinue playing Horizons: Empire of Istaria. The choice you made was a personal one; and you made it for one or more reasons. In some way Horizons did not hold your interest, you became dissatisfied, and decided it was not worth your valuable time or money to remain part of the Istarian community. I’m writing today to invite you back. I’m inviting you back because I have confidence. Confidence in the game and confidence that whatever attracted you to Horizons in the first place is now better, more robust or more interesting. Unsubscribed players offered me many reasons why they chose not to continue playing. I can tell you with complete confidence that a vast majority of these reason and issues have been fixed. Horizons offers an extraordinary amount of new content that satisfies both crafters and adventures, in groups, guilds, and as soloists. There is however a free seven day trial if you want to start a new account offered on the main page.[Full Story Below] OMGN NEXUS VIEWS The folks over at OMGN have launched a new portal site called Nexus, where you can tap into their minds as they blog about events not related to gaming news. Share your points with them on what you think about politics, life and world events. NEW SITE FOR DISABLED GAMERS A new website launched to cater to the needs of Disabled Gamers. Able Gamers is a site dedicated to those with physical handicaps to aid with resources while playing MMO Games. Not every game is that freindly and at ABleGamers you can work with others to overcome a variety of issues to enjoy the games. Game Companies need to take note of these guys and work with them during beta's. N3RFED DOES MMO FAMILY Cosmik over at N3RFED continues to make laughs as this time he pokes fun at five MMO Games all "Living in the House" in a parody using the SIMS 2. Check out what happens as Ultima Online, Everquest, Anarchy Online, Shadowbane and Final Fantasy XI all move into the same shack together. SHADOWBANE COMMUNITY EVENTS Shadowbane players have kicked up their own feature events on ther Mourning server to make up for the lack of a Live Event's team by Ubi for the upcoming Throne of Oblivion expansion. It looks like the entire server is going to participate for "The Game of Thrones." SPACE TOURISIM INITIATIVE LAUNCHED BY GAME INITIATIVE FOUNDERS While not directly game related there is a unique games angle to this story. The Space Tourism Initiative, a new organization chartered with the growth of the emerging space tourism industry: privately funded spaceships dedicated to carrying commercial passengers on space flights, has been launched by the founders of The Game Initiative (the producer of the Austin Game Conference and Women's Game Conference). The Space Tourism Initiative announced the Space Tourism Summit, a trade-only event for professionals in the emerging space tourism industry, and the Space Tourism Conference, an event for would-be space tourists. The Space Tourism Initiative is founded by the same folks who bring you the Austin Game Conference. The announcement follows Mojave Aerospace Ventures’ winning the $10 million X Prize and Sir Richard Branson's formation of Virgin Galactic, which aims to be a commercial space tourism operator. It is expected others will soon follow. Word has it that Richard Garriot may also be involved. Full Story Posted October 15 2004 by Div Devlin

DAoC TURNS BIG THREE: Mythic announces that their flagship game, Dark Age of Camelot has turned the big three! As they celebrate their third anniversary they will be offering in game firewroks and a new bring a freind program. Mythic Entertainment, developer and publisher of the award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game, "Dark Age of Camelot(R)," is celebrating the three year anniversary of the game with fireworks and the introduction of the "Bring a Friend" Bonus program. More than 240,000 subscribers continue to enjoy life within the three Realms that make up "Dark Age of Camelot," including thousands of people who signed up on the game’s first day. This week, pyrotechnics will fill the skies above Hibernia, Midgard and Albion as Mythic distributes fireworks for players to join in the celebration. The "Bring a Friend" Bonus program recognizes the contribution made by players to the growth of the game's community over three years. Players that refer new subscribers to the game will receive a BAF Bonus; three earned bonuses earn players a one month free extension to their existing subscription. Full details of the program are available at www.darkageofcamelot.com/baf "The 'Bring a Friend' program is another way of rewarding our players for their commitment to our game," said Mark Jacobs, president and CEO of Mythic Entertainment. "Many of them have brought family and friends into our ever-expanding world and now when they do so, we will show our thanks by giving them a gift, free time within their favorite game." Has it been so long already. Congrats Mythic! Posted October 15 2004 by Div Devlin

