While at E3 Trion Worlds revealed that for the past few years they have been working on Heroes of Talara, and new fantasy mmorpg that is expected to launch in 2010. Dana Massey had the opportunity to talk to Chris Mancil, the game's Director of Community Management, while at the conference.

For many years, the only thing anyone knew about Trion Worlds was that they had raised a lot of money. At E3 2009, the company finally revealed their first major MMO project, an epic fantasy game called Heroes of Talara.

“At its heart, Heroes of Talara is about making heroes,” said Chris Mancil, the game’s Director of Community Management.

It’s a line many games have used, but Trion has a new idea on how to achieve it. On top of regular MMO quests, one core feature of the game is dynamic quests where players should have a chance to change the world and get recognition for it.

Read more here.

Hi-Rez Studios has revealed a number of new features as fans had the opportunity to give the game a try at E3.

June 3, 2009. New features and content for the upcoming action MMO Global Agenda were unveiled and enthusiastically received today by attendees of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. Players lined up to sample new character creation, Co-Op Player vs. Environment missions, and intense Player vs. Player missions.

This public showing of the game, that is available for hands-on preview throughout the expo, includes a first glimpse into the Global Agenda backstory via the "Inception Mission" that follows character creation, a chance to explore "Dome City", a social hub area set within the Sonoran Desert, new PvE mission content against Commonwealth androids and bosses, and new PvP areas within arctic and jungle settings. The skill-trees for each of Global Agenda’s four agent character classes were also debuted for players to experiment with.

Read more here.

Turbine recently announced that they would be updating the crafting system in The Lord of the Rings Online and today we present six new crafting screenshots from Volume II: Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-dum.

See more Scourge of Khazad-dum Crafting Screens.

MMORPG.com Darkfall Correspondent Kelly price writes this guide to the basics of Darkfall Combat.

Why bring a knife to a polearm fight? Why bring a polearm to a siege? Why shoot someone in the back with a mana missile when you have a bow and arrow? Indeed why (or why not)!? I am here to answer these questions and much more in my guide to all things sharp, shiny, and lethal.

Well let us jump into the thick of it with a few charts. Don’t you fret, little Agonians, I shall explain!

Read more here.

IGG has announced that the item shop for 2029 Online is now open.

IGG’s brand new RTS title, 2029 Online (http://2029.igg.com), entered into closed beta testing on May 30th and player have been raving. Although that could be PTS (Post Traumatic Stress) from all the intense battles…perhaps we’ll never know. We have seen towns and cities facing demolition and an increasing number of players throwing themselves into this full blown post-apocalyptic war for control of the future of the planet.

With such a successful opening behind them, the 2029 team made it a priority to make the Item Mall Grand Opening on June 1st at 9:00 EDT (GMT-4) a similar success! A great assortment of items, including teleport scrolls and healing potions went on sale. With a constant stream of new arrivals coming, load up your bag and prepare for the adventure of a lifetime!

Read more here.

MMORPG.com Mabinogi Correspondent Beau Turkey writes this look at item shops in free 2 play MMOs with specific reference to Nexon's Mabinogi.

In the cash shop world, it is accepted that many players spend money on virtual items. It is discussed here and there, and in some games is talked about as though the items might be "unfair," but overall the attitude is "anyone can do it, so be it..."

Mabinogi is no different. I spend a great deal of time in the game, and players rarely even discuss the cash shop... at least in the populated towns and in discussions with me. Granted, they could be staging protests that I am not invited to, but I doubt it. Most players are simply playing the game.

Why is it that most players (in cash shop games) don't worry so much about those players that spend real life money on items, while players in non-cash shop games seem to speak of the cash shop as though it is the end of the world?

Read more here.

The latest developer journal from the folks at Pirates of the Burning Seas looks at the addition of Role Play Rooms to the game.

Today I bring to you: Role Play Rooms! We’ve been listening a lot to our role-player community recently, and they have been asking for some spaces that they can use purely for RP events. As a result, in 1.16, you will have your very own locales to hang out in and talk the talk, or dance the dance. Look for one in your nation’s capital!

We decided to look for existing spaces that we could re-use for this purpose, as creating new rooms takes a lot of time, but we didn’t want the new RP spaces to look identical to existing rooms in the game. The challenge was working out how to make them look different without changing any of the room geometry or re-doing the lighting. Either of those tasks would increase the size of the patch significantly, which is something we try to avoid. Luckily for us, there is a neat feature in our game editor that allows us to swap out one texture for another while leaving the underlying room intact.

Read more here.

Mythic has posted an update on the status of the Tomb Kings as they continue testing the 1.3 patch for Warhammer Online.

1.3 testing is picking up steam and the real fun has just begun! Tomb Kings testing will be in full swing this week as you explore the Land of the Dead for the first time and all the perils and rewards that come with it!

