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Today's Hare-Brained Thought: We fear change...Change is good...We fear change...Change is good...

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Today's Hare-Brained Thought: I bought an Xbox 360 last week and I can't seem to put the controller down. My thumb hurts! It's only gonna get worse when the MMO flood arrives. APB, Huxley, Conan et al. Go go MMO!

PIRATES OF THE BURNING SEA: Flying Lab have announced a June 2007 release date for long-in-development MMO, PIRATES OF THE BURNING SEA. This is great news indeed, but an additional bit of surprise news also raises goose bumps. An Avatar Combat feature has been unveiled and should ship with the game at launch. It doesn't get much more exciting than swashbuckling cutlass combat and I should know! Arrgh!

Quote: "The addition of avatar combat to Pirates of the Burning Sea’s game play amplifies the need for strategy and skill, offering melee encounters where movement, position and tactics truly matter. This new feature expands sea encounters as well, allowing players to board enemy ships, and with the aid of their crew, battle their opposition for supremacy and seize their opponent’s ship and cargo."

EVE ONLINE: Valerie "Pann" Massey, ex-Community Manager for AUTO ASSAULT has returned to her old post as Community Manager for EVE ONLINE. Pann was let go in the recent NCsoft employee axe-fest and it's great to see her back and ready to kick a**.

In related EVE news, a Fan Fest is coming up, November 9 – 11 in Reykjavik, Iceland. If you have a ship docked and standing by for this - details can be accessed here.

Quote: "Last but not least, the dates for our 2006 fanfest are November 9 – 11 in beautiful Reykjavik, Iceland. Details are available on our website at http://www.eve-online.com/fanfest/2006/. We’ve made arrangements with Iceland Air for a special package rate that includes hotel and airfare, but fanfest admission is separate and may be purchased through the Eve store at https://secure.eve-online.com/fanfest2006/. The previous fanfests have been a blast and this one is sure to be a fun and exciting time, too. Keep an eye on the website as more information is added in the coming weeks."

Quote: "IGE employs a total of approximately 420 employees in Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Shanghai, with a few more individuals scattered across North America and Europe. This figure is roughly evenly divided between those who work on the real money transaction (RMT) side of the business (though it's important to note that no gold or item collectors work directly for IGE), and employees who are part of the company's 'growing content and community development division.' "

TINY WARZ: MobRule Studios have published an expansion for their miniature RTS MMO, TINY WARZ. The 'Battle Tactics' add-on brings "21 vehicles, 44 vehicle mods, and 10 buildings to the game" and focuses on "faster-paced combat, new techniques / tactics, and improved base-defense." Get Small.

Quote: "In TinyWarz you can create an army, construct / customize units, assign crews, design bases, and battle to control planets. Watch your hired crews improve in combat and select special abilities for your command crew as they gain experience."

VANGUARD: VANGUARD: Saga of Heroes Community Manager, Nick Parkinson is interviewed at Firing Squad. The FS folks grabbed Nick at this past weekend's PAX convention and lightly grilled him about the upcoming high fantasy MMO from Sigil/SOE. Read up.

Quote: "Currently in Beta 3, Vanguard has finally reached the point where the developers say they’re able to have a cohesive and fun experience. The development goal for this phase is to get all the features promised into the game in at least some form, then polish, complete and tweak them. Beta 4 will then be an open stress test before the game’s ultimate launch this winter."

Today's Hare-Brained Thought: Canceled MMO Watch: True Fantasy Live still dead. And I'm still bitter about it.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT: A number of exciting events bubbling in the WORLD OF WARCRAFT universe in recent days:

You are probably aware that the 'Drums of War' Patch 1.12 has arrived on servers, bringing revised Rogue talents, cross-realm Battlegrounds and outdoor PvP objectives.

You may not be aware that the 'Burning Crusade' expansion is undergoing internal Alpha Testing, new expansion talent trees (60-70) may have been leaked and that after the 'Burning Crusade' finally appears, WoW expansions will begin arriving at the rate of one per year. Believe it...or not.

Quote: "Additionally, an interview with Blizzard COO Paul Sams on GamesIndustry.biz reveals that Blizzard isn't stopping the love fest with The Burning Crusade. Rather, the company is already planning yearly expansion packs for the title, a practice altogether too common for every other MMO on the planet."

ALL POINTS BULLETIN: Attention all units! A quick peek at apb.com reveals that Real Time Worlds have been hard at work crafting the urban crime MMO's official web destination. There's not a ton of info yet for this promising 2007 title, but impressive character art and background info on the development team can be uncovered. Worth a check-in.

Quote: "APB is a genre-breaking game unlike any other in the MMOG market in which Gangs commit crimes and Law Enforcement try to stop them, resulting in dramatic chases, shoot-outs, busts, escapes and arrests. A wide range of action-based activities are supported. Those winning an encounter gain status and cash, and the cash can be spent on advanced weapons, vehicles and other kits. Players can carry out these activities individually, or band together into groups."

GUILD WARS: ArenaNet have set a date for the release of GUILD WARS Nightfall. This very handsome new game expansion will debut October 27, available in both Standard and Collector's Editions. The fancypants version includes a behind-the-scenes DVD, an art book, collectible skill pins, a character mini-standee, a map of Elona, a Nightfall soundtrack CD, and more. Slip into Autumn.