UOSE NDA DROPPED: Ultima Online's latest expansion Samurai Empire in which feudal Japan makes it's way into Sosaria has announced they have gone gold and removed the NDA that was binding for a number of beta testers. Be sure to check out the video on the official site where Sunsword interviews for real Ninja's to act as consultants in a casting call. Poor Binky. Posted October 15 2004 by Div Devlin

WoW SERVERS DOWN: Blizzard announced yesterday that after the wipe, the World of Warcraft servers were going down for extended maintenance and are not expected to return until 6pm PDT tonight. Speculation runs rampant that this is in preparation for the announcment of open beta in North America where everyone will get thier first look inside the game. Could this be? We've joined everyone else and are running four PC's to refresh every hour our email for the press release announcing open beta, the Blizzard site, the World of Warcraft product page, and the Community site for the announcment. If you are on our newsletter (upper left) or registered on our boards as soon as we know, we'll send you the word also. In the meantime you can check out Olaf's beta diary which now includes the latest edition, part five. Posted October 15 2004 by Div Devlin

CoH Fans Reeves Tribute: City of Heroes fans have banded togeter to pay tribute to legendary actor Christoper Reeves who portrayed the last Superman on the silver screen, who passed away last Sunday. City of Heroes players have started commemorating the tragic loss of Christopher Reeve - perhaps the greatest Superman in film history. While NCsoft or Cryptic has not made any official plans to honor the passing of Reeve yet (probbly due to copyright or legal issues), players are producing in-game tributes with screenshots. These images can be found on the Warcry fansite. That rocks. Posted October 13 2004 by Div Devlin

DDO - NO PVP: Thanks to Zal for pointing this out to me, Turbine has announced that their MMO in development Dungeons and Dragons Online will not have Player versus Player combat in game on launch. It may just be me, but this pretty much defeats the purpose of D&D no? With Middle Earth Online also in development by Turbine and both games using the same engine, and both not having player versus player comabt, why would I as a consumer want to purchase both? While Turbine does say, "PvP gameplay will not be a part of the initial launch of Dungeons & Dragons Online," everyone knows that PvP patched in later will never work. If a game is not built with the intention of PvP from the ground up it can not be patched in later. One engine to rule them all. Read and Weep, Or Cheer. Posted October 13 2004 by Div Devlin

EQII Voiceovers: SOE has announced that two of the man characters doing voiceovers in EverQuest II will be none other than Christopher Lee and Heather Graham. Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming, today announced that lengendary British actor Christopher Lee and Hollywood star Heather Graham have been cast to lend distinct character and voice to the two main characters of EverQuest II. Mr. Lee and Ms. Graham bring their high-profile acting talents to this revolutionary project which encompasses more than 130 hours of spoken dialog, the equivalent of more than 65 feature films worth of content. "The voiceover component of EverQuest II is a huge project that has already raised the bar for future MMO games," said John Smedley, president, Sony Online Entertainment. "Christopher Lee is an icon in the entertainment industry, having been a part of some of the greatest fantasy and science fiction franchises in history, and he has truly brought Lucan D'Lere to life. Heather Graham embodies the spirit of fantasy, giving life to Antonia Bayle, the leader of the forces of good. Both deliver compelling performances for our players that blur the line between blockbuster Hollywood films and interactive gaming." Thre press release also goes on to say that they will have over 1700 actors doing voiceovers with over 70,000 lines of speech. Posted October 13 2004 by Div Devlin

