The Archivist Coalition has finally determined the date for the New Year, and they're sponsoring a First Night festival to celebrate. Wastelanders from all over the Grand Canyon Province will join together, briefly putting aside their differences, at least until Seasonal Arctic Network of Toy-based Altruism (S.A.N.T.A) and the Emissaries Leaving Free Stuff (E.L.F.S) visit. Once the fruitcake arrives - that's when the shooting generally starts. At least in my family.

Fallen Earth passed along some postcards to go along with the celebration, and they are pretty much as creepy as you'd expect. At least now we know why Rudolph's nose was so red.

If this sort of humor tickles your tickly bits, then perhaps Fallen Earth is for you. Visit the game's website to find out.

Cryptic rings in the holidays in Champions Online with the Attack of the Misfit Toys event. The Black Harlequin has made diabolical changes to the children's Christmas toys, and it's up to the heroes of Millennium City to take them down a peg or two. It's all about seasonal toy clearance, at least until seasonal toy Clarence shows up. Hugs and death for everyone!

"We really wanted to celebrate the holidays by giving our players some really fun gifts," said Bill Roper, Executive Producer of Champions Online. "So we've cooked up a brand new winter event, and created several new ways to share the joy of Champions Online."

Those new ways include a refer a friend program, where old players bring in new players to try the game for 10 days, with rare in-game items for all and 400 Cryptic points for the referrer if the new player stays, and a new demo that allows players to level up to 15 in the opening tutorial.

Nice offers, but as far as I am concerned it's all about Clarence.

It's where both Luke and Anakin Skywalker got their starts, and where an unfortunate incident with some Sand People set the latter off on a path that would eventually have him sounding suspiciously like James Earl Jones. Back in the Old Republic timeline, Tatooine is even wilder and more desolate than it was in the movies. The Republic uses the former Czerka Corporation outpost at Anchorhead as a pit stop, while Imperial forces have garrisoned a regiment in Mos Ila, using the Jawa-restored spaceport there as a base of operations as they seek the ruins of Czerka's weapon labs.

Between the two? A terrible secret. Insert dramatic incidental music here.

Check out Tatooine's Holonet page at Star Wars: The Old Republic for more on the planet where love and just about everything else is like sand.

Things got a little slow for me in Aion around level 18 or so, so I for one welcome the introduction of regular double experience weekends, giving me good reason to hop online for a few hours and kill what little free time I have killing virtual things. The experience point boost counts towards crafting experience as well, so those of you who'd rather sit in one spot clicking things for hours are covered as well.

The only limitation here is that only levels 1-35 can take advantage of the extra experience. You've already surpassed level 35? That's what you get for out-leveling me. Take that.

Every weekend until the end of the year will bring double the experience points, with regular double XP weekends planned for once or twice a month thereafter. This is only a temporary fix, however, and NCsoft continues to study the progression process in order to find ways to make it less painful.

Speaking of less painful, this week's patch will also bring with it a reduction in the cost of Soul Healing, for those of you who keep dying for some silly reason. Silly Daevas.

Upcoming Double Experience Weekends [Aion]

I would have figured SOE would have gone from cats and dogs to something like hamsters or potbellied pigs, but instead they go and pull this huge pet update, with mythical and prehistorical beasts of all shapes and sizes now available. This means you can now be a fairy riding a unicorn, which I believe counts as winning the internet, according to the official rules.

Player housing is a feature players have been clamoring for since the game launched, and SOE delivers, with free apartments for everyone. Non-paying customers get a one bedroom layout, while paying subscribers get a free 2-bedroom apartment, with an option to buy a 3-bedroom condo in the game's marketplace.

A new fishing mini-game has also been added to the game, giving players 20 job levels to hook any of 30 different species of fish.

Finally, the Snow Days events are SOE's way of saying that they appreciate Christmas but don't want to commit to it in name in case someone gets offended. Expect candy, sweets, presents, and snowball fights - you know, Christmas things. Christmas. Say it with me.

You can check out all the new updates by heading over to http://www.freerealms.com/ and playing the damn game already. OR you can just live vicariously through other players with these Kotaku-exclusive screenshots. Your choice!

