The City of Heroes Mission Architect allows players to quickly create their own missions for the superhero MMO, so why not actual writers? First up is Bill Willingham, New York Times bestselling author and creator of the comic book Fables, who wants players to aid civilian Irena Faust in her quest for super powers. PVP creator Scott Kurtz has players facing off against the rogues gallery of internet meme-obsessed hero LOLBAT. Last but not least, Red VS. Blue creators Rooster Teeth has players teaming up with Captain Dynamic against the vile Great Face.

The four more-or-less professionally written missions will go live in the game on Tuesday, October 13th, with plans for more stories by more writers as time goes by. Check out the official descriptions below for more details.

Guest Author: Bill Willingham, New York Times bestselling writer, and the creator of the multiple award winning comic book series Fables

Title: "Quest for Magic"

Description: Irena Faust is tired of being a civilian in a super world, so she's embarked upon a quest for super powers. She thinks magic is the way to go and she has an idea of where to start. Can you help her?

Guest Author: Rooster Teeth, best known for the popular comedy series, Red vs. Blue

Title: "Mission: Awesome"

Description: Help Captain Dynamic defeat the Great Face's evil plans...

and

Title: "The Great Face-Off"

Description: The Great Face wants to wreak havoc on Paragon City. He needs your help to free him from Paragon Prison and then carry out his master plan...

Guest Author: Scott Kurtz, a full-time comic-strip artist for "PvP"

Title: "OMG, it's the LOLBAT!"

Description: OMG! Your new contact on the street is none other than the Internet meme-obsessed hero, the LOLBAT, and he brings grave if not confusing news. The Algonquin Hate Table, a rogues gallery of the LOLBAT's greatest foes, are looking to expand their heinous if not artfully influenced crime syndicate into Paragon City. If you know what's good for you and the citizens you protect, you won't let that happen. Luckily, the LOLBAT knows how these guys work and he's ready to help you defeat these pompous profligates.

In a battle six months in the making, members of the Destruction faction on European server Karak Eight Peaks laid siege to the Order capitol Altdorf. After a running 14-hour battle spent systematically taking over the city piece-by-piece, Destruction faced off against Order's leader Karl Franz and came out triumphant, capturing the city and placing the fallen king in a cage, all without using the exploits that made earlier successful sieges null and void.

For the many of you who've given Warhammer Online a pass, this is probably one of the biggest achievements the game has to offer. Having been playing the game on and off over the past month, I imagine the Destruction pride on that particular server must be completely unbearable at this point. Still, the best side won.

First legitimate city capture in Warhammer Online [Massively]

Not only is Mountain Dew switching genres and publishers, they're also switching up their strategy for the World of Warcraft Game Fuel releases, introducing much-needed player-versus-player combat to the sugary soft drink market. Do you choose the cherry-citrus tang of Horde Red, or the smooth wild fruit taste of Alliance Blue? Does in-game allegiance carry over to the soft drink aisle, or can a player rocking a Gnome Warrior online partake of a drink with an Orc Shaman plastered across the label?

The answers to these questions and more come this summer, when the unholy alliance between Mountain Dew and Blizzard hits store shelves.

It works like this: You begin as an innocent. Killing another innocent makes you a criminal with a bounty on your head, and killing enough makes you a murderer who gets attacked by town guards. Killing criminals and murderers doesn't hurt a player's reputation at all. It's a nifty system that I am rather looking forward to having in place. Until then, I hide.

Conan PVP consequences "very soon" [Eurogamer]

With the addition of the new region-wide and RvR-wide chat channels we have seen a marked increase in Open RvR participation. In order to encourage this trend even further, we have made an additional adjustment to the experience awarded for killing enemy players in an Open RvR area. Previously we increased this amount by 50%. As of today, that bonus has been raised to 100%. With this change players killed in Open RvR will now be worth double the experience than those killed in scenarios!

I just can't understand why this is necessary. Going from questing one minute to rolling over the forces of Chaos in a giant warband is one of the best things about the game. Perhaps it just takes a bit of coercing to snap people out of the World of Warcraft queuing up for PVP mentality. either way, more XP for me!

