Bunnyhops with Adellion GameBunny talks with "Adellion" developer John Bates from HonourBound about their mmo game in development. "The game has had major input from the fan community and is due to begin beta this autumn." Check It. Posted February 27 2004 by Div Devlin

Ninth Domain Bites It: It looks like another MMO Game which is in development may be closing down this month. "Ninth Domain," a fantasy themed world where inhabitants are battling demons with a unqiue story twist from Tektonic Studios has lost funding to continue. Based in Oakhurst, California and incorporated October '03 consisting of team members who have also worked on such MMO titles as; Asheron's Call, Asheron's Call: Dark Majesty, Asheron's Call 2, Dragon Empires, Earth and Beyond, Middle-Earth Online, The Realm, and Ultima Online, as well as many single players games wehave all enjoyed. Ninth Gate is their first MMO Project as a Studio. On MMORPG.Com they have this quote from Dan Scott, President of Tektonic: "If we do not have funding within a month or so the team will be pretty much gone. They have already existed with no paycheck for six weeks. They do continue to try and work on the game but of course they need to support their families. We lost funding through no fault of our own, we were on time and on budget, rather the funding company ran in to a contractual problem with another loan that kept them from being able to continue to fund us." This is really becoming a bad year for decent games that are being killed. Posted February 27 2004 by Div Devlin

Themis Group Hiring: Themis Group is hiring. Currently they are looking for an MMO Veteran to handle Public Relations, for them, who will interact with the Marketing Director and Client. The job description: The PR Manager reports to the Marketing Director and is responsible for the planning and execution of public relations over multiple products related to the interactive entertainment industry. While under the supervision of the Marketing Director, their responsibilities will include: - Attend strategic planning meetings with executive team and clients - Manage the development and execution of PR plans for individual events, activities, or products - Translate high level objectives into high-impact materials that reinforce messaging, positioning, and drive consumer interest - Draft and distribute highly effective press releases - Create and distribute measurement reports after advertising campaigns and events - Work with internal teams to accomplish objectives - Initiating and maintaining client relations - Act as liaison with media outlets - Manage efforts to ensure timely media reviews - Meeting with clients on a regular basis - Organizing and leading press tours to key media destinations This is a full-time salaried managerial position. Late hours and crunch time are expected. Must live in North Carolina. In addition to the OCR, they have openings for a CSR and a GM. Check out thier listings page. Stupid Question. I thought Themis was a Press Relations Firm? Posted February 27 2004 by Div Devlin

EA Announces Expansion: Rumor now has it that 200 people have been let go from Origins in Austin, but to bolster the belief that EA is still very much committed to supporting Ultima Online, they have announced a new, as-of-yet-named, expansion for Ultima Online. Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS), the world's leading interactive entertainment software company, today announced the development of the next expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online game, Ultima Online(TM) (UO). Expanding the world and advancing the franchise, the new title will give consumers considerable player vs. player capabilities, two additional professions and a vast new land to explore. The UO expansion pack is scheduled for release in Fall 2004. The game name has not been announced. "We are constantly improving Ultima Online by paying attention to our players' wishes," said Anthony Castoro, Producer of UO Live. "Feedback from our large international player base helped us determine priorities for this expansion, including new world content and a unified player vs. player system." Exploring a mysterious Asian environment, players can strive to master two new professions; one focusing on physical combat abilities, and the other on magical combat and stealth. In addition, players will have new house customization themes and decorations to use in designing and building homes from scratch or modifying their existing homes. PvP Upgrades for an expansion? Hope it's not another Factions Fiasco. Posted February 27 2004 by Div Devlin

Dallas Leaves PlanetSide! Dallas Dickinson, Producer for the MMO/FPS Game, PlanetSide which has drawn a number of players in from the PvP Community has departed the team in a new Producer Letter, in which Raja Altenhoff is announced to be taking over the role. Dallas sign’s off with this farewell: Well folks, With heavy heart and unsteady hand, I have to write this, my farewell letter. It has been a fantastic time for me on the PlanetSide team, but all good things must come to an end. I will soon be leaving the PS team, and have already handed the official reigns over to Raja Altenhoff. We've achieved a great deal over the past year, and the game is getting better every day. I'm really looking forward to seeing the upcoming design changes implemented. We are finally in position to respond to player feedback - I know that SmokeJumper and Spork are really happy with the dialogues that our In Concept forums have been inspiring. And let me simply let you know that some GREAT things are in the works that will be revealed over the next few months. I'll still be out there playing, of course. So those of you who know my in-game handle can all kill me when I appear on the surface of Auraxis (though I won't appear as TSlothropPS very often). No sentimentality here, just a sincere wish that you all continue to enjoy PlanetSide. I feel that it is truly the most interesting and challenging game released in the past few years, and I hope you all understand that you are a part of something totally new, and something that will continue to grow and improve. You can check out Raja’s introduction. Best of Luck Dallas, you were PlanetSide, and a welcome Raja! Posted February 26 2004 by Div Devlin