EverQuest Underfoot, available today at EverQuest.com for $39.99, substantially adds to Norrathian real estate by going deeper underground than ever before. Players can expect to encounter plenty of new creatures as they venture forth, hunting for tradeskill recipes so they can make the powerful new items afforded by the addition of Master Tradeskilling.

Other new additions include an expanded target window, which lets players assign group members to specific roles for ease of targeting, and an achievement system, much like the one already implemented in World of Warcraft.

"Celebrating a decade of EverQuest throughout this year has reinvigorated our community and development team alike, and that passion is clearly on display with the latest expansion," said Thom Terrazas, Producer, Sony Online Entertainment. "Underfoot presents a world unlike anything you've experienced in Norrath, providing a deep and fun experience for all our players."

I've not played EverQuest for years, but there are times I miss my bard something terrible. Then I remember this, and the melancholy fades.

Make the Isle of Tortage your bitch with Funcom's new and improved free trial for Age of Conan. Rather than the old 7-days deal, from now until January 1st, players who sign up for the free trial and log onto the game (important step there) will have unlimited access to the first 20 levels of gameplay until the game's servers go dark. Create as many characters as you want, take off your female character's shirt and make obnoxious comments, and generally be a nuisance to more serious players, who will appreciate the fact that you're locked on that island until you can swipe your parents' credit card.

"Our original seven day trial has been very successful so far," says Morten Larssen, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Funcom. "But with the holiday season coming up this is the perfect time to shake up our trial offer a bit and try out something new. So everyone who downloads the trial before January 1st will be able to play the first part of the game for free, forever. We are confident that many of those taking advantage of this offer will choose to become permanent players, allowing them to experience all of what the game has to offer including all the additions and improvements introduced since launch."

Just head over to the Age of Conan trial page to sign up and download the client.

The Blizzard authenticator is a device that generates a one-time code that secures your Blizzard account from unauthorized access. The device costs $6.50 at the Blizzard store, and are given away in great numbers at BlizzCon, the company's annual fan celebration. Apparently being cheap as hell and sometimes free isn't enough incentive for some people, so Blizzard is passing out the baby Core Hound in-game pet , seen here in an image from MMO Champion, as an incentive. Anyone who adds an Authenticator to their account or has already done so scores the pet, which should see the little keychain fob devices being activated left and right.

Seeing as my World of Warcraft account has been hacked at least twice now, you'd think I would have used one of the many Authenticators I've had laying about from the past two BlizzCons by now, but no. Now that there's a fire dog involved, however, expect to see me digging through boxes of random junk in my closet later today, desperately searching.

The fancy case is only the beginning for Star Trek fans willing to spend $79.99 instead of the normal retail price of $49.99 on Star Trek Online, but it sure is lovely. It features magnetic closures and nested storage for the rest of the premium items included in the deal. Items like a combination hardbound instruction guide, art book, and disc container, or the cast metal communicator badge, styled after the one used in the game. The package also includes three credit card style buddy passes for you to share with your friends. Swanky!

The collector's edition also comes with the requisite in-game items, with a red matter capacitor for your ship and Deep Space Nine and Next Generation uniforms for your crew.

The Star Trek Online Collector's Edition will be severely limited, so if you want it, I'd highly suggest preordering as soon as possible. GameStop has an exclusive in-game Constitution Class Starship waiting for those that do.

Star Trek Online Collector's Edition [GameStop via Big Download]

While I wasn't a big fan of the original Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 is shaping up to be the sort of game I can really get behind. It's got amazing artistic direction, a nice selection of races to play with, and an expansive world to run my adorable little asura through.

This trailer features the voices of Troy Baker from Fullmetal Alchemist, Steve Blum from just about everything, Jocelyn Blue from Invader Zim, Felicia Day from The Guild, and Kari Wahlgren, who has appeared as countless video game and anime characters. Need to figure out who's who? Check out the Q&A NCsoft provided with the clip under the video.

RACES OF TYRIA TRAILER QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS with Ree Soesbee - World Designer and Writer

In the Races of Tyria, the latest preview video for NCsoft's upcoming MMO Guild Wars 2, we explore the world of Tyria through the eyes of the five playable races in the game. Meet the noble and resilient humans, the war-mongering charr, the brilliant inventors known as the asura, the mighty shapeshifting norn, and a new race of nature spirits, the sylvari. From these five races, mighty heroes shall rise!

