Flaw or solid design decision? Bad content or work in progress? When you jump online to browse the forum of your favourite MMO, what are you likely to type out in response to criticism? Dave Kidd over at Trembling Hand has written a great piece that should help you identify whether you're an MMO apologist or fan. From the story:

They're ultra conservative about the state of the game, and they place enormous faith in the wisdom and work ethic of its creators. They'll excuse clearly broken parts of the game as 'design decisions' and they see criticism as a personal attack on the developer -- and thus themselves -- and consequently respond defensively. It's a black and white world for the Apologist and you're either with him or against him.

Are You a MMO Fan or an Apologist? [Trembling Hand]

Most of the Rock, Paper, Shotgun guys recently posted their thoughts on the Warhammer Online closed beta; they were descended upon by WAR supporters (some rabid, some a little more even-tempered) for drawing more comparisons between WoW and WAR. After this little display of MMO chest thumping, Alec Meer put up a thoughtful piece on why it is that WoW has become a dirty word, both in and out of the industry, and why people are so quick to leap to vociferous defence of their games:

I know Gamestop has listed a tentative date for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King for some time now. Now we're getting inside information from 7-Eleven of all places.

According to several different store employees, the game will be streeting on November 4 for $US 40. 7-Eleven, we're told, will be selling the game starting at midnight. Can you imagine? Lining up at 7-Eleven. How odd, though at least there would be Slurpees readily available.

Multiverse were working on a Firefly MMO. We say "were", because as of today, that project's been "delayed", which in light of the following sounds a lot more like "cancelled": the company have announced they're working on a Buffy title, a Titanic title and a Second Life clone. The Buffy one sounds like the fleshiest of the three, promising to be an MMO, albeit a messy one, since they say it can be played "either as a fully immersive 3D environment or as a Flash-based 2D game". They're also working on a free Titanic "title" (ie not a game), based on Jim Cameron's movie, that lets you explore the ship and-zzzzzzzzzzzzz................urk, sorry. Lastly, they announced Multiverse Places, which is basically Second Life, just made by a different company.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer MMO announced, Firefly MMO 'delayed' [Massively]

KingsIsle Entertainment has official opened enrollment for the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts as they announce the official launch of their card-based spellcasting battle MMO Wizard101. Choose from seven schools of magic, customise your avatar, adopt a magical pet, engage in puzzles and mini-games, and of course - take on all comers in online magical duels. The base game is completely free-to-play, with the full game offering new lands and features for the price of $US9.99 a month, though they are offering a launch special year subscription for only $US60, which seems like quite a deal.

The game is extremely family-friendly, right down to the pre-defined character name generator. Sure, my magical alter ego Fuckwad the Fantabulous can never know true life now, but if it means I'll never run across a Gandolff, Raestlyn, or Dughenning it's a small price to pay. Hit the jump for details on how to enroll.

Sure, the industry-dominating MMORPG World of Warcraft is bringing in tons of cash from its millions of subscribers every month, but such success doesn't come without a price. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Blizzard senior VP Frank Pierce explains that with great subscription numbers comes great, exhausting responsibility.

I don't know if I'd describe it as "interesting" as much as exhausting...As a company we've found ourselves spread very, very thin - because the World of Warcraft community has a voracious appetite for content. That development team is 130 people, they're working on content patches, they're working on an expansion set, they've got their hands full - and then we've got the other development teams that we need to continue to support as well.

Incidentally, the question Frank is responding to is "How interesting has it been for you to watch the success of World of Warcraft?", a question a lesser man might have answered with "pretty interesting" and then moved on to the next, hopefully better question.

Blizzard's Frank Pearce [GamesIndustry.biz]

Perfect World Entertainment has kicked open the doors to the beta version of Perfect World international, the English-based version of popular 3D MMORPG Perfect World II. After a successful closed beta period, they're ready to let anyone and everyone step into the shoes of the Human, Winged Elf, or animalistic Untamed and explore the massive world on the back of their flying sword. The game features an extensive mount system which includes "the unique ability to mount and carry other players", and what's more fun than mounting other players?

