BioWare and LucasArts are happy to announce that this weekend will be another Weekend Pass Free Trial, giving people interested in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ the chance to take the first steps in their personal Star Wars™ saga for free*! This Weekend Pass Free Trial will begin on Thursday, May 17th at 12:01AM CDT / 5:01AM GMT, and end on Monday, May 21st at 2:00AM CDT / 7:00AM GMT.

For more information visit the Star Wars: The Old Republic site.

“Both Blizzard and Valve recognize that, at the end of the day, players just want to be able to play the games they’re looking forward to, so we’re happy to come to an agreement that helps both of us stay focused on that,” said Rob Pardo, executive vice president of game design at Blizzard Entertainment. “As part of this agreement, we’re going to be changing the name of Blizzard DOTA to Blizzard All-Stars, which ultimately better reflects the design of our game. We look forward to going into more detail on that at a later date.”

“We’re pleased that we could come to an agreement with Blizzard without drawing things out in a way that would benefit no one,” said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. “We both want to focus on the things our fans care about, creating and shipping great games for our communities.”

The companies do not plan to discuss the terms of the agreement beyond today’s announcement.

Lady Heresh and More Kolo!
Five new quests are on offer from Lady Heresh, and once you complete them she will join you. Like Murtas, Lady Heresh is a support hero, except her talent lies with fast repairs rather than patching up squishy humans (or animals). Her area-effect repairs will keep any mechanized army running for longer. This update also sees fresh Kolo content, with a number of intriguing new quests – try to guide Bomb Trucks through enemies to destroy buildings without getting them all blown up first, hunt an enormous Ironclad Walker, or destroy a tavern and risk the fury of a lot of angry patrons!

Iron Grip: Marauders
Iron Grip: Marauders is the first online tactical war game to deliver spectacular 3D graphics directly in your browser. Thanks to Unity software, the game is able to offer advanced strategic planning before switching to turn-based tactical battles in full 3D.

With more than 250,000 players from around the world, IGM offers three different regions with a huge range of maps to raid and smuggle across, 35+ quest missions, PvP battles, tournaments, and countless different unit types.

Rappelz has packed the calendar with login rewards that begin today, May 9! Every player who logs in will receive the following rewards:

May 9 to June 3: Double your experience every day you play with free Stamina Savers. Plus, receive a free permanent loot pet and earn a chance to win an item from the Grand Prize pool! See details below.
May 9 to May 15: Boost your pet’s experience by logging in to win 5 Animal Crackers
May 16 to May 22: Protect your weapons from breaking with five E-protects
May 23 to June 3: Win 5 more E-Protects and Animal Crackers by logging in all seven days

Complete all these requirements and be automatically entered into the Grand Prize pool.  Ten lucky third place winners will receive one gaming mouse, the latest in point-and-click technology.  Five second place winners will get their very own gPotato shopping spree with an award of 5,000 free gPotatoes, and one spectacularly lucky first place winner will receive the incredible, brand new iPad 3!

Rappelz will also increase the experience rate of all users by 50% for the entire duration of the event!  This will help players prepare for Reanimation’s biggest addition: a mysterious Master Class dungeon for high level parties.  Rappelz will also give away a free permanent loot pet, able to gather items from every beast you slay, to everyone who logs in at least twenty-two days between May 9 and June 3.

Rappelz Epic VII: Reanimation comes to life on June 7, with more information and great prizes available now! Check out the official Rappelz Epic VII: Reanimation preview and homepage for more details.

About Rappelz

Rappelz is a visionary MMORPG with gorgeous graphics, an in-depth pet system, extensive quests, nimble mounts, an innovative class structure, player ownable dungeons, and a dynamic PVP system.  Players choose from three races – the Deva, Gaia, and Asura – representing Creation, Earth, and Destruction.  Characters can then become one of fifteen distinct classes through customization, from monster tamers to axe-wielding battle mages.  Players can also enjoy taming, raising, and evolving their battle pets. Magical pixies, ferocious orcs, and divine white dragons can all be yours to command!

The Shadow is a hybrid dexterity and intelligence class, a professional assassin exiled after getting on the wrong side of a former client. He employs deadly traps and spells against opponents, finishing off survivors with quick dagger strikes while darting in and out of combat.

In Path of Exile, any class can use any skill, weapon or trap, allowing for a huge variety of possible character builds. The Shadow is particularly well suited to traps and fast weapons like claws and daggers.

Using Path of Exile’s support gem system, the Shadow can turn any spell into a trap or remotely detonated mine. For instance, the Shadow can link a Frost Wall skill gem with a Remote Mine support gem to create a Frost Wall Mine which they can place to strategically trap enemies.

The first chance to play the Shadow character will be in this weekend’s public stress test. The Path of Exile Beta servers will open for public access at 5pm PDT on Friday, May 11. Public access will end at 11:59pm PDT Sunday night, May 13. A full FAQ about the public weekend is available at http://www.pathofexile.com/publicweekend/A previous public weekend in March attracted 47,000 players.

Grinding Gear Games’ producer Chris Wilson says the Shadow is one of the more difficult classes to play due to his fragility. “He more than makes up for it if handled with skill. His hit-and-run style of combat makes the most of his natural Evasion and Energy Shield, and rewards strategic coordination of attacks, spells, and traps.”

His signature tactic is to lay hidden traps and to lure his opponents in. When they step too close, the trap springs and his foes find themselves caught in place, missing a leg or blown to pieces in a fiery explosion. Alternatively, he can place remote mines which are manually detonated, ideally in the middle of clusters of enemies.

As an indie game developed by a team of hardcore action RPG fans, Path of Exile has several unique takes on the genre. It features a unique skill gem system, a huge passive skill tree, extensive character customisation and PvP combat in a persistent online world. The game is free to play, but does not feature ‘pay-to-win’ microtransactions. Path of Exile will enter Open Beta in late June.