We're continuing to evaluate all of the great feedback you provide through the PTS and Career forums. We realize that there is a lot going on in 1.3, and we want to ensure that it delivers a polished, engaging, and just plain fun experience. PTS is a testbed for future content, and it's always important to remember that change occurs constantly while we test new ideas and features, not all of which will make it live, so keep this in mind when testing and keep your mind open! We'll continue to look at the current changes and adjust them as needed to meet this goal, and we thank you for your candidness and enthusiasm when providing your thoughts and opinions.

Read more here.

Aventurine has posted the notes for the latest patch for Darkfall.

The main focus for this patch were the optimizations. This is the most work we've done to date in this area.

Optimizations

• The audio system has been completely revamped and this will result in significantly higher performance, mostly noticeable during large sieges.
• A large number of server side optimizations regarding sieges and large battle performance have been applied.
• Miscellaneous client problems have been addressed

Crafting

New Items added for Skinning:

• Dragon Bone
• Ork Darktaint
• Northman Blood

Read more here.

Bioware has announced the launch of the HoloNet, a new information resource for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Finding information about Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ just got a lot easier. We’re introducing the HoloNet— the galaxy-spanning data network in the game which is also now partially accessible to you here on the website. The HoloNet contains detailed records on classes, planets, factions, and a timeline of Old Republic History. Check back often to learn the latest updates on the game’s features and to start planning how your Star Wars™ saga will play out.

Read more here.

The folks at CCP have posted a new EVE Chronicle which looks into the background lore of the EVE Universe.

The noise was getting louder, and the air was running out.

"What the hell was that thing?" Now that there was nowhere to go, Karin couldn't stop herself from pacing.

It had torn through her ship's hull like it was tinfoil, exploding out into the vacuum. She'd seen it on the camera feed, bursting through the reinforced bulkheads of the central hold, and finally understood why Dagan had wanted a camera trained on a goddamn inert drone.

God, he was probably dead, too.

Of course, he could come back. The rest of them weren't that lucky.

Read more here.

In the latest developer journal from the folks at Atlantica Online, Lead Game Designer Joon Kyung Oh talks about what players can expect in the game's next patch.

To keep any game fresh and exciting, we have to constantly produce quality experiences for the player to remain interested. Otherwise, it will quickly grow old and stale, and we’ll lose our competitive edge to the other hundreds of quality games in the market. We don’t like to wait around for massive quarterly content updates so we try to squeeze in every little bit of excitement—or mini content updates—into every little patch we can. Ironically, this next patch is insipidly named Patch 3.1.

Aside from usual tinkering and bug fixes you normally find in patches, players can really look forward to a couple major additions to Atlantica in this upcoming patch. The first is a brand new, level 120 scenario dungeon called the Mysterious Inn. You’ll immediately be able to tell that inspiration for this dungeon was heavily drawn from the old Kung Fu movies. NPCs will be seen running up buildings, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, all to immerse the player into this Kung Fu world of ancient China. And when you encounter enemies in battle, they’ll pull off fancy acrobatic moves in strategic turn-based fashion.

Read more here.

Carolyn Koh recently had the opportunity to chat with Craig Alexander, VP of Product Development at Turbine, about the current and future happenings in Lord of the Rings Online.

I was curious to know what challenges Turbine had faced in transforming Tolkien’s famous work into an MMORPG and what else players had to expect in future expansions and had the ability to speak to Craig Alexander, Turbine’s VP of Product Development and Meghan Rodberg, Senior Manager of Online Community Relations at the recent LOGIN Conference in Seattle.

Currently, the Mines of Moria are open for players. The storyline is set in Moria itself, and at this point in time, the narration has changed from Gandalf to Galadriel as the Fellowship has already passed through Moria and Gandalf is presumed lost. The chronology however, is not the same for all players as the game makes use of instances to advance the epic storyline.

Read more here.

Turbine has posted a new dev journal revealing their plans to improve the crafting system in Lord of the Rings Online.

There are some significant enhancements in store for the crafting system in The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Book 8, and we’d like to take time to provide the details for those who love to make stuff in the lands of Middle-earth!

Continuing right along with the goal of creating a better LOTRO experience for players both old and new, in Book 8 we are updating the levels of crafted armour, jewellery, shields, and weapons to improve the frequency at which equipment upgrades are available to users of crafted equipment. To provide a smoother transition for all, we are making special arrangements for all currently-equipped crafted gear. This change will affect most crafted equipment with level requirements up to 50, so we've included some fancy tables below to provide all the information you need.

Read more here.

MMORPG.com Vendetta Online Correspondent, Adam Eldridge, writes this look at the recent changes to the game that have brought in multiplayer ships.

