A beautiful morning at the docklands awaits us at 7am.

We head down to breakfast and take in a good old fashioned full English breakfast to set us on our way. We decide to get to the show an hour early to set-up the PC’s and ensure our characters are loaded up with as many potions and items that we can put on them.

The walk to the show shows that there is a keen interest in the London MCM Expo with one or two people queuing up outside the main doors.

We get to the stand and boot up the PCs. All is looking well. Click the RF Online executable and the game launcher engages, but wait, what is this? Seems that we are having a couple of problems with the ports that we use, and the security with the centre’s net connection. A couple of calls later and we are able to see the game servers and have an internet connection…well to some degree. It is at this point the panic sets in as we find that we are having a few issues connecting to the Internet with the PCs. Not a pleasant feeling admittedly, but we do what we can to ensure that the PCs can play the game.

We've got a great log in poll for our customers to take. All the items on it were taken directly from various threads, and our Herald feedback forms. By that, I mean we creamed off the most popular categories and slapped 'em into our log in system. Now, these were our most popular categories, and we're planning some work into all of the options. And of course, ordinary bug fixing and class tweaking will continue during every patch, so you won't see those options on the poll.

But even though we're planning to work on all of the options, won't you log in tonight and help us decide what order to do them in?

One last note: The categories are obviously pretty broad. The winning category and possibly its runner up will become its own poll in the near future, allowing us to get more specifics from you. So pick your favorite category, if you want the chance to vote in a more detailed way.

Our Halloween bag o' treats is overflowing with goodies this week. Aside from the Operation: Outpost contest mentioned above, we have a new Recon item this week featuring the horrific Biomutes and their relationship with the Biomeks and Mutants.

Every Wednesday in November (except for Thanksgiving week) we'll be presenting a new lesson with Chassis 101, a new Flash primer that teaches you about Auto Assault chassis and their various hardpoints. For the first lesson this week, we'll be focusing on the weapon hardpoints.

Our Weigh-in Wednesday poll asks, "What kind of grind do you prefer?"

This week we have a journal entry describing how one person created their rogue. As always, this journal was written by a player in our Beta and not by the Turbine staff. The account that follows is one person's suggestions and strategies for how to create a rogue based on their personal preference for playing the class.

Building the Deadly Rogue

DDO affords us rogue aficionados the opportunity to really explore what it's like to be a crafty shadow-dweller. Whether it's picking locks, disarming deadly traps, or delivering death upon your enemies in silence, DDO allows the rogue to shine. This is my version of a rogue build, based on my own personal taste and the options DDO gives me.

Character Creation:

I decided to create a dual-wielding shadow stalker. I start off with 8 points in every attribute which is modified by my race. I selected Halfling because they are small and agile. By selecting Halfling, I gain the following bonuses:

• +2 to Dexterity: By far the most important rogue stat.
• +1 size bonus to Armor Class: Halflings are small and therefore harder to hit.
• +4 on Hide checks: Rogues are masters of the shadows and the +4 bonus is a nice deal for a new character.
• +2 morale bonus on saves vs. fear.
• +2 bonus on Listen checks: A keen ear is important for a rogue.
• +1 on all saves: Who wouldn't benefit from this?
• +1 to Jump and Move Silently checks: Move Silently is the one we are most interested in.
• I get a -2 on my Strength score by choosing Halfling because they're small, but that can be adjusted as you will see during the point buy allocation.

Kru Interactive has just announced that they WILL be restoring purged characters! Currently, they are are limiting patrons to 1 restoration at a time.

Kru support writes, "Please understand that character restoration is a time-consuming process, and there are many requests in the queue. It may take some time for your character to be restored. Due to the time required to restore a character we require a minimum commitment from you. We will ask that you renew your account for at least 3 months."

Greetings Star Wars Galaxies Players, Fans, and Other Denizens of the Galaxy:

My name is Julio Torres and I am the Producer on Star Wars Galaxies for LucasArts. We wanted you, the great members of the Galaxies community, to be the first to hear some exciting news about the current and future plans for Star Wars Galaxies!

Over the past year we have been working hard to respond to feedback we have gotten from players, fans, focus groups, and other research. This feedback has ultimately centered on one key area: the game does not feel like a heroic Star Wars experience. Currently, the early game has a steep learning curve and there is no clearly defined path of advancement or adventure. Many of our fans who bought the game did not see enough Star Wars style action early-on and ultimately left our world. It is our goal to change this and improve the experience for all players.

We are introducing a series of game enhancements to Star Wars Galaxies this month that include both significant enhancements to the live game as well as a completely redesigned experience for new players. The primary areas of focus include combat and profession and character development. The combat depicted in the Star Wars films, fiction, and canon that we have all come to know and love is fast-paced, action-packed, and visually intense. In order to stay true to the Star Wars fiction as well as to make the combat system more engaging, we have shifted the turn-based paradigm towards a much more engaging fast-action combat system where you control every move! After receiving feedback from members of the community, conducting extensive focus tests, and evaluating the combat systems of other games in the genre, we are confident this new fast-action combat truly delivers what players, fans, and gamers have come to expect from a Star Wars experience.