Matrix Online Flubs Beta: Word has it that the promotional launch of beta for The Matrix Online in which 20,000 accounts were being given away which started yesterday through Fileplanet subscribers failed dismally with reports of key's not being activated, servers crashing and accounts not recognized which caused this reply on the official boards. Numerous violations of NDA abound as much hate ensued. Good thing they pushed release back. They now have time to correct these issues prerelease. Posted October 13 2004 by Div Devlin

Might and Magic Online: Ubi announces thier second MMO title to be Heroes of Might and Magic Online in development by TQDigital according to this article on Gamers.com, which is rather suprising since they own Wolfpack Studios who is already a MMO Developer. Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, today is proud to announce the signing of a development agreement with TQ Digital, a Chinese Online game developer and operator of MMO's. As part of the deal, TQ Digital will develop a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) based on the "Heroes of Might and Magic" franchise. The title is slated for release in late 2005. No word on a North American Relase. Read. Posted October 13 2004 by Div Devlin

VoodooPC Vibe: This will make you weep becuase you want it sooo bad. VoodooPC announces their latest gaming rig, The Vibe. VoodooPC, a world leader in the design and manufacturing of high-performance personalized computer systems, today announced the launch of Voodoo VIBE, the worlds first Central Home Theater and Entertainment PC. A Home Theater PC is a computer system that you would normally hook up to your TV to do things like play DVDs, downloaded video, music, slide shows, television, etc - from your PC to your Home Theater or TV. In the past, this has been an extremely complicated, non attainable feature for the masses. Voodoo VIBE changes this - we bring HTPC to the masses. "We've been working on our home theater project for years" said Rahul Sood, President & CTO of VoodooPC. "It hit us recently that simply turning a PC on its side and putting it next to a television doesn't make any sense. Voodoo VIBE takes the concept of HTPC to the next level." Voodoo VIBE is designed to sit in your home office as a central media server PC. You can then hook up a custom VIBE XBOX to your TV, and not only can you play XBOX games, but you can record and pause LIVE TV easily. This setup allows you to stream videos, display slide shows, play MP3, play LIVE FM Radio, and even burn recordings to DVD from your VIBE XBOX on the VIBE HTPC. "Rather than taking a standard PC and making it more difficult to hook up to your TV, we designed the system around the XBOX so someone like my mom could work it," said Jan Strzepka, VP Business Development, "Not only can my mom work it, but now she doesn't get off the couch." VoodooPC's VIBE is equipped with the AMD Athlon 64 series of processors, up to 1.6 Terrabytes of Hitachi Drive Storage, and the video is powered by nVidia. Featuring a Dual Tuner capable of recording/playing back television and FM Radio, and an nVidia Geforce 6800 Ultra, the Voodoo VIBE is no slouch. VIBE is also designed to be cool and quiet, emitting very little fan noise. VIBE also uses a new remote control technology, the Logitech Harmony Remote allows you to control every infrared capable device in your home - easily and efficiently. VIBE is optimized for gaming, yet it completes your home theater, there really is no better entertainment system available today. Ya know, I need a new rig for the next generation of MMO Games as well as a home theatre system to watch my PRON! Posted October 13 2004 by Div Devlin

ATitD Apple Client: Apple Games posted a new trailer for A Tale in the Desert 2 and a download for the Open Beta of the Mac client. ATITD2 now supports PC, Linux and Mac clients making it a truly multiplatform game. To find the trailer click here and to download the client please check the following links: For PC For Linux For Mac Posted October 12 2004 by Div Devlin

True Heroes GenConSoCal: If you have not experienced True Heroes live, then head down to GenConSoCal where they will be making an even better showing than what they presented at GenCon Indy this summer. We checked out True Dungoen and it was an experience not to missed. Presented by our friends at Upper Deck Entertainment, this event allows players to experience the world of superheroes within a life-size, walk-through "comic book" environment. Not a LARP, True Heroes players focus on combat tactics and problem solving while experiencing exciting sets and interactive props. Players take control of official MARVEL® superheroes, like Cyclops(tm) and Rogue(tm), while battling against evil villains like Sabretooth(tm) and Pyro(tm). In SoCal we will be unveiling the new, streamlined version of the event, playable in only an hour! This will rock. Posted October 12 2004 by Div Devlin