Key features of ‘Path of Exile’:

• Completely free to download and play, but never ‘pay-to-win’
• A persistent online world capable of supporting hundreds of thousands of players
• A dark and gritty game world rendered from a fixed 3D perspective
• Randomly generated levels and items for extreme replayability
• Online ranking and ladders for every game mode
• Visceral combat with dozens of combinable skills
• Battle in PVP tournaments for worldwide recognition
• Dynamic skill system

View the trailer at www.youtube.com/grindinggear
HD trailers are available from www.pathofexile.com/video/

About the Classes:

The Soldier
The Soldier is like the standard worm from the previous Worms™ games, and is the most well-rounded worm in the game. The Soldier is good at attacking and getting around the landscape, though he is not specialised in any particular area.

The Scout
The Scout is a more agile class, moving faster than the other classes and jumping higher and further, but this is balanced against his weak attack power. His small size presents him as a slightly smaller target, particularly against ranged attacks, and his light weight means he can fall further without taking damage. However this also means that he’s more susceptible to Melee attacks from the other classes or large explosions as the Scout gets blasted further than the other worms.

The Heavy
This worm is the largest and most powerful worm in the game, but he’s severely limited when it comes to getting around the landscape and he also makes for the biggest target, meaning he’s easier to hit than the other worms.

The Heavy’s size and lack of agility means he’s simply unable to reach the parts of the landscape that the other classes would take for granted without having to resort to a utility, but even then his extra bulk makes him sluggish on the Ninja Rope and Jetpack. However, the Heavy’s extra bulk can work to his advantage as it means he won’t travel as far, compared to the other classes, when hit, meaning he has a better chance of staying on the landscape.

The Scientist
The Scientist plays a support role. His physical attributes make him both weaker and slower than the standard Soldier worm, but for every turn that the Scientist takes he raises the health of the entire team. The Scientist is able to build stronger items, such as Sentry Guns and Electromagnets.

Worms™ Revolution is scheduled for a Q3 2012 release and will appear on PC and consoles.

For more information on Worms™ please visit www.team17.com or www.facebook.com/WormsTeam17

• Anniversary Cubes – Coupons will be awarded to players who craft special Anniversary Cubes which contain special rewards, including rare Ariel Magic Amulets!
• Anniversary Cake – Now available for purchase, cakes provide 50 percent HP Recovery and Cure Effects.
• Limited time Anniversary Coin – The exclusive Anniversary Coin accessory can be purchased from Luriel, and will only be available during the event.
• Play time bonus – Players who are logged in for more than one hour will receive special rewards, such as Accessory Cubes, Ariel’s Ice Burner and Fluorite Ore Exchange Tickets.
• Increased drop rate – Starting on Friday, May 4 through the weekend, there will be a two-time drop rate increase and EXP during specific times.

The next phase will be a series of regional championships to determine the twelve teams which will compete in the World Championship at the University of Southern California’s 250,000 square foot arena:

• Mainland China: July 26 – Shanghai, China at China Joy – 2 teams
• Europe: August 16 – Cologne, Germany at Gamescom – 3 teams
• North America: August 31 – Seattle, United States at PAX Prime – 3 teams
• Korea: September 21 – Seoul, Korea at the OGN eSports Stadium – 2 teams
• Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau: September 22 – Taipei, Taiwan at G1 – 1 team
• Southeast Asia: September – Singapore at Garena Carnival – 1 team

Read more on the League of Legends site.

Star Supremacy, is a revolutionary strategic space simulation game, the player fights for dominance of the universe, following a unique storyline for each faction, you build an empire to conquer planets, build new facilities, and exciting combat units to discover and build, with your battle squadrons spread out through the vastness of space with the mission to settle new planets and mine their raw ores.

The player builds up an industrial infrastructure, constructs weapons factories and strong defensive fortifications, to get a strong offensive capability.  Build a guild and conquer the universe together. The game offers unlimited possibilities for combination for weapons and ships, so the battles are never dull. Engage in amazing PvP and NPC battles and prove your supremacy.

Features:

–        Animated Battles

–        PvP,  PvE & Arena Battles

–        Guild Quests & Upgrades

–        Total warship customization option, so 2 warships are never same

–        Team up with other players from around the globe

–        Different race with different storyline progression

Lekool is a fast growing browser game and social game developer and publisher. The company has published some of the most popular web games of 2012 like Call of Gods,  Rich$tate,  Senatry, Ninjawaz, EDragon, mccq (Chinese 3D game) Business Tycoon Online, Lords of ages and Legends of Xian and has achieved great success. It also has an interactive and engaging gamer community.

The great citadel of Skyshrine has long housed the Claws of Veeshan dragons behind its massive walls and arcane protections. Now, the unthinkable has happened — it has become besieged by powerful forces. Players must battle and befriend dragons and their wurmkin in the forbidden city of Dracur, and explore the past to unravel mysterious events that transformed the formidable draconic city into a battlefield full of daunting challenges, fearful foes and unimaginable treasures!

The cinematic shows how the Valkyon Federation has come together to face a soulless army that threatens to engulf the world from the perspective of a baraka warrior-sage. Observant viewers will see each of TERA‘s seven playable races take part in the action, and will enjoy a sneak preview of the monsters they’ll face and the places they’ll visit. Combat—essential to an action MMO like TERA—takes center stage, and eagle-eyed fans will recognize some of the spells and attacks they’ll use when TERA launches on May 1.

• Each character class can unlock a brand new skill by reaching a certain level:
• The Dragonknight will receive the “Banner of war” skill at level 35
• The Spellweaver will receive the “Destruction” skill at level 26.
• The Ranger will receive the “Deadly blow” skill at level 26.
• As part of the skills renaissance, the Dragonwarrior skill “Scream of rage” will be replaced by “Dragon hide”.
• Since it is easier to vanquish dragons as a team, there are now rewards for inviting your friends to the battles in Duria. You will receive these rewards as soon as your friends have reached level 15. The more friends you invite to join you on your quest, the greater the rewards will be.

Sign up for beta testing on the Divina site.