Ubi Soft + Matrix Online = Not. Warner Bros. Online sent over the following announcement, with permission to reprint as is. Warner Bros. had originally announced at E3 last year, that they had partnered with Ubi Soft to co-publish "The Matrix Online." As rumors have circulated around the MMO Community the past couple of weeks, with the cancellation of URU: Live from Ubi Soft, this final answers the nagging question that The Matrix Online was going to be cancelled. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Ubisoft, today announced their mutual decision to end their co-publishing relationship for The Matrix Online massively multiplayer online game. The two companies will continue to work together on other interactive ventures, including video game titles currently in development. "Ubisoft has been a great partner and we look forward to continuing our publishing relationship with them on several other projects," said Jason Hall, Senior Vice President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. "Development of the Matrix Online game is still being handled by Monolith Productions. We are on schedule for our November release and are moving towards our planned open beta this spring." "Ubisoft will continue its strong and positive relationship with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment now and in the future on other games" said Gilles Langourieux, Managing Director of Ubi.com. "Our commitment to online gaming and MMOs remains stronger than ever as we continue to grow our existing offerings like our worldwide gaming portal and our award-winning multiplayer games on both PC and console platforms." Woah. Posted February 25 2004 by Div Devlin

Pann Leaves Eve Online! Valerie "Pann" Massey, the Community Relations Manager for CCP's MMO/Space Game, Eve Online has left the galaxy as of Monday. We've not seen an official announcement from CCP about this as of yet, but are told that filling her position will now be "Kieron" whom everyone in the Eve Community is already familar with. We wish Pann well in whatever game she may next appear in, as she will be dearly missed by the Eve Community, and welcome Kieron to his new role. Eve Online was originally published by Simon and Schuster until the end of last year, when CCP reaquired the rights for the game, and began self-publishing the game with a downloadable client. Posted February 25 2004 by Div Devlin

EA To Close Austin Offices (pt2): Rumors have been flying around the net that Electronic Arts is going to close their Austin offices, home to Origin and Ultima Online. The Austin Game Initiative issued the following statement as a response to Electronic Art's Intent to Close Origin Systems: AUSTIN, Texas, February 25, 2004 - According to published reports Electronic Arts' Origin Systems division is expected to inform its employees today that the company will be closing Origin and relocating its operations to California sometime in the near future. While the Austin game development community is obviously disappointed by the EA's decision, the Austin region will continue to thrive as the 3rd largest hub of game development activity in the United States, with more than 50 companies in the local area making major contributions to the game industry, including game development, publishing, tools, middleware, chips and hardware. "The Austin game development community is really an extended family in many ways. Past members of the Origin team have have gone on to create a number of powerful local studios in their own rights," said Christopher Sherman, Executive Director of the Austin Game Initiative (AGI). "And there is every expectation that the talented members of the Origin that do opt to remain in Austin will be snapped up by existing studios in the region or may once again spawn a new crop of studios here locally. The subject of EA's plans came up at the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) local chapter meeting yesterday evening and the mood was very upbeat with attendees being very supportive. With so much talent expected to be available several local studio heads have indicated they are now evaluating accelerating their hiring plans," Sherman said. "With a compelling cost of living and a powerful creative community that includes games, music, movies and technology Austin is primed to continue to thrive as a leader in interactive entertainment software and hardware," said Sherman. Industry leaders in the area include more than 35 game studios producing both top hit franchises and original titles. Nintendo, Microsoft, Motorola, Dell, Criterion Software, Sony Online Entertainment and dozens of others maintain offices in the region. A list of game companies in Austin can be found here. About the Austin Game Initiative The Austin Game Initiative (AGI) is chartered with the growth of the computer and video game industry in Austin, Texas, thereby increasing its overall contribution to the economic development of the region. Austin is the # 3 location in the U.S. for game development. The AGI is dedicated to serving the needs of companies involved in producing interactive entertainment software and hardware for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers and the Internet. We are focused on assisting local interactive entertainment companies in growing their businesses and recruiting additional interactive entertainment companies, entrepreneurs and talent to Austin. The AGI produces The Austin Game Conference which will take place September 9-10, 2004. More information about the Austin Game Initiative can be found at http://www.AustinGame.com. Posted February 25 2004 by Div Devlin

Warhammer Online's Managing Director: Climax Studios is delighted to announce the appointment of David Nicholson to the position of Managing Director of the Nottingham studio. The long-standing industry veteran will oversee the production of the highly anticipated MMORPG, Warhammer Online and the future growth strategy for the Studio. Having held senior management positions at Psygnosis, Gremlin, Infogrames and Rage, David has a wealth of invaluable experience and a proven pedigree at managerial level. With such an illustrious track record, Climax views David as the perfect man to lead the Nottingham office. Having spent the early years of his career as a Management Consultant specialising in Project and Programme Management systems, David strengthens the group's skills and experience in the field of Production and Project Management techniques. "The chance to join an ambitious and forward-thinking company like Climax was one I couldn't pass up," admitted David. "The company's rise and rise over recent years has left no-one in the industry unaware of who Climax are. The forthcoming launch of Warhammer Online is going to further cement the company's reputation for developing games that can garner commercial success and critical acclaim, and I'm delighted to be joining at such an exciting time." Shout Outs to David! Posted February 25 2004 by Div Devlin

City of Heroes Beta Update: (Cut and Pasted Just For You!) Beta Update #3 – Gaffer Returns! Jeremy Gaffney (Gaffer), CoH 3rd Party Executive Producer, returns with an informal but revealing look at the current state of the game, its approaching launch, and plans for future content updates. Read his update! Posted February 25 2004 by Div Devlin

DAoC: Frontiers Update Dark Age of Camelot has new information up that they have revealed for their upcoming free expansion, "Frontiers." Revealed are the Transportation changes and Maps for Realm Wars. (Thanks Chernevog!) Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

Middle-Earth Online Dev Diary: Middle-Earth Online has a newer Dev Diary up from the Lead Quest Designer, Teos. In the blog, he goes into how the questing system within game will work and how to get players to explore the game's content. Be sure to give it a read, and gain insight. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