Experience Enhancements - Phase III [Warhammer Online]

Not only is player killing encouraged, it is even rewarded, with item drops pulled from the opposing player's inventory and a special PVP world loot table which includes new PVP specific combat items and XP increasing gloves. The more time you spend in open PVP, the better the rewards. If you can get past Runescape's dated look and feel it could very well be a free PVP paradise. Hit the link for more details.

15 October 2008 - PvP Worlds [Runescape - Thanks Alan!]

It all starts out later this month with a major PVP update, which they are calling "To The Death." The update will institute consequences and rewards for engaging in PVP battles, including the promised PVP leveling system and a Fugitive system, that will make it easier for other players to hunt you down the more lower-level characters you kill.

Other planned updates include guild alliance warfare, allowing guilds to team up and even form alliance keeps while fighting over "wonders of the world" that grant special powers, a system of in-game achievements called Powerpoints that will reward players for completing various tasks with points they can spend on special gear and powers, new areas to quest in, and a combo-based dancing system motion captured from professional dance artists. Joy! Hit the jump for more details on the evolution of Age of Conan.

Funcom and Eidos Announce Massive Evolution Plans for Age of Conan

- Massive PvP Update in June – New Areas and Dungeons – Powerpoints and Guild Alliance Warfare to Come –

DURHAM, N.C.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—After the incredible initial success for Age of Conan, a whole world of MMO players are eagerly anticipating the future plans for one of the most popular online games ever released. While Age of Conan has already evolved massively since launch, numerous expansive additions are yet to come. Funcom and Eidos are therefore proud to lift the veil on Age of Conan’s promising future, and today the two companies reveal selected features which are now in production.

“While we have enjoyed the initial success for Age of Conan, we know that a solid launch is but the start when it comes to the MMO genre,” said Gaute Godager, Game Director on Age of Conan. "As we look ahead we are preparing a huge amount of new content, and what we are presenting today will evolve Age of Conan even further. It’s naturally an incredibly ambitious update plan for a live MMO game, but we are certain our players would want nothing less.”

Without further ado, here are some of the cool things to expect in the months to come:

PvP evolved – To the Death

The great combat system in Age of Conan has taken MMO fighting to a new level of fun, and Player versus Player combat plays a major part in this. As a result, a massive new PvP update is planned for late June. Aptly called To the death, this update brings more consequence and rewards to PvP, and an important part of it is the Fugitive system. The more lower level players you kill, the easier it is for others to hunt you down. In addition, ten PvP levels with additional ranks will be introduced, as well as specific gear and weapons for PvP.

Guild Alliance Warfare

Preproduction has started on a MASSIVE free update which will come later this year. Currently titled “Kingship!,” large clusters of guilds will be able to form alliances, and rule and conquer on a massive scale. Everyone in a guild alliance will play a part in this system, and together they can even erect unique looking alliance Battlekeeps. The alliances can also fight over, and build, culture-specific “wonders of the world,” with a direct link to higher powers! As part of the system Funcom will also facilitate larger amounts of players in massive battles.

Powerpoints

This fall, a unique reward and character evolution system called Powerpoints will be introduced. This rewards active in-game behavior, and allows for gathering points through numerous methods, including owning a Battlekeep, playing the end-game at level 80, winning PvP matches, or simply being an active guild member or subscribing to the game. There will be many ways to obtain Powerpoints, and numerous rewards, ranging from exclusive Powerfeats to weapons, armor and potions. Powerpoints may even allow you to level faster!

New areas and dungeons

You won’t need to wait for an expansion pack to explore exciting new areas. In the next period, Funcom will include several new areas, as well as evolving already existing areas. This includes a brand new dungeon in Aquilonia, reshaping three dungeons in Stygia, and an entire mountain range in Cimmeria!

Improved player-made villages and Battlekeep systems

While the guild alliance system brings a whole new level to the game, Funcom will continue to expand the existing player-made areas and the systems running them. A focus on evolving the massive elements of the game even further continues, ranging from placing NPCs in the cities to more choices and benefits.