“We started converting current players to the new business model late last week in preparation for today’s launch and we couldn’t be happier with the response, tripling concurrency in a matter of hours,” said Director of Product Management, Edward Chang, Game Publishing Studios, NCsoft. “We spent a considerable amount of time focused on optimizing Aion: Ascension for the Truly Free business model, and early feedback from the community indicates that we made the right decisions.”

Along with the C.U.B.E. (Customizable User Bundling Experience), an unparalleled system allowing players to customize their Aion marketplace item bundles based on their characters personal needs, Aion: Ascension brings players the Atreian Atlas, an advanced guidance system that acts as a personal pathfinder as players progress through the game. The information revealed within the Atreian Atlas provides insight allowing players to properly prepare for what lays ahead, giving the best MMO experience for new and experienced players alike.

Aion: Ascension also brings players several features as seen in the Aion Vision Trailer, including housing, mounts, new zones and multiplayer instances.

Housing

o   Two new housing districts composed of five types of housing: Palace, Estate, Mansion, House and Studio.

o   Studios are quest-based and everyone will be able have access to one, whereas the houses and mansions are auction-based and will be obtained via a special in-game auction system just for housing.

Mounts

o   Mounts are the latest way to get around Atreia in style, and with this update you can travel at ever-increasing speed depending on the mount. Players will be able to summon one of four new mounts coming in the update – the Surfrider, the Pagati, the Sharptooth or the Flurry!

New level cap of 60

o   More than 600 new quests, bringing a massive content update extending the game as players progress from 55-60.

New instances and zones

o   Two new zones – Sarpan and Tiamaranta

o   Six new instances consisting of two 12-player, two six-player, one solo, and one 24-person instance.

Additional information on Aion: Ascension, including images and video assets, can be found here –www.aiononline.com.

After the successful acquisition of competitor Frogster during the previous year, Gameforge commenced a strategic reorientation in November 2011. With the streamlining of the organisation largely completed and with the concentration on its profitable core business, Gameforge has paved the way for the expansion of its own market position. The executive board anticipates that new product introductions, such as the start of the free-to-play version of AION exceeding expectations, the commercial launch of top-quality titles TERA, ELIGIUM – The Chosen One, the fifth chapter of Runes of Magic (Fires of Shadowforge), RaiderZ and further portfolio expansion will all contribute to considerable growth in 2012.

“In the previous months we have laid the foundations on which Gameforge will continue to grow in a strong and profitable manner. The company stands in excellent health and will be continuing to develop its leading role in the market. Gameforge has started the year well and has some outstanding products in the release pipeline. For 2012 we anticipate a clear increase in growth on the previous year”

said Alexander Rösner, CEO of Gameforge, commenting on the company’s prospects.

TERA is nearly here and we want you to join us. If you’ve pre-ordered your copy already, we have several opportunities for you to get into the game ahead of the rush: an early chance to reserve your favorite character name, as well as exclusive early starts on the Open Beta Test and the game’s launch!

If you haven’t pre-ordered, don’t worry. You’re still welcome to join our Open Beta Test and be part of the action!

In this last event, the Valkyon Federation, bolstered by a surge of new soldiers, strikes back at its foes, reestablishing control of troubled realms, and upsetting the meticulous plans of its enemies. In an effort to destabilize the federation and disrupt its momentum, Thulsa has decided to launch attacks at the relatively unprotected capital—Velika. The evil god is gathering a small army of monsters to fling them at the City of Wheels. The Mysterium’s arcanists detected Thulsa’s plans and alerted Fraya, who sent word to Velika. With little forewarning, will the federation be able to defend the city and thwart Thulsa’s machinations? Be ready for a call to action in the evening hours of Friday and Saturday!

• Atlantica Online players will receive special Easter eggs for logging in. These eggs can be traded for special boxes containing a bunch of different rewards.
• Dragon Nest players will receive a random boost each day through April 17th: Extra Friendship Points, item drop bonuses,  additional nest resets, PWR boosts and EXP boosts when partying up with friends.
• Vindictus players will also receive tradeable Easter eggs for logging in and/or for killing monsters.

When a player procures land deeds they are granted certain privileges, these include receiving a share in the Planet Partner gross revenue of Calypso, paid weekly.  This means that those in the Citizenship system are directly profit-sharing from the game itself.  The land deeds are auctioned at a base price of $100 per deed and have mostly gone out one-by-one.  However large monetary transactions are nothing new in Planet Calypso with one player paying $330,000 for a Virtual Space Station in 2010 which, at the time, set a world record.

What are your views on this? Let us know!

Star Trek Online celebrates First Contact Day with a special event running from April 5th, 10 AM PST to April 9th, 10 AM PST. During this event, you’ll be able to visit one of the Advanced Starship Design Bureau research facilities at Utopia Planitia, in orbit over Mars. While there, have a chat with some of the bridge officers of the Enterprise-F, which is home for a bit of testing and system recalibration. After you meet the crew, pick up your own replica of the Phoenix, humanity’s first warp-capable ship, as a deployable non-combat space craft. Once the event ends, the Enterprise will be warping off to new missions, so make sure you visit before she leaves.

Report in to the Evil Chicken or the Chocatrice in Varrock square to find out when the next Easter egg hunt is starting. Once you’ve pledged your allegiance to your chosen villain, you’ll be gifted with a patented Eggsterminator®, which will turn the innocent chicks within the eggs into fried chicken drumsticks or chocotreats, depending on whether you have scotch eggs (for the Evil Chicken) or marshmallows (for the Chocatrice) selected in the Combat Styles tab.

To check out more details and a full list of prizes then visit the Spirit Tales site.

Tera is due for a release at the start of May, but players will have to make do with the MMORPG’s other PvP options until the battlegrounds finally meet their high “quality standards”:

“We want to get it right from the start. This means that battlegrounds will be a post-launch addition to the game while we hammer away at making them meet our high standard of quality, rooting out exploits, and maximizing fun factor. While we really wanted to have battlegrounds for launch, we think you’ll agree that this added time means a more polished feature and overall experience. Like you, we also think that waiting sucks. The good news is twofold: while we’re aiming to introduce battlegrounds late this summer, we’ll showcase the political system at launch with popular voting as the initial election method for all provinces. On a related note, we’re working to make it so that guilds will be able to declare war on each other regardless of server rule set.”