PotBS Naval Guns: Flying Labs has an updated for Pirates of the Burning Sea, in which they cover Naval Guns, from Swivels and Cutts, to the massive 42-pound long guns. Included as a bonus are in game screenshots. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane Dev Diary: To go with the new "Welcome Back" campaign running in Shadowbane, Lead Designer Ubiq posted up a Dev Diary covering the imporvements which are coming in the next major publish for Siege's. Bad news is, the fixes will come in after the "Welcome Back" campaign ends. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

Ultima X: Oddyssey Updates Ultima X: Oddyssey has two major updates drawing upon some of the major let downs of their sister game Ultima Online as they deluge players with new info. Catering to the want's of days long gone, is a section detailing the abilities of "Necromancers" that will be in the game as well as information about ingame "Friend Lists." Looks like they are truly planning on making this game, the game everyone wanted. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

World of Warcraft Updates: World of Warcraft is still wowing us with information. The FAQ has been updated with new information, mainly covering questions on a tutorial, alt-tabbing, and in game currency. It's all about the shiney. Kingdoms of Azeroth has an interview with Katrica covering several questions including death penalites and Ebay policies. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

Funcom Awarded Grant: Funcom, the folks behind Anarchy Online, have been awarded a grant from the Norwegian Film Fund to partially finance the development of 'Dreamfall', the long-awaited follow-up to 'The Longest Journey'. The Norwegian government has, for the first time, actively endorsed game development, marking a welcome shift in the cultural acceptance of computer games as a medium comparable to film and television. 'Dreamfall' is set in the 23rd Century, where a young woman accidentally uncovers a conspiracy related to dreams; a conspiracy that may herald the destruction of the twin worlds of science and magic. Confronted by mysteries that she cannot resolve on her own, she must seek assistance from the one person who might have the answers: April Ryan, the heroine of 'The Longest Journey'. Kudo's to Funcom! This sounds like something to play! Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires Beta Question: Ted Carron the Producer for Dragon Empires at Codemasters is sending out questionaires through e-mail to select indivduals to gauge how people would prefer to get their beta clients in the future, as they prepare to to start large scale distribution. They ask, if you would prefer to download the client, which for some people may take up to five hours, or receive the beta on a CD in the mail which will have a charge of $5 for shipping and handling, which can be used as a rebate against the purchase price of the full game when it is released. I'd pay for beta. It's nice to be asked how we would like to get the client, before hand. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

City of Heroes Comic: NCSoft and Crytpic Studios finally let the cat-out-of-the-bag. To go along with the City of Heroes game, each month there will be a Comic book based on the game. The premiere issue of the City of Heroes comic ships in May. In addition to the issues received by the game’s players, the comic book will also be available in comic book stores across the country. Starting in March 2004 it will be available to comic book retailers through Diamond Comic Book Distributors, the country’s largest comic distributor. Blue King Studios also announced plans to collect every six issues of the comic into trade paperback books for sale in comic book stores and other retail outlets. Subsribers to the game, get a free subscription. We have the first eight pages here. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

Community News: Larian Studios sends word over that they have released the second "Beyond Divinity" newsletter. In it, they offer insights into a strange & mysterious race, and also announce the winner of the fantasy chess set. Check it out! Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

Realms of Torment d0rf Dwellings: Last week the Realms of Torment team released eleven new screenshots featuring Dwarven Dwellings on the official forums. If you missed them, you need to take a gander as these look great, and show how dwarves would live inside a mountain. Check em. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

Asheron's Call 2 Website: The transition is almost complete for Asheron's Call 2, as Turbine Games launched the new home site for the game. Turbine reaquired the franchise from Microsoft and has been working on integrating the game back into the Turbine homestead. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

As The Market Turns: Boston Globe Looks at MMO Games The Boston Globe takes a look at MMO Games, in their article "Flood of Games, To Few Gamers Cause Change In Online Relams." The article talks about how the market has become saturated and talks with Genevieve Waldman for Microsoft on Mythica, Jason Rubenstein for URU: Live, Jeffery Anderson from Turbine, andHaden Blackman for SWG. Of note is EA's "The Sims" sporting 80,000 customers, far below EA's expectations. Sony (re)Hire's EQ Programmer Sony Online announced they have (re)hired Jon-David Wiesman, The Creator of EverQuest's XML Interface and EverQuest for the Pocket PC. who until recently was working on Sigil Games, unannounced MMO title for Microsoft. In his new position, Wiesman will be responsible for developing new game properties, game engines, and content integration tools for SOE's next generation of online games. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

GameTable Online Hiring: GameTable Online is hiring a programmer to help them bring one of the most requested games to the Net. Would you like to become an integral part of our community by coding Wiz-War for online play? Wiz-War is one of the most requested games on our site and it needs a talented game programmer to bring it to life. Program Wiz-War for us and here's what you'll get: * A financial stipend. * A royalty stream based on Wiz-War game play. * A lifetime membership to GameTable Online. * A completed game on your resume being played by the public at a real online gaming site. * A hosted copy of your resume off of the Game Center page of your game. * Real world programming experience using a mature gaming engine and working with industry professionals. * Ongoing respect and love from our members! * Bragging rights for creating the one and only online version of this cult classic. To learn more about the job requirements and how to send a reume in, check thier listing. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