Who are these characters in this video and what's their significance in the overall story of the game?

The characters in the video are the members of the famous adventuring group, Destiny's Edge, renowned for their bravery and skill. Although Destiny's Edge no longer travels together, tales of their heroic deeds are told in every part of Tyria.

· Logan Thackeray-Captain Logan Thackeray is a commander in the Seraph guard of Divinity's Reach, defender of the last human kingdom. When danger threatens, Logan faces it with the determination of a man who knows that he is the only thing standing between all that he loves… and its utter destruction.
· Rytlock Brimstone-This ruthless charr warrior has risen quickly through the ranks of the Blood Legion to become a Tribune of great renown. He stands foremost among the charr of the Black Citadel, carrying a sword of fire and leading their armies to greatness.
· Eir Stegalkin-Eir is a norn hero and tactician of great renown. There are those who call her a visionary, who say she speaks to the Spirits of the Wild. With her companion wolf, Garm, Eir roams the icy Shiverpeaks, bow and blade in hand, searching for meaning in the snow's silence.
· Zojja- The foremost apprentice of the venerable asura inventor Snaff, Zojja seeks to live up to her mentor's legacy. Zojja's intellect is unrivaled even by members of the Arcane Council of Rata Sum, and her ability to multitask across a spectrum of disciplines inspires awe and jealousy among her fellow asura.
· Caithe- Her blades are as swift as a blooded sunset, her movement as silent as the fall of night. Caithe was among the first sylvari to step upon the earth of Tyria, but where the others turned toward the sun, she sought shadow. She has never been afraid to gaze into darkness – or to seek truths that others fear.

You show off some very interesting environments in the Races of Tyria video. Can you tell us more about them?

The video takes us across the vastness of Tyria to the homelands of each of the five signature races of Guild Wars 2.

· Divinity's Reach-A breathtaking monument to the human spirit, this shining city is the capital of Kryta and a bastion of hope to embattled mankind.
· The Black Citadel-Capital of the Iron Legion, this massive charr war-keep was built on the ruins of the conquered human kingdom of Ascalon.
· Hoelbrak – In the frigid heights of the Shiverpeaks the norn have built this grand encampment, with huge lodges where they seek the wisdom of the Spirits of the Wild.
· The Grove-Deep in the Maguuma Jungle, this mystical settlement has grown around the Pale Tree, the birthplace of all sylvari.
· Rata Sum-Rising from the jungle, this metropolis of geomystic generators and giant ziggurats is full of brilliant asura and their golem servants.

Some of the voices in this video seem familiar, can you identify the actors? How big is voice going to be in Guild Wars 2?

Seamlessly integrating voice into the game experience is a key feature of Guild Wars 2, so we have gathered world-class voice talent to help bring the world of Tyria alive. This video introduces the five iconic heroes of each race, all voiced by accomplished actors:

· Logan Thackeray the human defender is voiced by Troy Baker (Fullmetal Alchemist, One Piece).
· Rytlock Brimstone the charr warrior is voiced by Steve Blum (Spectacular Spider-Man).
· Eir Stegalkin the norn is voiced by Jocelyn Blue (Invader Zim, Space Jam).
· Zojja the asura is voiced by Felicia Day (Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, The Guild, Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
· Caithe the sylvari is voiced by Kari Wuhlgren (Wolverine and the X-Men, Aliens in the Attic).

The video ends with the question, "What's your story?" – how important is story in Guild Wars 2?

Story is a huge element in Guild Wars 2. From the moment you choose your character's race, you're taking your first step down a road that only you can travel. You'll explore a vast, living world where your actions have real consequences. You'll immerse yourself in a rich, powerful narrative that is personalized to and influenced by your character.

The Rise of the Godslayer expansion introduces players to the lands of Khitai, with several new world regions filled with new dungeons, quests and rewards. There's a new player race, alternate advancement, and all kinds of goodies to make your stay in Hyboria more enjoyable. The expansion is due out next year, but fans can get an early peek on Monday when Funcom presents a live gameplay demonstration on Xfire.com.