In Seven Souls Online, fans unleash their inner demon in a fantasy world that combines ancient East and West with elements of science fiction. Players can choose from three character classes, the magic-enhanced Manatech Rebel, the savage Imperial Guard and the cunning Exiled Avenger, then fight their way through vast armies of enemies to defeat the mana-hungry Elysians. Open-world, free-for-all player versus player (PvP) combat means adventurers must be wary and forge in-game friendships and alliances to survive.

• The Archidamian War: After years of rivalry, the two great city-states of Athens and Sparta have finally come to blows, and the future of all of Greece is in the balance. One mighty alliance based on commerce and naval power, another held together by tradition and an invincible reputation on land. In this campaign, you control Athens at the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. Can you hold off the Spartan offensive long enough to bring your dispersed alliance’s power to bear?

• The Ionian War: Play as Sparta in the closing year of the Peloponnesian War. A foolish Athenian gamble in Sicily has weakened her, but the war is not over yet. Sparta has to bring her rival to heel. Can the tired Spartan hoplites close the deal? And how will she get a navy of her own?

• The Rise of Philip: The campaign from the original Hegemony: Philip of Macedon, now with new mechanics and improved UI. Play out the career of Philip, the father of Alexander the Great and the architect of Macedonian might. Marry for power, humble restless border tribes and establish yourself as the master of Greece.

• Sandbox Mode: If structure isn’t your thing, of course, you can play as any of the major Greek powers in an historical sandbox, with the same fidelity to the past, beautiful zooming map and constant challenges to your strategic thinking.

Hegemony Gold: Wars of Ancient Greece is available for the low price of $19.99. But, if you already own Hegemony: Philip of Macedon on Steam, then you can upgrade to Gold for only $9.99!

The best incentive to play Hegemony Gold is that it will prepare you for the wonders that await you in Longbow’s upcoming sequel in the series, Hegemony Rome: Rise of Caesar. The development team turns their eyes to Rome and the great victories of Julius Caesar in Gaul. Hegemony Rome will be available later this year.

So why not get a head start on Iron Age combat by looking at one of last years most original real-time strategy games?

• Sandstone Caves
• Skeller’s Return
• Croc Feud
• Frozen Nightmares
• Shadow Caves
• Wyldwood

Players who have previously bought premium areas will find a special gift in their stashes as a thank you for their support.

Pocket Legends players can join in the celebration by purchasing a 2012 Anniversary Party Hat. When wearing the hat, other players can wave to you and automatically receive their own, smaller party hat. At the end of the week-long anniversary celebration, the 2012 Anniversary Part Hat will no longer be available to purchase and will no longer grant the smaller party hat.

Read the full letter on the Firefall site.

To get the deal, log onto your Rift account management page.

Born and raised in the spiritual solitudes of the Snow Kingdom, the sorcerers of the Lunar Fox Tribe have dedicated their lives to contemplation, seeking to balance and utilize the untapped energies that lie at the heart of the cosmos – the beginning of creation. Infused with the potency of fire and ice magic, sorcerers have learned to harness these powers of creation, invoking their force to bring about miraculous changes in the world, and catastrophic damage to their enemies.

Read the entire letter on the Final Fantasy XIV forum.

there are eight character classes in Legend of Souls, each of which can choose from different weapons such as sword, axe, bow and so on. Keep an eye out for this MMO, it is looking very promising!

Dust 514 is uniquely directly linked to an existing MMO, EVE online. This exciting link between the games makes it extremely easy to switch between games without the need to get reinstated with each game.

[P]layers can participate in the Time’s Witness event this coming Saturday, March 25 at 2pm PT. During the Time’s Witness event, the one millionth Atlantica Online player will receive 1,000,000 NX, and a special title, “One In A Million,” that gives a 25 percent increase in attack power and experience for 30 minutes.”In addition to rewarding the one millionth player, the 999,999^th and 1,000,001^st player will be rewarded with 250,000 NX. All participants of Time’s Witness will also be rewarded with a limited edition “Time’s Witness” title, a 15 percent increase in attack power, and a 10 percent increase in defense for 30 minutes.

Find out more information at Atlantica Online.

While we plan to continue growing the team over the next few months, I wanted to briefly introduce a few of our team leads, including Salim “Silius” Grant (Creative Director), Todd “Hobart” Schmidt (Technical Director) and me, Andy Sites (Director of Development).  Fortunately, I am the only noob to the world of Vanguard, although having been part of the original EverQuest, EverQuest II, Free Realms, and Clone Wars Adventures teams, I’ve spent most of my career working on MMOs.

Read the full post here.

Nephalem Valor is one of the major new systems in Diablo III and it kicks in at level 60. Keep in mind that this is still in testing and we’re still working out the details. Here’s how it currently works internally: Rare and Champion packs already have great loot on them.  By killing a Rare or Champion pack, not only do you get their loot, but you’ll also receive a buff granting you increased magic find and gold find.  However, if you change a skill, skill rune, passive, or leave the game, the buff disappears. As an extra reward, if you kill a boss while this buff is active, you’ll receive extra loot drops from that boss.

Also included in the Harmony Festival:

• Free goodies: Harmony Festival Costumes are available free to all players and are the most powerful costumes released in Elsword to date! Harmony Festival Pie can also be purchased and used in dungeons to recuperate 50 percent HP and remove status effects. As an added bonus, players purchasing the pie will receive 20 free pies after the event has ended.
• More lives: Resurrection Stone refills upgraded to six times daily.
• New and rewarding quests: A plethora of new quests that add up to valuable rewards for participating gamers.
• Exclusive Harmony Festival Accessory: Now available from the Item Mall, beautiful butterfly wings are available for only 500 K-Ching.
• New throwing items: Players can use new in-dungeon throwing items to further expand their arsenal of monster slaying weapons.
• Increased endurance: 50 percent less stamina consumption in dungeons.
• Quickslot expansion and item additions: Players can now expand their Quickslots to six with an item purchased from the Item Mall.