NearDeath Turns Three: Near Death Studios, the developers for Meridian 59: Resurrection have turned three years old. February 20th, independent game developer Near Death Studios, Inc. celebrated its third anniversary. Incorporated in 2001, Near Death Studios was founded as a game development firm in California by co-founders Brian Green and Rob Ellis II. Near Death Studios is best known for their revival of the classic online RPG "Meridian (tm) 59". The company purchased worldwide rights to the game in 2001 from The 3DO Company, and has been running Meridian 59: Resurrection for over two years. The game has servers in both the United States and in Germany. "We are very pleased with what we have accomplished," said co-founder Brian Green. "It's been a long, hard road, but we've lasted for three years in what is acknowledged to be very adverse economic conditions. Our love of gaming and Meridian 59 has given us the strength needed to offer this game to an audience that appreciates great gameplay." When asked about the company's future, Mr. Green responded, "Like most small business owners, we hope that Near Death Studios, Inc. will continue to grow. We're not only working on improving Meridian 59, but we're hoping to expand into other projects in the future." "Currently, we're focusing on our flagship game, Meridian 59," Mr. Green added. "We're working hard to continuously improve the game and to demonstrate to online RPG players that there is an outstanding alternative to the other games offered on the market. Or biggest project is rewriting the old software-based rendering engine to take advantage of modern 3D hardware acceleration. We hope to have this project completed very soon for our fans to enjoy." Afterwards, Mr. Green logged on to Meridian 59 as a mortal character and was given congratulations from a large group of players who proceeded to kill him... repeatedly. Happy Birthday! Thats the best way to celebrate ina PvP Game. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

Rubies of Eventide Closed. Rubies of Eventide, the MMO Game by CyberWarrior which faced financial troubles last year and almost closed due to lack of funding has now closed. The games official website is down. Jeff Grubb posted the final announcment on the RoE Boards last week: I am sorry to be the one who has to do this, but unfortunately nobody else is around to make an official announcement. Rubies of Eventide is closing today. The refunds that you have received will hopefully compensate everybody who has paid beyond today. I have just finished taking down the servers, and will wait a few minutes to take the forums offline. After that, the router gets the connection pulled from it, and therefore everything falls into history. On behalf of all of us here at Cyber Warrior, and especially Marc Howe who can not be with us at this time, I thank you for all of your support, good spirits, and most of all for being with us through the thick of it. Again, I am sorry we have to do this. We waited until the very last minute trying to find a way out of our crisis, but with the server population lower than it has ever been, there is no way around it. I can't say for sure what is going to happen to the game. I would like to be able to say that we could start again under different circumstances, but I just don't know at this moment whether or not we'll be able to. As for me, I will be in other MMORPGs in the coming months. Look for me possibly on Horizons and World of Warcraft. I currently play Planetside as Rahiem, and whatever other game I will either be Rahiem or Fantomas. Thanks again, and sorry. Jeff Grubb Fantomas - Rahiem Three Games Already This Year, it's sad to see RoE shut down, as they cared about the players. Posted February 23 2004 by Div Devlin

Turbine West Opens: Turbine Games sent out a press release announcing the opening of their new Studio's on the west coast, with Jason Bell as the head honcho. Turbine Entertainment Software Corp., a premier provider of online subscription entertainment, today announced it has opened a new studio in Santa Monica, Calif. The new facility will better position Turbine to work with important west coast publishers and Asia/Pacific business development. The studio offers a strategic foothold in the Southern Californian technology corridor, one of the fastest growing and most competitive regions for the gaming industry. Likewise, it provides the company with even greater depth to develop its portfolio, which includes the award winning titles Asheron's Call® and Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings®, as well as its new online titles based on Tolkien's famous "The Lord of the Rings" books and the world-renown "Dungeons & Dragons®" role playing franchise. Wonder if everyone inside the home office is jumping at the chance to relocate? Posted February 18 2004 by Div Devlin

DAoC New Frontiers Release: Mythic Entertainment's reps for Dark Age of Camelot sent out a press release today for the mainstream media, reacknowledging the upcoming expansion, "New Froontiers," slated for release within the next couple of months as noted: Mythic Entertainment, developer and publisher of the award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game "Dark Age of Camelot," today announced "Dark Age of Camelot: New Frontiers," a free downloadable expansion that reinvents the game’s unique Realm vs. Realm combat system, where player characters from the game’s three different Realms engage in life and death struggles across numerous battlegrounds, keeps and through the expansive frontier areas. The Realm vs. Realm system was recognized upon the game’s original release by players and reviewers alike as one of the many features which truly distinguished "Dark Age of Camelot" from other MMORPGs. "New Frontiers" will make battles more accessible to players, deepen the tactical possibilities and diversity of warfare styles, and establish a concrete rewards system for Realm vs. Realm combat. Mythic plans to make "New Frontier" available in Q2 2004. It's nice to be reassured that us gamers, know were going to see a decent release from a proven company. Posted February 18 2004 by Div Devlin

Eve Online Hikes Rate: CCP for Eve Online has published thier first volume of the Eve Online Newsletter, which includes updates on World Events, The upcoming Expansion and the recent records they have broken. Of particular note is the item regarding the "Subscription Price Changes:" For our players in the rest of the world, what affects us is that our revenues are denominated in US dollars, while our expenses are in Icelandic kronas. As you are probably aware of the US dollar has fallen in value quite dramatically in the last couple of years, and that trend doesn't seem to be changing. We can absorb usual currency fluctuations for limited periods but this has been going on for too long a time now. For games in the US, a monthy fee will now be $14.95, with discounts available for three and six month plans. Is Eve Online worth this price? Many tend to agree that it is. Posted February 18 2004 by Div Devlin