Lineage II Collectors Ed. Ncsoft announces the rollout of thier collectors edition for Lineage II which will include a special DVD, 3-D Elf Figurine, game tools and updated maps! NCsoft Corporation, the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games announced the release of Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle Collectors DVD Edition, which will begin to appear on retail store shelves this week throughout the United States and Canada. Lineage II, popular with player-versus-player fans, provides gamers with a sprawling, visually-stunning, fantasy world. Lineage II allows players to take on solo adventures or join with gamers from around the world to battle fierce dragons, take part in heroic struggles and lay siege to majestic castles. Lineage II Collectors DVD Edition: Each limited edition game pack will come with a DVD containing the full version of Lineage II and the Chronicle I: Harbingers of War expansion featuring castle sieges, a 159 page strategy and hint guide, an updated map of Aden, and a 22-inch tall 3D Paper collectible figurine. The DVD also contains several trailers including a preview trailer of the Chronicle 2: Age of Splendor fall 2004 update and other NCsoft games. More information about Lineage II can be found at http://www.lineage2.com. Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle Collectors DVD Edition is available at most major North American computer game retail outlets at an expected retail price of US$39.99, which includes the first month of online game play. After the first month, players will be charged a monthly subscription fee of US$14.95. Sixty-day game time cards are also be available at many North American retailers for a suggested retail price of US$29.99. The game is rated Teen by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Is the Elf Female? Posted October 12 2004 by Div Devlin

Vanguard Impressions: With the recent event now over where community members were invited out for the Sigil Games Day Event, to showcase Vangaurd: Saga of Heroes a few impressions are now being released. GamerGod, The Safehouse, and Warcry, all have thier intial reactions from hanging with the team. Posted October 12 2004 by Div Devlin

Vendetta Online Preorders: Guild Software and publisher Strategy First announce that preorders at both EBGames and GameStop are now (or should be) available for their upcoming Space MMO Game, Vendetta Online. From the Press Release: Publisher Strategy First and developer Guild Software are calling all spaceship pilots to pre-order Vendetta Online today. Take advantage of this offer to secure your entry into a galaxy where a fully real-time combat system brings an intense, immersive feel to interstellar warfare. About Vendetta Online As pilots in the Vendetta universe, the progression of the player's character will be up to each individual. The starting Nation affiliation gives the player certain benefits and liabilities that fit the particular culture of that Nation, but this merely serves as a starting point for the character. If the user wishes to be a peaceful trader, military pilot, guard for hire, dastardly pirate, or whatever the player imagines, this is all up to the behaviors and play style of the user. There are both lawful and lawless places in the universe and many different factions (including a pirate faction) with differing motives and shifting alignments. Choose your friends carefully and watch your enemies closely! Vendetta Online offers players combat which is fully real-time and based entirely on "twitch" skill. The forward progression of a detailed storyline allows for great plot variation contingent on the actions you take. The vast number of choices in Vendetta Online makes playing a truly unique experience. The Preorder will give/grant you: An extra 30 days free (60 days totoal, a $20 value), Access to the beta, Advanced access to the final game launch. Pre-Order customers will be able to start working on their characters after the "post-beta" character wipe, but before the retail launch, giving them a head start on everyone else. Exclusive in-game benefits, Printed booklet version of the Chronicles of Exile (universe backstory), Vendetta Online poster, featuring the launch universe map and some other cool graphics. Snazzy Vendetta Online box, and the Undying devotion of Guild Software. That's a good enough reason to order it, how many other companies actually admit that? Posted October 12 2004 by Div Devlin