Social updates

An MMO is nothing without a good social scene. While Conan is all about crushing your enemies, social enhancements are also getting some love. A fun example is the combo-based dancing system which is now coming to the game, and it’s entirely motion captured by professional dance artists.

More adventures

Age of Conan has received tremendous praise for immersion and the great voice-over quests. This is but the start of the adventure, and numerous new quests are coming into the game, spread across the entire world and across the level ranges. Soon 60 additional quests will also get full voice acting, further improving immersion.

Embracing community feedback

Since launch several enhancements and fixes have been implemented to Age of Conan, and Funcom has continuously staffed up the service departments to improve customer satisfaction. This has already resulted in a better game experience, but the work will continue. At the heart of all of this stands the Age of Conan community. A lot of the upcoming improvements to the game will be based directly on community feedback, and the wishes and concerns players have when it comes to the future of the game will always be taken into account.

By reading the community websites, official forums and the monthly Clan of Conan newsletter you can expect additional information about upcoming features and released updates, as well as an arena to give your feedback. A new Clan of Conan newsletter is also going live today, with more detail on the upcoming features. http://funcom.cachefly.net/WebFiles/Newsletter/Issue17/

Along with all of the healthy player killing comes an entirely new region called Black Rise, which contains 49 new star systems and 40 new stations, many of which are already sworn to a specific faction.

It sounds to me like folks hungry for some ship-on-ship PVP might want to sign up for their umpteenth free trial of EVE Online.

Empyrean Age Features Page [EVE Online]

"eSports is one of the most exciting facets of online gaming today," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're pleased to expand World of Warcraft's tournament options for players who want to focus mainly on the competitive aspect of the game."

Blizzard Entertainment® Announces New Global World Of Warcraft® Arena Tournament Format

2008 World of Warcraft Arena Tournaments to feature competition on dedicated regional tournament realms and more than $200,000 in cash prizes

PARIS, France. - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced plans to launch a new type of tournament competition using the Arena System in World of Warcraft®, its popular subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The tournaments will take place on special realms that allow competitors to instantly create level-70 characters with epic equipment, placing the focus on tactics and execution rather than normal adventuring.

"eSports is one of the most exciting facets of online gaming today," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're pleased to expand World of Warcraft's tournament options for players who want to focus mainly on the competitive aspect of the game."

The tournaments are scheduled to start in April with two rounds of online qualifiers in Europe, South Korea, North America, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Each qualifier round will have a per-competitor entry fee - 15€/£12 in Europe; 20,000 won in South Korea; $20 in North America; and NT$450 in the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau - and will run for six weeks. During this time, teams will play 3-vs.-3 matches on the tournament realm in their region, with the top four teams from each round advancing to the regional finals to compete for more than $27,000 in cash prizes. Winners from each region will then be invited to a global championship event to compete for $120,000 in cash prizes, including a $75,000 grand prize.

One more nail in newspapers' coffin.

Time Magazine has an interesting piece up on the changing face of comic strips and how they no longer need a newspaper to survive.

Webcomics have been around since the late 1990s, and today there are thousands of them. The diversity of artistic styles is astonishing: anime, clip art, crude scribbles, beautiful finished drawings and everything in between. The Web also frees comics from the iron cage of the traditional strip format. "Being online, there's no reason our strip has to be three panels right next to each other," says Mike Krahulik, half of the team that produces the webcomic Penny Arcade. "It often is. But there's nothing keeping us from making full-page comic-book-style layouts. There's nothing stopping us from doing whatever we want." Webcomics aren't shackled to the grinding schedule of the daily paper either; Penny Arcade publishes three times a week. And Penny Arcade is always in color. On the Web, every day can be Sunday.

The story goes on to talk about the artistic freedom, both in the art style and writing, that web-based comics seem to embrace.

It wraps up with some quote from PvP's Scott Kurtz and this bleak declaration: At a certain point newspapers just aren't worth the hassle.