"We have been working on the expansion for ‘Age of Conan' for quite some time now, and everyone on the team is eager to lift the veil and include the public in what we are trying to bring to life," says Game Director and Executive Producer Craig Morrison who will be hosting the live gameplay demonstration together with expansion Lead Designer Joel Bylos. "Development is coming together nicely, and we are really excited to see the empire of Khitai coming to life! Doing a live demo on Xfire is a brilliant way for us to reach out to a broad audience and show just what they can expect from ‘Rise of the Godslayer' as we continue to move closer and closer to launch."

The demo kicks off at 12PM Pacific time, so make sure you pack a lunch.

Perhaps I am just not seeing the beast in the trailer, or perhaps the whole thing takes place inside said belly and I am just not versed enough in Star Trek lore to see it. I suppose it's a better title than "More Ships Shooting At Each Other," but I still want my money back.

The planet of Alderaan wasn't always a smoldering cloud of debris. No, back in the day it was a lovely, peaceful planet - perhaps the closest thing in the galaxy to a Utopian society. Then the Great War occurred, and the Sith tried to invade, and while the Republic handed the Empire their asses, the face of Alderaan changed forever. The peaceful rulers began to support talk of war; the crown prince was assassinated for storming out of the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant; and now everything is up in the air.

It looks like Alderaan will be a contested planet in the massively multiplayer online game, with players on both sides fighting against each other for a planet that will one day be used as Death Star target practice.

Holonet - Alderaan [Star Wars: The Old Republic]

I got a little excited when I heard the term 'boarding parties' in the video, but it turns out that the separation of starship combat and away missions remains intact, with boarding parties essentially acting as any other attack would. You launch shuttles, and your away team does the work behind-the-scenes. I would have enjoyed the chance to run around causing havoc on board an enemy vessel while it shook from the beating my ship was giving it, but I guess you can't have it both ways.

I thought DC Universe Online was going to try and coincide with the storylines currently happening in the comics, but apparently that isn't the case. See, in the comics, Bruce Wayne is dead (sort of), with his skull spitting out Black Lantern rings left and right as part of the Blackest Night zombie event currently tearing its way through the DC Universe. Dick Grayson, AKA Nightwing, is now Batman, and Robin is Damian Wayne, Bruce's son with Talia al Ghul.

Perhaps they'll work this all out by the time DC Universe Online launches for the PC and PlayStation 3. Grayson makes a fine Batman, but I miss me some Bruce.

Well that's certainly a novel way to make sure you don't have a huge overpopulation of Jedi Knights and Sith Warriors. The Jedi Consular and Sith Inquisitor are both force-active classes, one fulfilling a support role while the other seems to be more of a DPS class. Note that all of the information here comes from a translation of a scan of the PC Games article from The Old Republic forum member Petrosis.

According to said translation, the Jedi consular can be geared towards a healing or damage role, depending on how useful the player feels like being.

The article calls the Sith Inquisitor a second line fighter, and from looking at its powers (seen below) it seems almost like a crowd controller with some area-of-effect (AOE) damage thrown in.

Check out the descriptions from the translation below, or hit up the link for the full post.

Update: BioWare has confirmed the classes in a forum post.

Jedi Consular page:
Image top:
With sword, charm and the force! The Jedi Consular fights from the second line.
Image middle:
The seventh class is the Jedi Consular. Contrary to the revealed Jedi Knight, several weeks ago, is the Consular not to be found in the first line. Although he can swing the lightsaber too, he masters several ranged fighting skills like "Sleep", "Lift" or "Smash". The class can be tuned into damage or healing. Thus is the Jedi Consular one mighty support class in the Old Republic.

Abilities:
Sleep
Lift
Smash
Force Push
Reflect

Both images bottom:
Beatiful type! The Jedi Consular stretches his arms, focuses his force, and throws the attacking droids with one strike through Force Push on the ground.

Sith Inquisitor page:
Image top left:
I have the force! As a Sith Inquisitor one masters the use of elecricity with ease.
Image top right:
The Sith Inquisitor is the alst of the eight classes tottaly with which SWTOR will launch. The Inquisitor is the opposite of the Consular and is a fighter from the second line. Equipped with force abilities like the "Shock" or the "Lightning Charge" heats his enemies properly, in which we could assure ourselves in one play session. One quest sent us into an ancient Sith-tomb, where crawled with killer worms (K'lor'slug Ravager) and imperial deserters. With the help of the area attack "Overload" near enemies we can not only damage them, but knock them back and stun them for several seconds, and so we cleaned the nest quickly.