Other features of PWI include a system of alignment that allows you to follow a good or evil path, customisable clothing, large-scale PVP battles and a Marriage System, which presumably comes into play after all that player mounting. Best of all, open beta characters carry over into launch, so for all intents and purposes this is less of a beta, more of a launch while we fix things sort of situation. Head over to the official website to sign up!

iRacing.com want to make it very clear - they don't make games.

They have been working on their PC racing game simulation for four years and they take it very seriously. So seriously that, now it is out of beta playtesting just testing and it is ready to play be experienced they want to make sure nobody gets the wrong impression and accidentally has fun.

Now, see, I think Turbine have missed a trick here. Surely the best — nay, the only — way to enter the beta program for LOTR Online expansion pack Mines Of Moria is by speaking 'Friend' and then entering?

Sadly, they have plumped for the more prosaic (and, lets be realistic, more practical) option of a website where you can sign up in the hope your name gets plucked from the wizard's hat.

The Mines final-stage beta is invite only, but you can apply for consideration at the official site. As well as the titular underground complex, the expansion will contain a couple of new character classes, hundreds of quests and Balrogs.

Invites Open for Mines of Moria Beta [Wired Game|Life]

Before I started my four-year run with the original Everquest, I spent a couple months in the world of Dereth in Asheron's Call. That was nine years and one failed sequel ago, and I was almost certain the game had long since faded away into nothingness. Apparently I was wrong, as the title is now celebrating its 100th update since release. Originally published my Microsoft, that company dropped the torch and Turbine picked it up and ran a very, very long way with it.

The latest update introduces a new faction system, two new PVP controlled towns, new areas, and level 8 spells. It's a mighty hefty amount of content for a game I was almost positive didn't exist anymore.

Release Notes - August [Asheron's Call via Eurogamer]

Remember that user-created-content for City of Heroes and City of Villains that I got so excited about back in April? The innovative feature that allows players to create and share their own in-game missions is officially on its way in Issue 13: Architect. Players will be able to pick the map, location, villains, objective, and then write your own fiction for the mission, and your peers will be able to rate your creations, with rewards for the highest rated creations.

Eyonix over at the official World of Warcraft forums has dropped some details about a new patch due to be released "in the coming weeks" that slips in some of the new Wrath of the Lich King content before the release of the eagerly anticipated expansion pack. Included in the patch are nifty new features like barbershops in all capital cities, allowing players to change their look, Stormwind Harbour and new zeppelin towers outside Ogrimmar and Tirisfal to help facilitate transportation to Northrend, two brand new arenas with moving obstacles and terrain hazards, new spells and talents, revamped hunter pet skills, the incredibly nifty guild calendar feature, and a new profession - Inscription. Players who own Burning Crusade will be able to level Inscription up to 375, continuing past that cap once the expansion is released.

Exciting news, but not as exciting as the news it implies. Wrath of the Lich King is coming, perhaps sooner than we've hoped. I for one welcome our new Death Knight overlords.

Content Patch Before Wrath of the Lich King [WoW Forums via Wired - Thanks Wingsoverglory!]

It probably wasn't coincidence that Shane Murphy returned my call just after I'd thrown my third interception in NCAA '09 and punched off the machine in full perfectionist disgust. Murphy, a professor and researcher of psychology at Western Connecticut State, would later explain that I exhibited classic high-ego, low-task gamer behaviour. That is, I am fixated on being seen as a winner, and not the process of becoming one.

Murphy approaches video gaming as a sports psychologist, with 30 years of experience in that field. The American Psychological Association's annual convention this month already discussed research showing the benefits video games deliver in learning and problem solving. Also at the convention, Murphy gave a presentation advocating for the study of competitive and cooperative behaviour in gamers.

There was a bit of confusion over the skilldeck feature of Chronicles of Spellborn when I posted my impressions of the game yesterday from the Games Convention in Leipzig, so I contacted the game creators to procure a few shots of the deck in order to better explain how it works. As you can now see, there are five rows, which you can fill with six different skills each. You select the row you want active using the 1 through 5 keys, and then left clicking (ideally in most cases with an opponent targeted) activates the current numbered skill, rotating the bar to ready the next. It's up to you to fill the slots with skills that compliment each other, creating powerful skill combinations.