Unfortunately, I think that's a growing sentiment. Brian Crecente

New Zip for the Old Strip [Time]

The update introduces a new dinosaur-themed zone, over 15,000 new items, more weapon upgrade options, a dueling system where you can get your fight on without harassing new players, more quests and over 60 new skills. Also of note are Shadow Weapons, which are cheap versions of high-level weapons with a limited duration, an innovation I completely approve of. The update will hit sometime in April of this year. Michael Fahey

NCsoft Announce Details Of The Latest Lineage II Update "The Chaotic Throne - Interlude"
Interlude is the conclusion of the "Chaotic Chronicle" and the start of a new era

Wednesday 21st February/...NCsoft Corporation is pleased to announce the impending conclusion to Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle , one of the world's largest and most popular massively multiplayer online role-play games (MMORPG) already enjoyed by 14 million gamers worldwide. The ending of The Chaotic Chronicle marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the expanding Lineage II saga, with the launch of The Chaotic Throne . The first chapter; Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne - Interlude is expected on European and US servers from April 2007.

Interlude is the bridging link between Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle, and the beginning of a new chapter, The Chaotic Throne. Over the past three years since the launch of Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle, the game has seen vast changes to its strong visual style and game play, in the form of free updates for its subscribing players. Interlude will build on this tradition, starting players on an epic new adventure with new lands to explore, new adversaries to defeat and new challenges to overcome.

SUMMARY:

New Zone - Primeval Isle - Pterodactyls dominate the skies and vicious dinosaurs prowl the earth in a hunting ground for top-level players.

New Items - 15,000 different items to be discovered

More weapon augmentations for incredible bonuses - With the help of a Blacksmith, players can receive even more spectacular bonuses to abilities, battle values and skills

Shadow Weapons - Weapons can be expensive - limiting their acquisition to advanced players with enough money. Shadow Weapons look and behave like 'the real thing' but are cheap enough for new players to afford them. However, as shadows of real weapons, they will eventually wear out and disappear.

New Duelling system -PvP almost anywhere with no penalties. No need to go to an arena and for the first time - see your opponent's hit points!

Multiple New Quests - enter the mighty Siren's lair or capture a Tyrannosaurus to bring fame and fortune to your clan. Just one of the many new quests that will test the mettle of the most hardened players

Multiple New Skills - over 60 new high level skills added to the game let players expand and develop even further and bring new dynamics to PvP and PvE combat. Players will have no shortage of ingenious ways of dealing with their adversaries

Since its launch in 2003, Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle has reached more than 14 million customers worldwide. Already a widely popular and established game brand in Korea and other Asian counties, the title started as a cult favourite of many MMORPG gamers in Europe and North America striving to compete in what is considered the premiere player-versus-player (PvP) online role-playing game.

Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle is available at retail as a DVD pack, featuring the most recent update Chronicle 5: Oath of Blood.

Dissent has been stirring among WoW players who were concerned that the only way to achieve the flying Netherdrake mount that Blizzard showcased as a key feature of the Burning Crusade expansion was through participating in group PVP arena matches. This of course has caused much fighting between PVP players and the non-PVP players, who felt they had been slighted. Those worries have now been put to rest by the wonderful men in blue type.

The armored Netherdrake will be available through the arenas as a reward, and a Netherdrake that has a distinctly different appearance from the armored Netherdrake will be available through a quest line which has not yet been implemented. It's likely that it will be implemented with the next major content patch.

Netherdrake PvE Mount Confirmed [Blizzplanet]

World of Warcraft patch 2.0.1, titled "Before the Storm", goes live today! One of the largest patches to date, the update sees a metric ass-ton of changes to the most popular MMORPG in the world. Highlights include new talents across the board accompanied by a complete talent point reimbursement for all players, the much anticipated looking for group tool, which allows you to look for a group down to a specific quest, new PVP arenas for group on group battles, and a complete revamp of the Honor System that relegates all of those hard won rank titles into tags over the players' heads. This patch paves the way for The Burning Crusade, due out January 16th.