Anarchy Online Free: Marius Enge, Game Director at Fun Com for Anarchy Online issued word via newsletter that full version of the game, including Notum Wars, is now free with a 14 day trial period as they roll out a new distribution method for a monthy subscription prices as low as $7.95US if you purchase a year block. According to N3RFED though, things are not so hot and AO is bleeding veterans hard with the new expansion being broken. Posted October 11 2004 by Div Devlin

Mythic Named UB3R Company: A Mythic Press Release sends word that the creators of Dark Age of Camelot, some score of browser game sand the upcoming Imperator game have been named as Virginia's Sixth Fastest Growing Technology Company, attributing outstanding Customer Service to its 2226% percent revenue growth. Mythic Entertainment, developer and publisher of the massively-multiplayer online role-playing game, "Dark Age of Camelot," has been named to Deloitte’s prestigious Technology Fast 50 Program for Virginia, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the area by Deloitte & Touche LLP, one of the nation’s leading professional services firms. Rankings are based on the percentage of growth in fiscal year revenues over five years, from 1999-2003. Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr is the sponsor for this year’s Virginia Technology Fast 50 program and PR Newswire is the official media partner. Mythic Entertainment’s President and CEO, Mark Jacobs, credits their commitment to customer service and constant product improvements with the company’s 2226% percent revenue growth from 1999-2003. He said, "Mythic Entertainment success is due in no small part to our ongoing commitment to our games and our customers. We have established a tremendous tradition with 'Dark Age of Camelot,' and we plan to continue this tradition with our upcoming title, 'Imperator.'" Mythic Entertainment’s increase in revenues of 2226% from 1999 to 2003 resulted in a number six ranking in the Fast 50 for Virginia. To qualify for the Technology Fast 50, companies must have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 1999 and $1,000,000 in 2003, must be public or private companies headquartered in North America, and be a “technology company” defined as owning proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of the company’s operating revenues (using other companies’ technology in a unique way does not qualify); and/or devoting a significant proportion of revenues to research and development of technology. Winners of the 19 regional Technology Fast 50 programs in the United States and Canada are automatically entered in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 program, which ranks North America’s top 500 fastest growing technology companies. For more information on Fast 50 or Fast 500 programs, visit www.fast500.com Mythic has some really great people, and are not high on themselves. I've not met to many game company reps so down to eart. Congrats Mythic and to everyone that works there! Posted October 11 2004 by Div Devlin

EQII Beta Giveaways: Thanks goes out to Malianea who gave a drive-by posting on our boards to let us know of all the sites currently hosting Beta Giveaways for EverQuest II. If this is a game you have been hoping to get into based in the future of the Norrath we have all known, then take chance! Posted October 11 2004 by Div Devlin

Matrix Online Beta: Starting tommorrow (Tuesday) the Matrix Online from Warner Bros. and Monolith are giving away 20,000 Beta Accounts through FilePlanet for thier MMO set after the movie trilogy. With the release being pushed back, could this be open beta? But in a cloased sense? Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Sega and FilePlanet are offering 20,000 authentication keys to gain access to The Matrix Online Beta. Only FilePlanet subscribers will get the chance to play in a special FilePlanet exclusive look into The Matrix Online Beta. Every week on Tuesday we'll be releasing 5000 authentication keys to subscribers on a first come, first served basis over the span of a month. Once the keys run out for each week, you'll need to check back the following Tuesday to attempt access into this sprawling world of virtual reality. Woah. Posted October 11 2004 by Div Devlin