Abilities:
Saber Blow
Shock
Execute
Overload
Lighting Charge
Whirlwind
Dark Gift
Call a fare(?)
Dark Meditation

Image middle:
Bad chance! In close combat has the Trooper against the Inquisitor the bad cards
Image bottom:
Electricuted! With electrical hit one does not only damage but stuns the enemies

PC Games article fully translated [The Old Republic Forums - Thanks Venom!]

The Chronicle Master system works much like City of Heroes Mission Architect, allowing players to use in-game tools to create their own missions and share them with the community. Since Sony Online Entertainment implemented the feature last month, players have been sharing the hell out of some missions. SOE cites one player who has already created more than 6,000 playable quests, all by himself. That's relatively insane.

It's even more insane when you take into account estimated subscription numbers for the game. MMO Data has Star Wars Galaxies' subscriber list estimated at around 50,000 players. Even if they were off by half and it was 100k, that's still 30 user-created quests per player. I suppose it helps that completing player-made quests earns you special in-game loot, but still, that's a pretty impressive ratio.

It just goes to show that players who've stuck with Star Wars Galaxies this long are really, really into Star Wars.

I knew something was missing from World of Warcraft. If I am going to be nearly comatose from eating brown food, then my WoW character should be too. During the Pilgrim's Bounty celebration, which runs from November 22nd through the 28th, Bountiful Tables will be popping up outside of major towns and cities in Azeroth, allowing players to sit, eat, and share food until their armor no longer fits. Each table features five different chairs - The Sweet Potato Chair, The Turkey Chair, The Stuffing Chair, The Cranberry Chair, and The Pie Chair - with the player sitting at each chair responsible for sharing his or her bounty with the rest of the class. Eating five helpings of anything grants you a buff. Eating five helpings of everything grants you an hour long 10% reputation gain buff, reflecting the spirit of the season.

I am just tickled that there's something called The Pie Chair. I need one of these chairs.

As I said, the holiday is also about cooking, and Pilgrim's Bounty features five recipes that can take a player from skill level 1 to skill level 340, along with daily cooking quests that result in the prize of a Turkey Caller, which sounds like a pet to me.

Check out the Pilgrim's Bounty page on the World of Warcraft website for more on this gluttonous new holiday.

For those of you not up to par on your Star Trek calendar, that's actually January 12th, 2010. The open beta will run through January 26th, giving players two weeks to play the game prior to the February launch. Open beta keys will be given out on a first come, first serve basis, with players urged to watch the game's official website at http://www.startrekonline.com to keep abreast of the situation.

"We are excited to announce the dates for the open beta phase as this is one of the final steps in launching Star Trek Online to the public," said Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer on Star Trek Online. "We are looking forward to the launch of our first-of-a-kind MMORPG with anticipation and excitement and we expect Star Trek Online to explode onto the scene, giving fans and gamers a Star Trek experience like no other."

Star Trek would be a much bigger hit with the fans if video game website writers didn't have to covert dates to stardates of their own accord. Just sayin'.

Allowing players to create their own nemesis in Champions Online seemed like a great idea, but I always wondered what Cryptic would do with them once they were created. Now we know. Starting November 24th, the Nemesis Confrontation event will let players team up with friends to take on their nemeses together.

"We wanted to take our unique Nemesis System to the next level and do something really awesome with it," said Bill Roper, Executive Producer of Champions Online. "So we asked ourselves, what if your Nemesis could band together with your buddy's Nemesis to take you on? Epic."

Players will have to band together against a team of their greatest foes in order to stop them from tearing a hole in reality in a bid to take over the Champions universe. The event will feature a brand new location and new, intergalactic gladiator enemies to the mix as well. Sounds like a good time!

And in case you've let your Champions Online subscription lapse already, Cryptic is holding a free weekend the 26th through the 28th, just in case you wanted to return to give your nemesis the beat-down.

Visit the event page for more information on Nemesis Confrontation.