ToonTown Interview on GameBunny: Toons and Bunnies. Oh My. GameBunny has an interview up with VR Studio's, Mike Goslin, Managing Director of TOONTOWN ONLINE. A Snippet: Both myself and my daughter enjoy and play Toontown almost daily. She's 4 and I'm in my 30's. How is this even possible? What enables you to attract and keep players of all ages interested? One of our design goals was to make the game easy to learn and difficult to master. As a result, we put a great deal of effort into keeping things simple, especially for the novice player. For example, you walk around with the arrow keys and select things onscreen with the mouse. This makes the game more accessible to younger players. At the same time, we tried very hard to make things get challenging as you progress, which keeps it interesting for more advanced and older players. For example, some fairly complex strategies are required to win battles further along in the game. I think having adult-friendly humor in the game also helps appeal to the older players, and the over-arching theme of "work vs. play" is pretty universal as well. Read More. Posted February 18 2004 by Div Devlin

Sunsword Comments on UO: Anthony "Sunsword" Castoro, Producer at Origin for Ultima Online gives a glimpse into th future of UO, with this weeks edition of "Comments from the Team.": Things have been incredibly busy at Origin for the past nine months as we've been building up the team, working on publishes, and planning for the future. Part of that planning is research, which includes reading the message boards, taking part in live online chats, conducting surveys and attending focus groups. Learn More. Posted February 18 2004 by Div Devlin

Anarchy Online: Alien Invasion! Funcom announces their latest expansion for Anarchy Online with "Alien Invasion." Set for release this summer, Alien Invasion' offers a game full of innovative features and fun gameplay elements. Not only will the social aspects be greatly improved, with players being able to construct their own towns, set up unique shops and build impressive organisation headquarters, they also get their action quota filled when they come face to face with aliens wielding superior technology. The new alien menace threatens all of the citizens of Rubi-Ka as the planet is suddenly invaded. A massive call to arms is sounded across the planet as the players rally to defend their own cities against the alien hordes. The players can also fight their way into the heart of invading spaceships, gaining riches, fame and power. Check out the product page to learn more. Posted February 16 2004 by Div Devlin

Eve Online Breaks Barriers: Eve Online, the sci-fi/space MMO game now under CCP has broken yet another record for simultaneous users online. As of Sunday night, they had 7,250 players all logged in and running on a single server. Topping that, Eve Online has also been nominated as a finalist for the AIAS Award in the PC/MMO Game Category, joined by "A Tale in the Desert," "EverQuest: Lost Dungeons of Norrath," "Horizons: Empires of Istaria," and "Puzzle Pirates." Posted February 16 2004 by Div Devlin

MEO D0rfs and Hobbitses: Middle-Earth Online throws down two updates, one in the form of a Dev Diary from Keeper, who brings a focus on d0rf Architecture worth reading. Also announced is a new Hobbit class, "The Rogue," in which the team shares with us the a snippet of what to expect. Posted February 16 2004 by Div Devlin

UX:O Guild vs. Guild Wars Ultima X: Odyssey has updated the site with new info for all those eager to see how PvP will evolve with Guild versus Guild warfare in a three page update. The first step to guild war is creating a Battle Challenge, which sets the rules for the encounter. As a guild leader, you can either create all Battle Challenges yourself, or by using UXO's flexible guild ranking and permissions systems, you can create a war council to handle those for you. You won't have to go to a specific NPC or location to initiate Battle Challenges, either - it all works through your guild interface! Check it. Posted February 16 2004 by Div Devlin

Warhammer Online Beta: Climax developer Robin Dews of Warhammer Online announced what the plan is for Beta Testing and how the phases will work. The testing will take place through four discrete stages that we're calling alpha, internal beta, closed beta and finally open beta (I'd like to call them Harry, Simon, Fred and Bert…but the software team won't let me - bah!). Read his full announcment. Posted February 16 2004 by Div Devlin

UO/IPY Gets Maim-Stream Coverage: Suits over at Electronic Arts are getting a rude awakening when a mainstream press magazine posts an article about the WTFMan's free server "In Por Ylem" for Ultima Online using Pre-UO:R rule-sets. The article which appears in this months EBGames Magazine, GMR does a good job of slamming EA: Their new UO server, called In Por Ylem (named after one of the game's magic spells), eschews the ridiculous, EverQuest-ish direction that UO has taken over the past two years. Instead, it casts players back to the heyday of player conflict, guild wars, and adapt-or-perish gameplay--the way it should have stayed in the first place. This follows just a month after suits at EA who work on Ultima Online attempted to get Azaroth to help create a corporate run (charging) server for UO: Strangely enough, and to my complete surprise, I received a little email, some ICQ fun, and got cornered in IRC by several people. Talk was, of course, centered around how Origin may be interested in putting up a Pre-UO:R shard in the near future due to the success of IPY. Right now, IPY boasts one server with 1,500 players. Is EA to late? (Thanks to UOPowerGamers) Posted February 16 2004 by Div Devlin

The Mythica Falls: Suprising everyone last week, Microsoft announced the cancellation of the Norse Themed game Mythica, which at the end of the year was facing a lawsuit from Mythic Entertainment about the name. Posted to the official site was this goodbye, and the sad news that up to 40 team members may be let go: Our goal with "Mythica" was to create a truly innovative massively multiplayer online role playing game. While the game looked ready to deliver advancements to the genre, after careful evaluation of the MMORPG landscape, MGS has decided to stream-line its portfolio, making fewer investments in this genre. After a rigorous review of current and future projects, the decision was made that Mythica would not be one of the projects we would continue to invest in. We truly appreciate all the support 'Mythica' has received from its fans and the games community. Chris Lye shared why the game was cancelled over on GameSpy, and shares that they Mythica lawsuit had nothing to do with the reasons why Microsoft dropped the game, also elaborating on what will happen to the team, and the engine for the game. Mark Jacobs of Mythic Entertainment tells GameSpot that even though the game has closed, the lawsuit is still not over, until all appropriate decisions have been made by both sides, during an interview covering the aspects of launching an MMO Game. It sucks when a community is torn asunder. The gods will not rest easy, and the Mythica fans will not allow the end to come, as they battle it out in what could be a version of Ragnorak, with a petition to keep the game alive. To Chris, Corey, Hal and Lila we hope good things come for you and the rest of the Mythica Team, and we look forward to seeing all of you on your next project. This was a major let-down for fans eager for something new. Posted February 16 2004 by Div Devlin