WoW Beta Soon? Word has it on the Blizzard site for World of Warcraft that beta could be coming soon! We are happy to announce that we will soon be accepting applicants for the World of Warcraft® Open Beta Test for North America. The open phase of beta will give people a chance to enter Azeroth and play World of Warcraft before the game is released. More details will become available in the days ahead, so stay tuned. Now, is that not a tease. Historical precendence between publishers has been to do open beta's on highly anticipated titles which commercially release. It's to deny sales to rivals. With SWG:JTLS due in stores next, could we see open beta for WoW announced the day before JTL is in retail? In other news, BizzPlanet is going to host an interview with Richard A. Knaak on Saturday, October 16th at 1PM Central Time/-6GMT. The Live interview will take place on IRC Chat: server: irc.wc3campaigns.com channel: blizzplanet The topic of the interview will be his latest Blizzard Entertainment pocketbook War of the Ancients: Demon Soul and the upcoming Warcraft Manga Series: The Sunwell Trilogy. Richard A. Knaak is a famed author of D&D titles, Dragonlance, Dragonrealm, Legend of Huma, Minotaur Wars, Ragnarok Manga and acclaimed by Blizzard Entertainment fans for his pocketbooks Warcraft: Day of the Dragon, Diablo: The Kingdom of Shadow and War of the Ancients: Well of Eternity. Currently, the Warcraft books written by Richard A. Knaak have had impact in World of Warcraft MMORPG's quests like Tremors of the Earth-- with an Elf agent of Krasus the dragon, from Warcraft: Day of the Dragon and Well of Eternity; and an in-game instance that Jeff Kaplan(Tigole) mentioned will be Grim Batol-- which may answer the origin of the Dragonspawns and the fate of the Red Dragonflight eggs during Day of the Dragon and the whereabouts of Deathwing in Stormwind, Blackrock and Burning Steppes quests. War of the Ancients: Demon Soul is a retro story of how Day of the Dragon came to happen when Deathwing lured the Dragon Aspects into draining their powers willingfully to power up the Demon Soul. Gem that was used by the Orcs during the Day of the Dragon to mind-control the Red Dragonflight and Alexstraza the Queen Dragon. Be sure to check that out. Posted October 11 2004 by Div Devlin

Server Outage Apologies to everyone who was not able to access our sites overnight as we had an unforseen server outage. It's been resolved. Posted October 8 2004 by Div Devlin

Auto Assault Team Page: NetDevil has added a new feature to their upcoming car-wars game Auto Assault, in which they profile the team members with background info. "Scorch" is from our hometown of Chicago. Cubbies blew it again. Learn about da team. Posted October 7 2004 by Div Devlin

DAoC Reveals Two Hibernians: Mythic has unvieled two more new classes making their way into the Dark Age of Camelot expansion, "Catacombs" which has started beta testing. Now revealed are the Vampiir and the Banshee which completes the new races making their way into game! "She wailed like a banshee!" Check em out. Posted October 7 2004 by Div Devlin

DDO News Round Up: Dungeons and Dragons Online has a new producer letter from Judith Hoffman as she talks about "How The Magic Happens." You can check out the details on that as well as the upcoming "World Game Day" and other related topics on our subsite DDORifts'. Be sure to check out the contest going on as well. Posted October 7 2004 by Div Devlin

Campion Joins MEO: Mike "Campion" Wallace has joined the Middle Earth Online team at Turbine games as the new Senior Producer. Kicking things off he starts with his developer diary with an introudction (for those who don't know him) and what his role will be at Turbine. It's good to see Campion back in MMO's and with him at the helm perhaps now MeO won't be bleeding fans due to silence. Check his DevDiary. Posted October 7 2004 by Div Devlin

WoW Player Sounds: World of Warcraft has included player character sounds in game where players can issue "Voice Emotes" which draws on the tradition of humor from Blizzard games. Voice your actions! The speech files will be for all eight races giving players the ability to express taunts, cheer's, insults and other funny phrases. The Male Troll is a real chuckle. Check em! Posted October 7 2004 by Div Devlin

A Ranter With Style: It's been sometime since a real "ranter" has been around that's been able to touch the funnybone while getting both nods of agreement or disdain for disagreements with the written word but latley I've been following the N3RFED Blog in which everything is not sacred and open for scrutiny while offering a laugh. A Lum for a New Day? Read! Posted October 7 2004 by Div Devlin