As mentioned earlier, combat is not the only area where we decided to focus our improvement efforts. We have also improved and brought more clarity to the profession and character development system.

Changing a live game is never easy. We realize that players do not like to have their experience altered. These enhancements will take some getting used to and for that reason we lined-up some incentives for the current players to enjoy as our thanks for your loyalty to our game.

We value our community and want you to stay with us. Our goal is to continuously improve the Star Wars experience, the one we all know and love from the films and fiction; action-packed, story-driven, Star Wars fun. With these features and enhancements we are setting the stage for incredible things to come for Galaxies with more announcements happening in the coming months.

I'd like to thank you all for your continued support of Star Wars Galaxies and for making it one of the premier gaming experiences online today.

May The Force Be With You,

Julio Torres, Producer - LucasArts

The Ryzom Ring, the upcoming expansion which will allow you to create your own events and scenarios within the game, is now approaching the alpha stage.

Soon, a first version will be released for the first pass of tests and debug; this version won't be feature complete, the goal being to fix bugs and start getting your feedback. We have selected about 50 of you for the phase 1 of the alpha test, based on displayed interest and skills - if you have been selected, you will receive an email in the next 7 days (be sure to check that the address recorded in the billing system)...

Since the first team needs to be small and focused, we couldn't include everyone we wished - but don't worry, we will progressively ramp up the number of alpha testers as we move forward, and an application form will be available.

Also, during the alpha test (and later during the beta test), I will dedicate a good deal of my time to the Ring alpha testers, ensuring communication between them and the Ring dev team. As a result, Marjo - whom you have probably noticed since she's writing the Forum Watch news - will temporarily take over some of my current duties, such as writing the news and articles on ryzom.com. She'll also join the boards and start posting there. You should start to see her around as soon as today. :)

Note: as usual during a game alpha or beta-test, testers will be bound to a non-disclosure agreement (to prevent concepts from being leaked and to avoid giving a wrong impression of the game to the general public), so please don't harass them with questions - they won't be able to answer you. Don't worry though, I'll stay around to make sure you get updates when we reach important milestones.

Another mixed bag today, as we start to fill in some of the gaps left in previous weeks. Tonic provides a much-needed way to restore Endurance; Feint is another quick buff skill, situational but highly useful in the right circumstances; Rapid Shot finally provides bonuses to those whose prefered weapon is the bow, while Precise Shot aids all marksmen; Votive Offering allows you to exchange Vitality for damage (better be able to restore that Vitality afterwards!); and Diffusion follows in the footsteps of Symmetry, this time allowing the allocation of damage rather than effects.

Check the Skills pages for all skills currently revealed, and Combat Concepts for details on related combat rules.

There were a variety of issues with the authentication server yesterday and today that caused players to have issues logging in to the game and forums. Several realms came down for unscheduled maintenance yesterday to resolve a few continent crashes. The extended maintenance today also caused a great deal of inconvenience to many. As a result, we are giving all accounts a 24-hour credit on their subscription. This credit should show up on your account by the end of the week.

As of this post, things are back to normal, but we will continue to closely monitor the realms and be prepared to take action should any other issues arise. We regret that the game was unavailable for a number of players both before and after the regularly scheduled maintenance period, and we would like to thank you all for your patience during this time.

The automated plot reclamation process continued today with the first live pass through the inactive accounts. While the personal plot owners should be familiar with this process, those players who have been anxiously awaiting guild sub-plot reclamations will be pleased to know that the sub-plots are now back in the control of your guild!

Guild sub-plots have been included in the list for plot reclamations. What this means for our players is that we will be removing the sub-plots from the control of expired accounts. These plots will not be auctioned. The guild sub-plots will be set for sale immediately after the actual reclamation. These plots will be left with all structures as you see them when the reclamation takes place. They will be reset to the standard guild price of 1 silver. These plots will only be sellable to currently active guild members in those communities. In this manner, it will be left up to the guild to decide who will take over ownership of these plots.

PLEASE NOTE: Baela is contacting active guilds individually about the master guild plots now that the automated system is fully underway! The active guild member contacts have already begun! Make sure your email address is up to date with us so you don't miss any news about this process!

For more information on the plot reclamation process, check out this link!

Celebrating its one year anniversary this month, The Order of Dii was formed at the end of the Guild Wars World Preview Event. Dii was created specifically for this event, and was made up of players acquainted with one another from a previous gaming community (one which you may already have discerned). The guild’s membership soon found themselves hooked on Guild Wars, and it was decided that the guild would continue on together from that point.

Dii maintains a balanced outlook on playing Guild Wars, choosing to focus on both the PvE and PvP aspects of the game. As a part of this philosophy, Dii allows any of its members to participate in all of the aspects of the game, including GvG. The guild chooses not to exclude people on the basis of their talent, but rather to include players of all levels of skill so that everyone has a chance to experience the rush of a competitive match.