10 Ways to Expand MMO Market: JCal over on HomeLan has a list of the "Top 10 Ways To Expand The MMO Market" which follows the cancellation of Mythica by Microsoft. Some of these are pretty funny and may actually be done. Love the Gary Coleman rip. Check it. Posted February 16 2004 by Div Devlin

Ballerium Signs Uranium: Majorem Ltd., developer of "Ballerium", officially announced the performers to compose the music for the thir RTS/MMO game. Majorem’s announcement came as a surprise after previously signing up the well-known "Infected Mushroom" to compose the game's soundtrack. According to the agreement between the two, Uranium will compose seven different soundtracks, one for each race in the game. Testers in North America got the first taste of the sounds last week inside beta. Posted February 16 2004 by Div Devlin

City of Heroes Steel Canyons: City of Heroes has updates regarding the City itself for their superhero/comic book style MMO Game. "Rising to dominate Paragon City’s skyline with massive skyscrapers, Steel Canyon symbolizes the financial wealth of the city. From the development of early mercantile trade to high-powered corporations, Steel Canyon’s role in Paragon City’s rise to national prominence cannot be overlooked. Find out more about Steel Canyon here." Posted February 16 2004 by Div Devlin

All About Gaming: Really, it's all about gaming after all, no? Check out the PainKiller download.The single-player demo will feature three action-packed levels, including one that has never been seen before. The new level is set at dusk in a large oriental castle and temple-style arena, where explosive Ninja heathens lay in wait. Fireworks will fly and a messy, bloody battle will ensue. Natural Selection v3.0 beta 3 has just been released to the public with tons of changes and fixes, with more players joining every day, they are already the biggest independent Half-life mod out there, and are starting to breath down the necks of the VALVe-owned games as well. Savage EU has a new vid which was just released, which is availabloe over on BoomTown. Spellforce: The Order of Dawn has gone retail from Encore. "SpellForce" combines the action and tactics of an RTS (real-time strategy) game with the immersion and character development of an RPG (role-playing game) into one epic adventure. Players assume the role of a Rune Warrior - a human "damned to immortality, and bound to the power of the blood runes," a human whose destiny is to unite the races of a splintered world against demons, the undead, and a rising evil, dark and elemental in nature. Through their avatar, players will be able to build bases, create units and manage armies, just like in an RTS. Wars and Warriors: Joan of Arc went retail, and is becoming the new addiction for many. If you have not seen the promos and trailers, you do not know what you are missing. This is to be a first in a series of games going across history. Posted February 16 2004 by Div Devlin

Shadowbane Reactivation: Former account holders in good standing were given a Valentines Day gift from Ubi Soft with an e-mail announcing a free trial for Shadowbane. From the mail: This email is to inform you that your former subscription to Shadowbane has been reactivated free of charge for 15 days, from Friday, February 13th, 2004, through Saturday, February 28th, 2004. For more information about your temporary account reactivation, visit: http://www.shadowbane.com/returntoshadowbane/ Please note, you will be charged nothing for playing Shadowbane during this period. Only if you renew your subscription by entering in new billing information and selecting a new subscription plan will you incur any charges. 15 days is pretty good to take a fresh look. Well, 13 days now. Posted February 16 2004 by Div Devlin

EQ Gates Of Discord Retails: Sony announced that their latest EverQuest expansion, "Gates of Discord" has headed off to retail stores. The Gates of Discord offers exploration of a newly discovered continent on the west side of Antonica, where the port of Nedaria's Landing is abuzz with activity in preparation for one of the greatest and most dangerous expeditions in the game's five year history. Stories and events will lead players across a previously uncharted land twisted and scarred by an unknown force. New alternate advancements will challenge the most veteran of players, while the new Berserker class brings inordinate amounts of strength and bravery. Party leaders will also receive an additional bonus in the form of new leadership abilities, which will allow them to identify and designate the order of groups of monsters for the entire group to attack. If you hurry, while supplies last you can take part in an exclusive offer, giving discounts for Kingston and Creative Lab products. Posted February 11 2004 by Div Devlin

Horizons Free Trial: Horizons is already offering up free seven day trials for the game, courtesy of FilePlanet. If you have been wanting to check the game out first hand, but did not want to spend the cash for the full retail version, this is a great way to do t. You have to be a member of FilePlanet though. Word of warning, the trail does require you to register using a valid credit card. Posted February 11 2004 by Div Devlin

PotBS Music: Pirates of the Burning Sea is on it's way to becoming even better than already anticipated as they announced who will be doing the sound scores at FLying Labs. Richard King, the man behind the impressive sound-design in the feature film, "Master and Commander," has agreed to work with Flying Lab Software on their massively multiplayer, sea-faring PC adventure game, Pirates of the Burning Sea. From the press release: Richard King is a veteran Hollywood sound designer. His many credits include Twister, Gattaca, Magnolia, Unbreakable, Signs, and Peter Weir's magnificent seafaring adventure film, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. For Flying Lab's Pirates of the Burning Sea, which takes place on the high seas during the 18th Century, King will produce a complete soundscape that will include cannons firing, ships exploding in splinters, sails billowing in a rising wind, the awesome fury of a storm, the calls of Caribbean birds, and more. King's realistic and impressive sounds will be ever present in the game's dynamically mixed, cinematic surround sound. Sounds good! Check out the two new short DevBlogs which went up yesterday as well. Joe talks about integrating with a new drop of the graphics engine, and a totally non-game log from Robespierre. Posted February 11 2004 by Div Devlin