As the saying goes, space can be a lonely place. Even with the occasional cargo hungry pirate or profit conscious traders, space lanes are known for their tranquility; at least until now. With the Vendetta Online 1.80 update, space has become a little less lonely. This update to the game has added new multi-player ships to the universe. These ships allow pilots to enter certain player piloted ships where up to four players (one pilot and up to three turret operators) can fit into a single ship. Turrets are already featured on each capital ship, although capital ships are not available for players to pilot. This new addition to the game promises to add more depth to travel, trade, and combat throughout the universe.

Since Vendetta Online is twitch based, the intricate flight and combat system is one of the main highlights of the game. Pilots must use a multitude of techniques while in combat such as rolling, diving, strafing, changing directions, and altering speeds. All of these different movements shift the direction and flight pattern of the ship, which is important in evading gunfire. Each ship has its own unique weight due to ship type, variant, cargo weight, and weight of weaponry. Since weight alters everything from thrust to spin torque, every flight, space battle, and war is a unique one. With the addition of multi-player ships with player controlled turrets, the combat within the game is even more diverse and complex than ever before.

Read more here.

MMORPG.com Correspondent Pamela Blalock writes this look at Free Realms from a "grown-up's" perspective.

With most descriptions of the game applaud the family friendliness of Free Realms, more serious (and mature) players might be put off by the title. You can't know anything for sure without trying it yourself, so I sat down and spent some time with Free Realms to see if an older player could find some enjoyment in the game. It turns out, even at age 24, I found Free Realms to be an entertaining experience.

To begin with, the game is a breeze to run. I'm actually playing it right now while I'm writing this and just alt-tabbing between selections. I'm using Firefox and I believe that browser works the best for me when I'm playing Free Realms. For pick up and play reasons, that's great. It's also great because I can play for 10 minutes and still get something done or play for a few hours with ease.

Read more here.

The latest developer journal from the folks at Pirates of the Burning Seas looks at improvements to the game's combat mechanics.

For 1.16, we’re making various improvements to the combat mechanics of the game. We are improving the underpowered brawling skill chain, changing the debuff stacking mechanic in ship combat and adjusting round shot damage. These changes should help smooth out some areas that are currently rough and prone to exploitation.
Brawling Update

1.16 includes a set of changes to the brawling skill line. The changes give brawling more damage output while making it easier to maintain combos. There are fewer attacks that consume combo points and more attacks that benefit from combo points. We expect there to be another step after this one.

Read more here.

The folks at Eudemons Online have posted details of the game's latest patch which begins their 3rd Anniversary Events.

Top Boxer
It's said that Hephaestus is the best boxer in the Divine world. In honor of Hephaestus, hundreds of boxers gather to compete for the Top Boxer title in Cronus and the reward from Hephaestus Envoy.

Wrestling Game
Ares is skilled in wrestling, but this fabulous skill has never been seen since Ares died. In memory of Ares, there will be a wrestling game held in Cronus. It's a competition of team spirit. You should make a team with 5 members who are level35+.

Roaring Fefnir
Poseidon is famous for killing the Fefnir in ancient times. However, the Fefnir have appeared again recently. If you can help Poseidon kill the Fefnir, you'll obtain rewards from the Poseidon Envoy.

Funny Pumpkins
This little quest might remind you of some happy Halloween memories. Get the pumpkin seed from Demeter Servant and grow it. Pumpkin Carver in Cronus will help you carve it into a Pumpkin Lantern after it's mature. It can be used to claim a Diamond Medal from Demeter Servant.

Magic Memory
Almost all of us once dreamed of being a treasure-hunter. Now is the chance to make the dream come true. Ask Michael or Friel to send you into the Saraph Altar. Arcos will tell you more about it.

Read more here.

To make up for expected lost time while the folks at Ndoors moves their data center, Atlantica Online players will receive 150% experience from June 11th to the 14th.

To further our commitment to our players, Ndoors will be changing the Atlantica Online data center to a new location. This will be an extensive undertaking, but it will allow us to improve the stability and reliability of our game servers and website, which will enhance and improve your experience in Atlantica Online.

The move will take place on June 9th from approximately 9:30am-11:59pm PDT, for an estimated time of 14 hours. To make up for the considerable downtime, we will be offering two additional days of 150% experience. So you will be able to enjoy 150% experience from June 11 through June 14.

Read more here.

SOE has posted the patch notes for Game Update 10 which went live in Star Wars Galaxies today.

Highlights

• Introducing Battlefields to Star Wars Galaxies: There are four new PvP regions added to the game. Each is a battlefield complete with its own objectives. To play on one of the battlefields you simply need to use the /battlefield slash command.
• New Rename Command: A /rename command has been added to allow you to rename your character. A character must be at least 90 days old before he/she can be renamed. There is a 90 days wait before the character can be renamed again. Run the /rename command and follow the on screen instructions.
• Community Requests: Introducing "Shared No-Trade"! This new feature allows for a no-trade item to be shared with other characters of the same account. Many no-trade items have already been converted to this new feature.

Read more here.