It's a press release twofer! Mythic Entertainment has announced that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has gone gold, with the game shipping to stores in time for servers to go live on September 18th, and the gold farmers are ready for it! "Internet gaming service" SwagVault has announced that they'll be giving away 50 beta keys for the game via randomly selected email entries received between now and September 5th, giving players a chance to experience the game for themselves before deciding to buy. They'll also be giving out beta access to folks whose order numbers contain the number sequence 8907, which coincides with the open beta date of September 7th, 2008.

So how exactly does a gold seller wind up with 50 beta keys for an MMO from Mythic Entertainment, a company that has gone after such enterprises legally in the past and won? I'm going to go ahead an assume they used bots.

Developer Cryptic has answers. In the first round of Star Trek Online developer Q&As, lead designer Al "Captain Geko" Rivera, executive producer Craig "Zinc" Zinkievich, and their nicknames answer probing questions. For example: How much of the game will stick to the canon? Captain Geko answers:

Every series and movie is considered canon, and we are staying very true to this in our development. Star Trek is rich with lore and history, and there is a great deal of material to build upon as we move into the 25th century with Star Trek Online. We are working with CBS to ensure that everything we create is true to Trek and makes sense. We know that fans want to play Star Trek Online because they want to explore the Star Trek universe, and we are striving to deliver as authentic an experience as possible. Our team has seen all the shows and movies and we're watching them again every single day. We are also studying other soft canon resources such as novels and comics. From those, we are looking for inspiration and references to further enhance our game. Where it makes sense, we will include some soft canon elements in Star Trek Online as well.

Is a KOTOR MMO coming? All signs point to "yes", but then, all signs are worth bupkis without official confirmation. Which this is not. What this is is an agreement between you and Amazon that, should BioWare be making a KOTOR MMO and it turn out to be real, and later goes on sale, that you'll be one of the first people to be notified of its availability. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic MMO [Amazon]

All the rules dictate that I should start this post with something like "Love is in the air at Outspark!", but to be honest I have no idea if love is involved. To me, the idea of getting married in a game is a man-sized portion of daytime talkshow weird with a side order of emotional issues.

Regardless, Korean import specialists Outspark have decided to 'celebrate' (i.e. promote) the fact that players of the MMO Fiesta can now get hitched in-game by giving away that all-purpose wedding gift, the toaster.

For the next few weeks, all couples who choose to celebrate their love in Fiesta will be eligible for a draw that could see them taking home a shiny, real-life bread charring unit.

Couples who tie the knot in Fiesta also get a 'Power of love' spell, a wedding pet, the ability to summon their spouse from anywhere in the game and the satisfaction of knowing that they have left normal life far behind and are now sailing uncharted waters of human experience.

Toasters are good! [Fiesta.Outspark.com]

With an established MMO full of powered-up highlevel characters, it must be tricky to attract new players. Word of mouth is usually a great way to bring in new blood, but it's no fun joining your mates if they are all demi-gods and you are just a lowly serf who can barely lift a sword.

With that in mind (and perhaps with one eye on the 18 Hour Boss Battle debacle) Square Enix has revealed plans to make Final Fantasy XI a bit more fun for newer players and to rebalance the game so a to allow experienced characters to stand side-by-side with newbies without it being completely embarrassing.

The "Level Sync" system is a way of powering down high level characters so that they can form parties with new players and everyone can play on a field that might be completely level but which is only a bit bumpy.

New Level Sync Feature to Change the Way You Party![PlayOnline - Thanks to Cayce White for the tip]

With the game being in development for so very long, I wasn't sure what to expect when the nice gentlemen from Spellborn NV sat me down to give me a first hand look at their MMORPG The Chronicles of Spellborn. The game was being shown in publisher Frogster's booth, the very same booth where I got my first look at Runes of Magic. In stark contrast to that game, which endeavours to combine elements of many successful RPGs into one game, The Chronicles of Spellborn team's goal is to create an MMORPG like nothing we've ever seen before.