Starport: Galactic Empires Released Playtechtonics is happy to announce the release of their game, Starport: Galactic Empires!From the press release: Starport is a massively-multiplayer game designed for hundreds of simultaneous human players in the same world, connected by the internet. Set in "the golden age of galactic colonization," players compete against each other, and in cooperation, to achieve the most illustrious career as a starship captain. Starport is unique among massively-multiplayer games in that it is winnable. Each game world lasts for two weeks and features player rankings that show which players and teams are doing the best. According to Playtechtonics president and lead designer Aaron Hunter, "the winnable nature of the game adds a strong element of strategic gameplay, something that hasn't been explored enough in the genre of online games. Player and team motivations are much more well-defined." I need to say, the game while appearing old school, looks like it's going to be rather enjoyable. Check it or for yourself. Posted February 11 2004 by Div Devlin

URU Live Petition As already announced, Ubi Soft and Cyan Worlds have killed URU: Live, based on the Myst games with this letter from Rand and the Cyan Words Team, but fan's won't give up though. They have gathered to fight the good fight with a "Save URU Petition." Send your shout-outs and sign up, it's good to dream. Posted February 11 2004 by Div Devlin

Adellion Changes Faces Honour Bound has announced that faces are changing over at Adellion. After being at the helm of Adellion for nearly four years, Paul is taking a break to concentrate more on RL stuff. During his absence John (Crydee) Bates will be taking back his role as project manager. We wish Paul the best during his well deserved brake, and a welcome to John, who everyone already knows. In the update they also make mention that instead of waiting for players to come in during beta, they will be opening slots during alpha phaes for those looking to help out with testing. Check and see if you are on the beta list. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

ACDM Unlocked: Turbine announced in a "Letter to the Players," they were unlocking Dark Majesty for all players of Asheron's Call. I'll cut right to the chase: Starting with the February event, all players will have access to Asheron's Call: Dark Majesty content, whether or not they purchased the expansion pack. That means that all characters will be able to access Marae Lassel and all characters will have the ability to purchase in-game housing. Dark Majesty was, is the only expansion which was released to the Asheron's Call community. All content, including player housing will become available. This follows the previous announcment that AC players were going to see an expansion down the road. Good things for the AC community, without doubt. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

Caeron 3000 News Briefs: Number of updates from Magique Productions tied to their upcoming MMO game, Caeron 3000. Leading off, is the news about redesigning the Darian species which had heads that looked like ass according to some circles. Several rough sketches of Darian heads are now available to peruse and offer feedback on, in the C3K boards. And players say developers don't listen? The features page has been updated which includes development plans for a phased release schedule of the game. Also, in the same page is updated character carrer paths worth checking out. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

As The Market Turns: Bank of America Boots Take Two Chairman Bank of America called for the removal of Take Two's chariman, Ryan Brant, citing Take Two's financial woes according to this story on Yahoo. (Thanks HomeLanFed) DVD.com Shut's Down DVD.com, one of the websites to order your DVD's from online so you don't have to pants on and go out of the house shut down. No further orders were accepted, and all remaining orders to be shipped were canceled. Those who were charged and have an invoice will get their credit refunded. EA and Marvel Join Forces Electronic Arts and Marvel have joined forces for a new line of fighting games in which EA will go head-to head with Marvel superheroes. Marvel will feature the EA heroes in comic books to be published. Mondain versus Dr. Strange? The Shi'ar versus Progens? Nevrax and Themis Partner For Ryzom Nevrax Ltd (http://www.nevrax.com), an independent online game and software developer, today announced it has signed a deal with the Themis Group (http://www.themis-group.com), an international provider of outsourcing and consulting solutions and services to the interactive entertainment industry. Under the terms of the agreement, the Themis Group has developed a global communications strategy for Nevrax's upcoming title The Saga of Ryzom, which it will implement in the US marketplace while supervising all European efforts. Thunderbox PC Sponsors MMO Guild Anyuzer.com has the story that Thunderbox PC is the first corporation to sponsor guild in MMO Games, giving pr0ps to The Syndicate. As Written: Thunderbox PC has become the first corporate sponsor of The Syndicate and has taken the revolutionary step of becoming the first company to sponsor an online gaming guild. Thunderbox is known as an industry leader in the area of high-end Gaming PCs. Eh? Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

City of Heroes PreOrder: Shazam! Pre-Order. Learn More Here. That Will Be All. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

Community Chats: Dungeons and Dragons Online GameBanshee does Ken Troop from Turbine. Marvel Games HomeLanFed does Ames Kirshen, the new Games Manager. Middle-Earth Online Middle-Earth Warcry does Chris Taylor from Vivendi at GenConSoCal. Pirates of the Burning Sea GameMethod does Russel Williams from Flying Labs. Time of Defiance BDGamer does Mark Ashton. Ultima X: Odyssey GameZone does Johnathan Hanna. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