Quote: "In this third Guild Wars campaign, players must fight to hold back the night as a mad ruler attempts to free an outcast god and bring darkness to the continent of Elona. But players won't fight alone. Guild Wars Nightfall introduces new customizable Heroes who level up, follow player instructions in combat, and use skills and equipment of the player's choosing. These Heroes will follow the player through savage coasts, ancient monuments, and poisonous deserts during an epic story that spans twenty missions and hundreds of quests."

WARHAMMER ONLINE: Action Trip has posted a Leipzig, Germany Games Convention eyes-on report for WARHAMMER ONLINE. The Tripper likes what he sees and smells another addiction coming up. Hot new piccies, featuring Chaos beasties and such, included.

Quote: "But the real thing about Warhammer Online is definitely the PVP segment...Once the homeland is captured, you will be able to attack the enemy capital city. This is truly the best thing about WAR. You can raid the capital's bank and loot it, or you can decide to drag the dead Dwarven king by the beard all across the city… if you happen to be an Orc of course."

PIRATES OF THE BURNING SEA: Flying Labs' Taylor Danes discusses the current state of PIRATES OF THE BURNING SEA in a chat at Ten Ton Hammer. Excitement is wafting across the sea air, as Flying Lab have promised to announce the MMOs' release date at the upcoming PAX Convention this weekend. Stay tuned, you salty ol' dogs! Dane's details. (source: blues)

Quote: "Dancing is the best way to end a busy day of bloody plunder, so when our animators gave us a “jig” emote we knew what we had to do. We ambushed our developers, tied them to their chairs, and forced them to make your whole crew play some emotes while at sea. We were going to send them to the briny deep afterward, but they did a good job, so we left them marooned in their cubicles instead."

LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE: LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE gets an updated preview over at G-Spot. Guy Cocker (killer name!) sat down with an advanced build of the MMO at the Leipzig, Germany Game convention and describes his travels in Middle-earth for us. Read it. (source: blues)

Quote: "Codemasters and Turbine showed us how the first half hour of play might pan out. You'll start in a village that's home to hobbits, which include relations of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, and it's not long before trouble arrives and you're naturally left to help out with only your basic skills and combat ability to depend on."

Today's Hare-Brained Thought: Warhammer Online isn't even out yet and I'm already looking forward to the inevitable sequel - Warhammer 40k Online!

WARHAMMER ONLINE: Issue #10 of the WARHAMMER ONLINE: Age of Reckoning newsletter has gone out to subscribers. Inside, and at the official site, you'll find fresh details on new Dwarf and Greenskin classes, as well as a catapult full o' other new info. Hop skip for a look at the Dwarf Hammerer and Goblin Shaman, a zone overview of Black Fire Pass a behind-the-scenes Painting Creation and a Production Diary. So little time - so much WAR.

Quote: "Greenskins live for battle, and fighting provides the strange and twisted power that fuels their magic. By participating in battle – calling down the wrath of Gork and Mork, or just being up in the fight with the lads – the Shaman taps into the collective frenzy to gain Waaagh! power."

ULTIMA ONLINE: EA have announced first, scant details for a major revamping of nine-year-old, ULTIMA ONLINE. In a surprise move, Producer, Aaron "Darkscribe" Cohen has posted news of an upcoming graphics overhaul, interface refinement, and "many more surprises".

Sounds promising. I hope this means a move to full-3D. Yes, I know I speak terrible sacrilege. Yet, I tried to get into UO a few times but was already spoiled by experiencing my first MMO in beautiful 3D (ASHERON'S CALL). Maybe a graphical re-design will be just what the subscription doctor ordered. Then again, EA might just get the game looking wonderful, only to pull the plug again. Heck, they've done it twice already with the venerable MMO.

Quote: "You are one of the very first to get a glimpse of a reborn Ultima Online. We won't be releasing more details for a bit, but we do want to let you know a few things...We are completely re-building the Ultima Online client with new graphics and a new easier-to-use interface...We are committed to maintaining extremely low system specs. They will be higher than what UO launched with in 1997, but will still be far lower than almost any other MMORPG on the market."

LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE: Lucky players of THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE Alpha 2 have begun sharing first impressions at the official site. Tune in for a batch of sanctioned comments from Tolkien's testers. Hi ho the derry-o, and all that good stuff!

Quote: "So far, we're very pleased with how Alpha has been progressing. This week marked the largest number of concurrent players on the server since Alpha began, giving us a good starting point for analysis on how the game performs and plays. Despite heavier than expected logins, the servers remained stable and most players reported very few problems creating their character and beginning their adventure in Middle-earth."

PIRATES OF THE BURNING SEA: Flying Labs' Troy Hewitt is Q&A'd over an open fire at Hooked Gamers. Hewitt chats about various forms of PIRATES OF THE BURNING SEA gameplay, graphics, and plans after release. Prepare to board. (source: mmoz)

Quote: "We have role-playing missions where you choose how to interact with important NPCs in order to determine the direction of the story. But the majority of our current game play is ship-based. We’ve always said that we’ll add avatar combat at some point, but we haven’t made an official statement as to the timing of it. Just bear in mind that the game is open ended and the possibilities are unlimited."

CHRONICLES OF SPELLBORN: The folks at Nederlands-based web site, Force Feedback have visited the development offices for THE CHRONICLES OF SPELLBORN. If you cast the spell you can read an English-translation of the article. Hop on Pop. (source: mmorpgdot)

Quote: "Spellborn is about movement and dynamics. The main focus is no perfect buildings and straight lines. The game needs a certain ambience and the only way to achieve that is by developing a style that fits the Spellborn philosophy."