Apparently, Bethesda have been working on a MMORPG version of the Elder Scrolls. Gamespy reports that this amazing information is from three anonymous sources at Bethesda. I am sure that many, if not all Elder Scroll players will be excited to even hear about this let alone this actually happening! There are, of course, the number of questions which we are all dying to have answered. The loading time from Skyrim is so big, what is it going to be like with an Online version of the game?

We will just have to wait until May to see if these rumors are true or not. I personally hope this is true!

To read more on the game please read this article.

Check it out here!

“a multiplier on any standard training activity they perform as they play. This multiplier will begin at 2.7 times the normal training activities rate, and will decrease every thirty minutes of game time until it reaches 1.1 times the rate, where it will remain for the rest of the Bonus XP Weekend.”

“World of the Living Dead is dark and unforgiving. It’s designed for gamers who want a real challenge,” said developer Dave Barton. “The zombie genre is about difficult moral decisions, about vicious competition for limited supplies after civilization has collapsed. Do you feed everyone? Do you sacrifice a bitten survivor? Do you attack a squad of weaker survivors? WotLD forces players to make these choices every day.”

Planet Cyrene, developed by Digital Scryers as well as Creative Kingdom Animation Studios will be a sci-fi based planet combined with some fantasy elements in the form of shaman native tribes. CEO and Creative Director Ed Robles III started out with a sneak-peak of the storyline that tells of a human army belonging to the Imperium faction being attacked by another faction called the Turrelions in order to force them to join the coalition. Nearly defeated they speak about a distant planet called Cyrene where their hopes for a better future lie.

Beginning May 15, players around the world will be able to return to Tristram to discover the dark secrets of a fallen star and begin their quest to save Sanctuary from the impending demonic invasion. To secure your place as a barbarian, monk, demon hunter, witch doctor, or wizard right now, simply log in to your Battle.net account, and then purchase and download* Diablo III, and you’ll be ready to play when the game launches.

Read the full notice and get the preorder link from the Diablo III blog.

Aika Online is an epic fantasy MMORPG developed by JoyImpact (now part of HanbitSoft), creators of Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent.  Five nations vie for control of Arcan in massive PvP castle sieges, relic thefts, and tower assaults, waging war on a scale never before seen in an MMO.

Assisted by their Pran – an intelligent fairy familiar whose personality develops through conversation – players shape the fate of their country and the world, and can even rise to rule as Lord Marshall.

Since its 2009 debut, Aika has won many prestigious awards, such as the Korea Game Industry Agency’s Best of Show: Prime Minister’s Award, Player’s Choice: Best Online Game, and Free MMORPG of the Year.

Allods Online, voted Best Game and Audience Choice at the Russian Game Developers Conference in 2009, is a revolutionary sci-fi fantasy MMORPG developed by mail.ru over four years with a budget of $12 million. Two warring factions, League and Empire, vie for control of allods – islands floating in the Astral.

Aboard an Astral ship players can explore the ever-changing Astral, discover uncharted allods, engage in ship-to-ship combat, and fight massive Astral demons. The game is one of the largest and most comprehensive MMORPGs ever created, featuring a vast and gorgeously realized world, 6 races, 9 archetypes, 32 classes, and over 2,000 quests.

Allods’ top quality production values feature full motion capture animation, art by internationally award-winning artists, and a soundtrack by Mark Morgan, the composer of Dexter and Fallout 1 & 2.

Watch the official trailer!

Eternal Blade combines the fast-paced action of a dungeon crawling RPG with the engaging world of an MMO to create a brand new social experience. Developed by Gala Lab and published by gPotato, the vibrant game features lush landscapes and colorful characters that come to life through a storybook theme.

The colorful anime style blends seamlessly with the high action gameplay that sees players unleashing huge, powerful attacks to take down challenging bosses or whole hordes of monsters with every swing, shot, or spell. Eternal Blade features multiple upgrade systems that impact appearance, statistics, and even skills to create a truly unique experience for every player.

Watch the official Eternal Blade trailer!

“We are delighted that Shaiya will stay with Aeria Games in coming years,” said Lan Hoang, Chief Executive Officer, Aeria Games. “We look forward to a long-term partnership with Nexon through which we will sustain and build the Shaiya franchise, and continue to deliver an exceptional free-to-play MMORPG experience for the dedicated Shaiya community.  Over time, we look forward to deepening the relationship with Nexon with more market-leading free-to-play titles.”

Published by Aeria Games, Shaiya is free to download on the PC and free-to-play. Gamers can learn more and play Shaiya by visiting http://shaiya.aeriagames.com.

The free weekend will begin on Thursday 15th March at 12:01AM CST, and finish on Monday 19th March at 2:00AM CST. Be prepared to start the download on the 15th March, as it doesn’t look like they are giving you the option to pre-dowload the files before the event, and as it is a pretty big game, it will take a while to download and install.

Of Course, a completely opened game is a too good to be true occurence, so like any other free trial, there are a few in-game restrictions:

• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character cannot exceed level 15. The player will be notified via in-game notifications and chat message once they have hit the maximum level for the trial experience.
• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character will only be able to play on their Origin World, Capital World, the Fleet, all Warzones, and in their first Flashpoint. A message box will appear if a character attempts to go outside of these areas.
• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character will not be able to use general chat, trade chat, or PvP chat. The character will only be able to use local chat, group chat, guild chat, and reply to whispers.
• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character will not be able to send or reply to mail by other trial characters. However, your character will be able to receive in-game mail during the trial.
• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character will not be able to use the Galactic Trade Network or trade with other players.
• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character will only be able to level their Crew Skills ranking to around 40.
• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character will not be able to earn Legacy XP.