Our friends at Manchester University have published another study looking at developing nations where the poor earn money by gold farming or powerlevelling in MMOs. The estimate is half a million people do the work for pay, a supermajority of them in China. Of the online toilers, 400,000 are involved in gold farming, the rest powerlevelling and other services.

The study's author admits that precise estimates are not possible because of the underground nature of the activity. But it's at least a $US 500 million global industry as of now, with organised crime snaking its tendrils into the business.

The growth is entirely predictable and not really a new phenomenon, when you think about it. "When you get people with more money than time and time than money the two will find a way to meet", said Stephen Davis, of game security firm Secure Play. Quoted for truth.

Poor Earning Virtual Gaming Gold [BBC]

Okay, so Runes of Magic bears a passing resemblance to World of Warcraft. The original Taiwanese creators of the game were big fans of Blizzard's MMO, so it makes sense that there would be some similar elements. Yes, the graphics, fonts, and interface all channel the wildly successful MMO, and sure, some of the character classes and abilities are very much like those you'd find on Azeroth. And yes, perhaps the first monster I saw taken down in the demo I attended this morning was a minotaur creature called a Tauren Patrolman. While at times it stretches the very limit of the word homage, Runes of Magic isn't a WoW clone. If anything, it's a game that seeks to harness the best elements of all MMORPG games into one, adding a few innovative new elements in the hopes of becoming one of the most compelling free-to-play online RPGs in existence.

Rather than focus on what's similar to WoW, let's take a look at where the game differs instead.

After one of the world's best Final Fantasy XI guilds had to throw in the towel after a marathon 18 hour plus battle left them exhausted, physically ill and — most importantly — non-victorious, Questions Were Asked.

Clearly concerned that their customers might be in danger of A) doing themselves a mischief and B) not having fun anymore, Square Enix has responded with a series of changes to the MMO "to prevent such battles from exceeding a certain predetermined length of time"

In a post to the official site entitled "Regarding Specific Notorious Monsters" Square has announced that the major league bosses Pandemonium Warden, Absolute Virtue and Jailer of Love (all of whom would make excellent Emo album titles) and their associated pets will be modified in the game's September update.

Final Fantasy XI Online Official Site [Thanks to Jeff Amick for the tip]

Last Month we got a sneak peak at how Lego Universe was coming along and today we get another ticket behind the scenes. In this expanded video we take a look at Net Devil's 2nd LUP or (LEGO Universe Partners) event where 49 adult fans got together and focused on making worlds in the game. I don't know about you guys, but that actually sounds like it would be a great experience. The game will be available for PC sometime next year.

Anyone itching to try out Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment's Stargate Worlds MMORPG could do worse than get themselves over to mmolecule.com.

The MMO knowledgebase is holding an exclusive Stargate Worlds Beta Key Giveaway, open to its members.

Just sign up with the site (new members aren't excluded, don't fret) and then sit back — nervously fingering your James Spader action figure is optional — until September 20th, when 200 names will be drawn from the inverted pseudo-Egyptian headdress and each awarded one Beta signup key.

If by some chance you are also a member of a Stargate Worlds Command (a gaming clan, in other words) and host a website in mmolecule's Guild Services Open Beta (a sort of clan-management service) you will get a second chance to win.

mmolecule Launches Stargate Worlds Beta Key Giveaway [mmolecule]

Here's a sneak peek at Interzone's MMO soccer title, currently in development at the company's studio in Perth, WA (with smaller chunks being handled by its overseas branches). Announced two months ago, the game will include social networking features, avatar customisation, virtual items and balls. Lots and lots of balls.

Interzone debuts trailer for Interzone Futebol [Tsumea]

Earlier today we showed you the Opening cinematic for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King now you get to see the cinematic trailer for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. As we said this morning whether you are a fan of these two games or not, it's pretty hard to under appreciate how incredible their cinematic sequences are. Expect the game for PC in mid-September.

Prepare for some intersteller MMO goodness. NetDevil, which is actually a developer 10 minutes away from where I live, is working on Jumpgate Evolution. From this trailer we can see the game is coming together quite nicely.