If you're a fan of Neverwinter Nights we got a treat for you. Storm of Zehir is the second expansion for the game expected out later this year and we got some new screens to keep you guys busy. But wait there's more! If you click the jump now we will even throw in this free trailer for your viewing enjoyment.

This month's Wired has a look at MMO Arden: The World of William Shakespeare. Armed with a $US 250,000 MacArthur Foundation grant, Indiana University profession Ted Castronova and his students created the MMO, which as the professor points out, was "no fun" and "failed." Castronova and his team and working on the game's sequel. He's learned from his experience and offers up these five tips on making academic games that don't suck:

I've heard making games is awful. Just awful. Long hours, longer hours, terrible food. Old housemate of mine worked for Irrational, nearly killed him. But it can't be all bad. I imagine there's one or two jobs that are great. The guys at Treehouse who get to translate/write wordy Nintendo games, that'd be a hoot. As would being a writer for BioWare. Which brings us neatly to the fact BioWare are hiring. Hiring for their MMO. You don't need to be a real writer, just able to grab a copy of Neverwinter Nights and put together a "writing sample". Further details below.

BioWare Jobs [BioWare, via PA]

Aside from keeping tabs on the industry by refreshing Kotaku at least 150 times a day (or recommendation), there are other ways to prepare for the wide world of game design and break into a career promising endless hours for lesser pay. And Bethesda's Matt Grandstaff is here to tell you how!

Get your hands on the Source SDK, The Elder Scrolls Construction Set, the Neverwinter Nights toolset (either game, 1 or 2 or both!). Make lots of mods. When the time is right and you have a chance to interview for a design job, show them all your kick arse mods.

Breaking into Games: I want to be a Designer! [via gamingtoday]

Are gamers today being denied the social love of good-old pen and paper role-playing games?

Maybe.

I only recently got back into the swing of things (and took some matters into my own hands), and I'm currently running a D&D 3.5 Edition game with a few mates every third Saturday or so.

Okay, that's a lie. We've had one session. But enthusiasm is super high.

There was the temptation, for a moment, to craft the campaign in something like NWN or NWN2, and do the whole thing online. And yes, it's social, but not the sort of social I, and indeed my mates, were looking for. There's something about scrawling hit points and gold piece counts on a slip of paper that no keyboard or mouse can replicate.

Of course, computers can keep track of all that annoying number stuff, like weapon bonuses and esoteric modifiers to saving throws. With the complicated mechanics hidden away, there's the potential to focus more on the story and characters.

Both have their pros and cons. I was once pretty sold on CRPGs, and I think there will be a point in the future where it can truly compete with PnP, but for now, the pen is mightier than the DWORD. I hope someone got that.

Now, I put the question to you: PnP RPG or computer RPG? Which do you think is superior and why?

PS. And yes, that is Firefly's Nathan Fillion with dice in hand, about to engage his warp drive into a nebula of hardcore nerdism.

Have 84 minutes to kill? No? Me neither. But if I did, I'd wade in and take a look at the feature-length cut of the BloodSpell machinima by Strange Company (directed by Hugh Hancock) - it's long, it's been four years in development all told, and seems like one hell of an ambitious project. I did take a short gander at it, and if the whole 84 minutes is as nicely put together as the short bit I watched, it's probably worth a looksee. The machinima was made with the Neverwinter Nights engine. It's also being released under Creative Commons:

We`re fairly sure BloodSpell is the largest Machinima film ever created. It`s an independent film that, because it is using Machinima technology, isn`t subject to the usual limitations of smaller films. But, at the same time, we don`t have the politics, money and producers of a Hollywood production involved, so we can experiment with ideas, styles and attitudes that wouldn`t be possible in a more top-heavy Hollywood production.

Of course, we still have some limitations, and BloodSpell won`t be beating out `Lord of the Rings` for visual effects. But we hope that what we lack in slick polish, we can make up for in originality and passion.

So take a look if you're fond of machinima and have an hour and a half to kill.

BloodSpell [via GameSetWatch]