After the free weekend concludes, you’ll need to pay to keep playing. BioWare doesn’t plan to delete characters on trial accounts. Thus, if you decide to subscribe, you’ll be able to pick up right where you left off.

BioWare also recently instituted a Friend Trials feature in SW:TOR. A current subscriber can give a week of free game time to a new player. So anyone looking for a week-long trial, go seek out a current SWTOR friend and claim your week trial.

Blizzard have said that “multiple Arena maps with themed locations and layouts, PvP-centric achievements, and a matchmaking system that will help you and your team get into fairly matched games quickly and easily” are the features that they are working on for the patch.

As we’re counting down the days until we’re ready to announce a release date for Diablo III, we’ve come to realize that the PvP game and systems aren’t yet living up to our standards. Today, we wanted to let you know that we’ve made the difficult decision to hold back the PvP Arena system and release it in a patch following the game’s launch. After a lot of consideration and discussion, we ultimately felt that delaying the whole game purely for PvP would just be punishing to everyone who’s waiting to enjoy the campaign and core solo/co-op content, all of which is just about complete.

Source: Battle.net

Anyone older than 12 can apply for the beta testing. More information on the game please visit MMOsite

1. Making an MMORPG a great RPG
2. rethinking combat
3. and making the MMO more social

You can see the video below. If you would rather read about the manifesto, then please view the official post on the website, which has been available since 2010. The next closed beta is due later this month and the game will be released later on in the year.

MMOs that are in open beta:

• Aika (gPotato): Announcement, Signup
• Brick-Force (Infernum): Announcement, Signup
• CardMon Hero (Redbana): Announcement, Signup
• Castlot (ClapAlong): Announcement, Signup
• DragonSoul (Neonga AG): Announcement, Signup
• Drakensang Online (Bigpoint): Announcement, Signup
• Dungeon Blitz (Blue Mammoth): Announcement, Signup
• Glitch (Tiny Speck): Announcement, Signup
• Hellgate Global (T3Fun): Announcement, Signup
• Hunter Blade (Beeboomonline): Announcement, Signup
• Immortal King (Game 321): Announcement, Signup
• Iris Online (gPotato): Announcement, Signup
• Jagged Alliance (gamigo): Announcement, Signup
• Kingdom Heroes (Aeria Games): Announcement, Signup
• KULTAN: The World Beyond (Bigpoint): Announcement, Signup
• Mythos Global (Hanbitsoft/T3Fun): Announcement, Signup
• Planet War (YooGames): Announcement, Signup
• Remanum (Travian): Announcement, Signup
• Remnant Knights (GameSamba): Announcement, Signup
• Repulse (Aeria): Announcement, Signup
• Rusty Hearts (PWE): Announcement, Signup
• Scarlet Legacy (GamesCampus): Announcement, Signup
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Online (CyberTime Systems): Announcement, Signup (Russian-only)
• Star Supremacy (Barbily Games): Announcement, Signup
• SteelWar Online (PopPace): Announcement, Signup
• Traveller AR (Ingz): Announcement, Signup
• Tribal Trouble 2 (GameSamba): Announcement, Signup
• Tribes: Ascend (Hi-Rez): Announcement, Signup (Launching 4/12/2012)
• War of Angels (Gamigo): Announcement, Signup
• WindSlayer 2 (Ignited Games): Announcement, Signup
• Zentia (ChangYou): Announcement, Signup

MMOs that are deep in closed beta:

• Age of Wulin (gPotato): Announcement, Signup (Asia, EU)
• ArcheAge (XLGAMES): Announcement (Korean signups only)
• ArchlordX: The Chronicles (Webzen): Announcement, Signup
• Blacklight Retribution (Perfect World): Announcement, Signup
• Bounty Hounds Online (Wicked Interactive): Announcement, Signup
• City of Steam (Mechanist): Announcement, Signup (Sneak-peek)
• Dark Eden (Ignited Games): Announcement, Signup
• Dawntide (Working as Intended): Announcement, Signup (Development on hiatus)
• Diablo III (Blizzard): Announcement, Signup
• Divina (Gamania): Announcement, Signup
• Dominus (Pitchblack): Announcement, Signup
• Dragon Born (KoramGame): Announcement, Signup
• DUST 514 (CCP Games): Announcement, Signup (OB begins 4/2012)
• Elements of War (gamigo): Announcement, Signup
• Eligium (Frogster): Announcement, Signup
• End of Nations (Trion): Announcement, Signup
• Firefall (Red 5 Studios): Announcement, Signup
• Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet): Announcement (Launching in 2012)
• Guns of Icarus (Muse Games): Announcement, Signup
• Lime Odyssey (Aeria Games): Announcement, Signup
• Living After War (Alaplaya): Announcement, Signup
• Path of Exile (Grinding Gear Games): Announcement, Signup
• PlanetSide 2 (SOE): Announcement, Signup
• Seven Souls Online (NEOWIZ): Announcement, Signup
• Spirit Tales (Koramgame): Announcement, Signup (CB begins 3/15/2012)
• TERA (En Masse Entertainment): Announcement, Signup (Launching 5/1/2012)
• The Mummy Online (Bigpoint): Announcement, Signup
• The Secret World (Funcom): Announcement, Signup (Launching 6/19/2012)
• UFO Online (gamigo): Announcement, Signup
• World Alpha (World Alpha): Announcement, Signup
• World of Planes (Gaijin): Announcement, Signup
• Wrath of Heroes (BioWare): Announcement

“Gaikai’s game streaming service will make it easier than ever for new players to start their epic adventures in our immersive online worlds,” said Craig Alexander, Vice President of Product Development, Turbine. “Anyone wishing to try these popular MMOs can now instantly launch the games inside their web browser completely eliminating any download wait times.”

Both MMORPG’s are owned by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and are both developed by Turbine. LOTRO offers three different ways to play: free, premium and VIP. All three accounts have a level cap of 75, but free players are limited to one character per server unless they pull out real cash for more slots.