DAoC Epic Battles: Sanya wants your help. Over on the Herald, she posts that Mythic is looking for really good screenshots of epic battles within game. Realms clashing, Albions armies marching, Midgardians charging and Hibernians... hybernating? Got a good one you wouldn't mind being posted to the Herald and possibly a national magazine? You've got until midnight tonight to send it to me at sanya@mythicentertainment.com. The top five winners will receive New Frontiers beta accounts Beta, Beta, Beta! Also released Realm Abilities for the upcoming Dark Age of Camelot expansion, "New Frontiers." It covers Mythic's design goals and an overview of what's trying to be accomplished. Mythic also announced a large amount of players were banned for using a cheat utility within game. If you looking forward to jumping back into the game and were once on Andred, well, time to hurry and rekindle that magic. Andred is being phased out. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

Dragon Empires Beta Invites: Codemasters announced that Beta0.5 for Dragon Empires has officially begun. As promised last week, today 3,200 beta invites have been sent. However, several invites have bounced back, so if you were hoping to be invited, make sure your info for beta is updated with the correct information. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

Earth and Beyond Transfer Service: Earth and Beyond has reopened their Character Transfer Service, in which players can migrate their toons to the galaxy of choice. Two packages are availabe, one which allows ytou to create a new account and migrate a toon from an existing account, while the other allows for a name change. Prices vary. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

EverQuest Upgrades to DX9: Sony announced they are upgrading the EverQuest engine that will require all players to have DX9 compatible video cards. In a major shout out, the community was not prepared to upgrade their vidcards for what appears to be some hidden marketing deal to sell vid cards. A Promo is being offered for subscribers to get discounts on new cards. New screenshots for the expansion "Gates of Discord" can be found here, and EQII screens here. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

Horizons State of the Game: Steve Snow over at Artifact Entertainment has a new "State of the Game," up and running for Horizons, which puts the focus on Dragons. This was the major selling point for both non-PvP and PvP players alike. He writes: In response to player feedback regarding Dragons we went back to them and had a close look at how they currently play. To make a long story short, after a review, there are some things we want to do in regards to growing a better gameplay experience for dragons. Steve tessl of both short term and long term goals they have for Dragon's in the community. Check it. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

Laghaim Continues Events: iEntertainment Network, North American publishers of the popular Korean MMORPG Savage Eden: Battle for Laghaim, plan to continue the "Altered States" event series which permits new and existing players to participate and experience unique and additional elements of Savage Eden game play. The massive line up of events allows players to acquire money, build characters, and level up to more advanced stages of gameplay while getting more involved in the community. During the course of the "Altered States" series players can look forward to double money in ALL zones, a monster Bounty Hunt, the Valentines Day Massacre, a GM Fugitive Seek-N-Slay (which sounds damn cool), and Double Experience points! Check em. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

Lineage II Movie: I've seen and shown off this movie to everyone I know for the past week. Lineage II released a trailer for their game showcasing some quick highlights of just about everything. It's the one dated 01-06-04. It rocks. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

MEO Team/Dev Diary: Middle-Earth Online has a Team Letter up for Feb. in which they talk about Combat. The skills of a character are honed by combat, just as they would be in real life. A player who consistently favors a specific type of weapon will become more proficient with that weapon the more it is used. Once a clumsy farm lad has survived enough encounters with roving Orcs he will find that he is not only stronger but that he can wield his sword with the skill of a true Champion. Also be sure to check out Muttonhead's Dev Diary, in which he throws out some screenshots and talks about his role on the team. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

Mythica's Asgardian Myths: Mythica has published another article related to Asgard. As they tell, "While Mythica follows the broad strokes of Norse mythology, it doesn't follow it to the letter, for many reasons. This article describes Asgard as the Norse imagined it, and makes a couple comparisons to the game." Be sure to give it a read. While there, be sure to read up on "Hrimthurs, the Mason," who according to the Norse, built the home of their beloved gods and what the story was surrounding its construction. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

PotBS Cutter Ship: Pirates of the Burning Sea has another ship update. This one on "The Cutter." It's small, it's sleek and it packs a punch, they say. Included is a new wall paper. Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

Large PvP Fails in SWG: Star Wars: Galaxies has failed the large scale, massive combat of Rebel versus Empire, inter planetary, galactic battles. Worse than Shadowbane? A game set up, based on the popular universe of George Lucas, designed for faction vs. faction fighting can not support hundreds of players within a zone. Or some such: The big question is, "Can players have an event with this many people?" While we have seen servers handle 150 simultaneous players, that was not during a PvP event where the majority of players are fighting. During combat scenarios the action is faster and the number of server commands and messages to each client increases many times over. The short answer is that having that many players engaged in PvP is beyond our current server capabilities. Bolded for emphasis. You can read the thread here that was posted by Pex, if you are a registered account holder with an active subscription. As to the long awaited space expansion which was to follow after the first six months of the games release, Kevin "Q3-PO" O'Hara stated that it's coming. We've said that it is currently scheduled to come out in 2004 and that we have people dedicated to working on it now. Otherwise, we've been focusing most of the dev time, community interaction and PR on the upcoming Themed Publishes ("Imperial Crackdown", "Droid Invasion", etc). Expect to hear more about the Space Expansion in May or there abouts. Just in time for E3Expo. Love the Star Wars Universe, but burned out on what Sony provided. Check out Star Wars Combine which I'm told has a great community. And is free... FREE! (Death Matches too?) Posted February 9 2004 by Div Devlin

Warhammer Online Site ReDesign: The official website fo Warhammer Online got a major face lift, and damn it looks good. While there, check out the latest Picture of the Week, as the Halflings get thier moment with a description from Shadowstrike. Despite their lack of size Halflings are a fairly hardy race. They are almost as strong as Elves and act