Auto Assault Hiring: NetDevil has word on their employment page that they are looking to hire a "Lead Content Designer" for Auto Assault. Duties will include: A Lead Content Designer will be responsible for producing and maintaining game content, including design documentation, maps, levels, and missions, and managing design production staff for Auto Assault, a vehicular combat MMOG project, in a deadline-driven, team environment. Essential Functions: Responsible for producing documentation, maps, levels, and missions using a proprietary toolset Responsible for designing player and non-player factions, NPCs, timelines, and back stories Responsible for working with Level Editors to ensure fun and bug-free gameplay in every scenario produced before releasing content Responsible for working closely with Art and Technical leads to oversee production of every map to a finished shipping state Responsible for creating and updating documentation and managing asset pipeline needs Must be an active participant in regular Design Team meetings discussing related issues to productivity, process, work flow and quality Must be an effective listener, able to resolve problems, empathic and decisive Must motivate co-workers and foster a positive, efficient work environment Must participate in game playtest sessions Position reports to Design Lead Send those resume's in! Posted October 5 2004 by Div Devlin

As The Market Turns: GameTrust and The Diffusion Group have issued a joint press release announcing that China will become the Worlds #1 Online gameing market by 2007. One of the most comprehensive studies ever undertaken of Internet usage in China, "The China Online Gaming Report," published by Game Trust and The Diffusion Group, reveals that the world’s most populous nation will become the #1 online gaming market by 2007. Currently, China has more than 80 million Internet users and approximately 15 million broadband subscribers. Rapid penetration of PCs and broadband are fueling explosive growth in online gaming and other online sectors. Among the study’s findings: Chinese Internet users spend an average of 12.3 hours/week online Netgames and entertainment are the second most popular online activity 84.3% of Internet users email; 15.9% play online games 37.8% of wired households have made an online purchase "Based on everything that we have learned through this unprecedented research, we believe that 80% of the Internet's content will be in Chinese in ten years," said Adeo Ressi, CEO of Game Trust. "Presently, China is the largest online gaming market on a per capita basis but not by dollar volume. As the China gaming marketplace rapidly matures, we expect that economic growth will rise in accordance with Western models. Network gaming comprises one of the largest opportunities in the Chinese Internet services market." "More and more competitors are entering this burgeoning market," said Michael Greeson, president of The Diffusion Group. "As this happens, business models will morph and new value-chain entities will emerge. In turn, this will provide new sources of game content and services and ultimately threaten the existing Korean monopoly of the Chinese online gaming market." For further information about additonal findings check out the China Online Gaming Report. Posted October 5 2004 by Div Devlin

Community News: Horizons GamersInfo talks with David Bowman about Horizons overall in a weeklong series, while HomeLanFed talks with Chris Tulumello from Tulga Games on the aquistion of Artifact Entertainment's assets. Jade Empire XGR talks with composer Jack Wall about is work on the "Myst IV: Revelations" soundtrack, Peter Gabriel's involvement with the project and the upcoming score to Bioware's "Jade Empire." Shadowbane HomeLanFed talks with Frank Lucero on the upcoming Shadowbane expansion "Throne of Oblivion." The Matrix Online VE3 talks with producer William Westwater from Monolith on "The Matrix Online." Posted October 5 2004 by Div Devlin

Horizons Auctions: Artifact Entertainments issues forth a press release announcing the sale and auctions of in game virtual items within their game Horizons due to be aquired by Tulga Games pending court approval after filing Chapter 11 earlier. Artifact Entertainment, the developers of Horizons: Empire of Istaria today announced the commencement of in-game property auctions for subscribers. Horizons, a massively multiplayer on-line game (MMOG), allows subscriber characters to bid on over 1770 available plots of in-game land. Once the auction is complete, the plot owner has the opportunity to build, or