Lets bring ourselves back down to earth. This is not a permanent feature. This is a feature so gamers are able to test the MMORPG’s before actually downloading and installing the game on to their computer. This Gaikai FAQ hosted on the LOTRO site confirms this, stating that Middle-earth fans are allowed to play up to one full hour in the browser before being kicked off and forced to download the installer.

“For most players, this [hour] will allow you to create your character and complete the starting area for your race,” reads the FAQ. “At the end of the trial, you will be logged out from the game and your character and progress will be stored on our servers. You will then be provided with links to download the game client to continue your adventure.”

For more information, please visit Crystal Saga.

• Flying: The new flight system will include special bosses and dungeons that can only be accessed while flying.
• Nightfall Citadel: A new quest hub for players that can only be reached through flight.
• Soul Virtue system: Players can align themselves with Nyos or Dyos by earning virtue points
• Immortal Rift has been completely overhauled

Choose between two nations, six races, and four classes to cast spells, battle and engage with fellow players. Featuring unique gameplay that allows players to not only ride dragons for aerial combat, but raise and evolve their own dragon mount as well, RODE provides dedicated gamers with an action packed and tense experience both on the ground and in the sky.

To redeem your closed beta key simply follow these instructions;

1. Visit the official site here and register an account.
2. Log in and enter your beta key code to activate
3. Download and install the client and get ready to play!

If that isn’t enough! We also have special prizes for our members to claim also! Simply login to your Spirit Tales account and visit the “Promo” page located within the item mall and enter your account name and beta key code to get the special “Straw Hat Shroom” pet.

Happy gaming and for some exclusive screenshots, visit our Spirit Tales screenshot page.

The new Legacy system features have quite a few options. Players will be able to arrange their characters in a family tree and earn bonuses. Getting to level 50 will unlock that character’s race for all classes, bypassing the race/class restrictions. But what’s more interesting is that you can even unlock new skills for different classes.

One example given was adding Force Lightning to a Bounty Hunter if you had one related to a Sith Inquisitor. But don’t worry, it appears that these come with specific limitations that could require a companion as part of the process and is mainly intended for open world PvE. Let’s just hope they remembered to lock it out of open world PvP as well or we could see some interesting forum discussions in the near future.

SWTOR PvP is getting an overhaul as well and it looks as though the daily quests for commendations are going away all together. Following 1.2, PvP endgame rewards will be earned through warzones, which we will sadly still not have the option of selecting which we would like to join queue for even after the update. Luckily, there will be a new neutral warzone in the update with Novare Coast and some other changes such as same faction PvP for Void Star, so maybe some of us that have come to loath Huttball won’t have to see it a vast majority of the time that we queue up for a PvP game.

Other changes mentioned include the addition of guild banks, a new tier of armor, PvP rankings, lots of crafting changes, many class tweaks, and more bug squashes.

Credit

• The Resistance is more powerful and mobile than ever before, driven by their newfound commitment to the Alliance. No one will stand in their way!
• Aran and Evan are gearing up for a good fight. They’ve gotten even stronger and they are ready to unleash their fury on the despicable servants of the Black Mage!
• The fairies of Ellin Forest hold a secret you’ll never believe! A whole new tale of corruption and evil unfolds before you beneath the forest canopy. Rescue the occupants of Altaire Camp from the fast-approaching darkness…if you can!
• Rumors are bubbling up from the New Leaf City of Masteria about…aliens?! Exclusive global MapleStory content is coming your way at warp speed!
  Exciting updates are on the way for your favorite MapleStory game modes Monster Carnival, Nett’s Pyramid, Ghost Ship Dual Raid, Mu Lung Dojo? You name it! Get ready to face a whole new set of challenges in Maple World!
• Dying for some great new items and some fun new ways to level up? You got it! Alliance Unbound is filled with events that will satisfy everyone; newbies and veterans alike!

For more news visit the official website here.

• One character boosted to level 80
• FREE upgrade to Cataclysm
• 7 FREE days of game time
• FREE character move to your realm and faction so you can play together

And if that isn’t enough to temp you then they are also giving you a choice of two epic mounts. For more information visit the official website here.

“We continue to feel comfortable with our Star Wars estimates which are an important part of our street-high FY13 non-GAAP EPS estimate of $1.36. We estimate 2MM paying subs by the end of June 2012 (and then sustained for the remainder of the year). We also note that the company plans to launch Star Wars in the Asia-Pacific region later this month,”

Once serving as an ancient water system for the Aitan cities in the Hestia region, the Aquados catacombs are now home to the water dragon Reagor and the denizens he corrupted.  Twenty-four Aitan must band together to destroy 6 new bosses and their minions in order to prevent their imminent invasion on Drago.  If they succeed treasures such as level 80 armor sets can be recovered.

More valuable however is Tyriantor, holy crypt for fallen warriors of old.  The undead dragon Dariadra serves as master of this keep, reanimating once holy soldiers into servants for his evil plans.  Aitan will have to form groups of 12 in their mission to purify these once sacred grounds and recover the lost artifacts and light tokens that await them.

Learn more about these new updates and several exciting events to come on the official Aika website at http://aika.gpotato.com/!

 Cosmopolis and Hierapolis are two factions with different belief and value. Cosmopolis strives to become independent nation that doesn’t belong to the Empire while Hierapolis is committed to unite all races. NEOWIZ call their game the MMO with the greatest city siege gameplay ever.

Players need not worry about the graphics of the Korean MMO, as BLESS is another game with brilliant effects. “Lifelike majestic environments, detailed animations that capture each facial expression and even the miniscule movement of a finger” are the things which the developers are looking to offer. However, the official site doesn’t say anything about the gameplay.

For more information behind the game, then please visit the English version of the site.

• A 3 week +30% exp bonus for all!
• Green rice cake & blue rice cake global drop event for all players.
• 1,000 free points giveaway.
• Premium package benefit that includes an additional +50% exp boost, +30% item drop rate, -50% death penalty, and access to the premium dungeons.
• Chance maker event for doubled dropped loot from bosses.
• Raid dungeon boss event and battlefield tournament.

• Class specific mounts will have the ability to be altered over time as the mount ‘matures’. Alterations include both practical and physical changes. Players will be able to engage in mounted combat.
• The inclusion of hundreds of class armor items to mix and match for the perfect combo.
• Players will be able to complete dungeons solo by hiring mercenaries to help out.
• Daily events will include caravan escorts, dungeons, legion battles, arenas, and more.
• Legions (guilds) will receive perks and bonuses based on monster kills.

Until March 20, players will be randomly awarded 11th and 12 grade equipment; during the festival, these pieces can also be transformed by a special NPC into a more desired piece. Special White Day items will be found by collecting Pledges of Love from defeated monsters; these can be exchanged for bonus experience, Intensifying Elixirs, and 11th level equipment.

So, fellas what are you waiting for? Go show your lady friends what they really mean to you!

Click here to enter!

Several large italian retailers are now claiming that April 17th will be the official release date, and on top of that Amazon Italy and GameStop’s UK both have the same release date for the game. despite these claims from the large gaming retailers, we still have to wait until next week before an official press statement, so we will have to wait to see if this date is real or not.

Dawntide is a skill based MMO that allows up to 700 skill points to customize your own character. You gain skill points by using the skills, for example in combat or crafting. There is a maximum of 400 trainable attributes and perks for you to build the character which you want. This concept is a lot like Skyrim, but apparently Dawntide’s concept wasnt cool enough. After the beta test in 2011, the developer began to redesign the world, but now they do not have finances to continue with the development.

If anyone would like to invest, or for more information then please visit their official website.

• Incredibly deep game-play – 30 diverse buildings, 18 powerful combat units
• Choose your own path to glory – Become a peaceful merchant or a feared conqueror
• Amazing animated graphics – A browser game has never looked this good…Empire Building for Everyone – Easy to learn but difficult to master, the game was designed to be fun for everyone

There are going to be new quests, new mentoring skills, skill changes, and changes that affect all level ranges within the game.

For more information, visit the offical website.

While exploring the RaGECRAFT temporary 1.2.3 server I found a new jungle biome, and I have to say it was fantastic. The huge 2×2 trees are awesome. What makes them so great are the branches come off from the main tree, but them together with the scrub at the bottom, and the vines everywhere defiantly make this an exciting new biome. I can see tree-houses on the ‘need to build’ list of many players.

After a quick look around the biome, I quickly set out to find myself a little ocelot! After I found one got myself some raw fish, and set out to tame one. It turned out to be quite hard, even the smallest sudden movement made them sprint off. I had to crouch, and move the mouse very slowly until I was about to give it raw fish.

After I had actually managed to give it some raw fish without it running off like a chicken, it turned into my new pretty kitty cat! I called him Jerry.

Myself and Aksel set out to build a little house for Villagers, as we couldn’t be bothered to find a village. They are so rare are we are just plain lazy. As the server was set to hardcore mode, we wanted to test out Zombie invasions and Iron Golems.

We did make the house a little wrong, as Iron Golems didnt spawn at all, but we managed to get a Zombie Invasion going on! I do feel sorry for the villagers as everything seems to attack them!

The extended world height really does open up the opportunities of building. I never really realised how much more space there really is until I built a tower to the limit.

RaGECRAFT will be updated later on today, and you will be able to build in this new awesome world!

The alpha version currently has the following features;

• Other players in the world are displayed as naked prisoners.
• Weather and Time are synchronized.
• Arena mode: Press numpad 8 to fight waves of enemies. Press numpad 9 to stop the spawns.
• General Chat between players. Pop in and say hello. Type “/total” for the number of online players.

Fore more update-to-date information simply visit the official website.

The pirates are a very unique class with some benefits over the other 6 classes. For more information on the other classes please visit the main page.

Enjoy the video!

“We want players to be immersed in the world of Spirit Tales,” says Yann Wang, General Manager. “To that end, we integrated a wide range of customization options so that players can feel like their characters are truly one of a kind.”

Gala Lab stated that with the advent of the first beta test, the development team came to the conclusion that it is not the perfect time to do a public test. They came to this after they realised the content is not enough when having internal tests. Therefore, in order to add more content for players to explore, Gala Lab said it is a decision for which they had to make, and are sorry for the cancellation and delay. Further notice will be issued concerning when the next beta test will begin.

Japanese players will now be able to access EVE Online in their native language, playing alongside thousands of other players around the world. CPP will continue the development on the game itself, and handle the gameplay related customer support, while Nexon will manage all of the billing along withe the local marketing and PR services.

With more than 400,000 global subscribers, EVE is the only MMO to have grown every year in the past 8 years since its launch.

“For years we’ve looked forward to the day when we could bring a fully Japanese EVE experience to our loyal and enthusiastic audience in Japan,” said Hilmar Pétursson, CEO, CCP. “Thanks to our partnership with Nexon, that day is about to arrive. Nexon’s solid reputation and enormous reach in the region makes them the ideal partner for our Japanese launch.”

“With EVE Online, CCP has created a gaming experience like no other,” said Seung-Woo Choi, CEO of Nexon. “We’re confident that the Japanese version will attract legions of new players ready to take their part in the endlessly unfolding drama of the EVE universe.”

Find out more about each area on the Lord of the Rings Online site.

For more information on the game, the launch and the events that are going on please visit the official RODE Online website.

Find out more on the RuneScape site!

It’s a terrific read and worth the time to visit the World of Warcraft site.

Not excited? Well just check out the prize list:

• $100,000+ Gold Coin Giveaway all week-long!
• Throwback hero pool – gain access to all 24 classic heroes
• Double Silver Coin matchmaking event all week-long
• S2 vs. The Community event Friday, March 2nd
• 75% off Gold Coin prices for all non-Early Access heroes
• Unlock Weekend – all non-Early Access heroes will be unlocked for your testing pleasure

For more information, then please visit the official website