Thanks to the Blizzard downloader I've already 478 of the 498 MB download completed, which means by the time I get home from work today I should be ready to rock on my 60 undead mage, once I respec him completely to frost so he can summon his new water elemental.

Since the WoW website gets hit so hard on days like this, I'll go ahead and post the full patch notes after the jump.

World of Warcraft Client Patch "Before the Storm" (12/5/2006)

Looking for Group Interface Tool

A new Looking For Group tool designed to assist players in finding groups for instanced dungeons and quests will now be available. This interface gives players the option to be added to a pool of other players also looking for a group, as a means to expedite the process. In addition, players will also be able to search for additional members in situations where they have a group and are simply looking to find more players. For a complete overview of this new interface, please take a moment and read the information contained on our comprehensive Looking for Group preview.

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/townhall/lookingforgroup.html

General

* All players will have their talent points reimbursed and will have access to new talents throughout their trees; this includes the 41-point talents. Several new abilities have also been added for all classes.
* All pets will now receive a percentage of their master's armor, spell damage, spell resistances, attack power, and stamina.
* Low-level spells cast by high-level players will receive smaller bonuses from +healing and +spell damage.
* HoTs, DoTs, and channeled spells have been re-balanced to receive a more appropriate (higher) percentage of +spell damage and +healing.
* HoTs from different sources will now stack (i.e. multiple druids can cast the Rejuvenation spell on 1 target).
* New item property "Resilience" has been introduced. Resilience reduces your chance to be the victim of a critical strike, and reduces the amount of damage critical strikes do to you.
* Weapon Skill now does the following:
o Weapon skill will no longer reduce the percentage damage lost due to glancing.
o The player will gain 0.1% to their critical strike rating per weapon skill against monsters above their level.
* When casting a buff on a low level target, the appropriate rank of the buff will automatically be applied.
* In PvP, Crowd Control effects will last no longer than 12 seconds instead of the full duration, with a chance of a heartbeat resist.
* Players will no longer lose faction when under the influence of "Mind Control" or the Gnomish Mind Control Cap.
* Several improvements have been made to the Macintosh client, including support for Multi-Threaded OpenGL on Intel Macs running OS X 10.4.8 or higher.

PvP

* Honor System Revamp
o Current honor totals have been reset.
o Players may display their highest lifetime rank title (accessible from character sheet).
o Honor points earned each day may now be spent as a form of currency.
o Check the PvP tab of your character sheet to see your honor information.
o PvP rewards are no longer unique.
* Marks of Honor earned from battlegrounds are no longer turned in for reputation or honor. They are now used in addition to honor points in order to purchase rewards.
* Two New Arenas are now available in three different modes.
o 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 matches
o Players may queue up at Goblin NPC's in Stormwind, Ironforge,
o Orgrimmar, Undercity, and Gadgetzan

Druids

* The talent "Swiftmend" will now include bonus healing from the talents "Improved Rejuvenation" and "Empowered Rejuvenation".
* "Omen of Clarity's" duration has been increased to 30 min.

Hunters

* Traps can be set while in combat, but require a 2 second arming time.
* "Auto shot" will be automatically enabled if the Hunter steps out of melee range while in combat with target.
* 1 Agility will now grant 1 Ranged Attack Power.
* "Auto shot" is now reset when casting Aimed Shot.
* "The Beast Within's" Bonus damage caused has been reduced to 10%, but now also reduces the mana cost of all spells by 20%.
* Freezing Traps will now cancel combat when cast.

Mages

* "Frost Nova" (Water Elemental Spell) has now been renamed "Freeze".

Shaman

* Shaman with the appropriate talent spec are now able to dual-wield.
o Self-weapon buffs such as Windfury Weapon can be applied to both main and off-hand weapons.
* Rockbiter's weapon functionality has been changed. It is now a damage proc instead of a flat attack power bonus.
* Windfury Weapon and Rockbiter Weapon enchantments will only benefit the weapon with the enchantment on it.

Warlocks

* The range of "Drain Life" and "Drain Mana" spells have been increased.

Warriors

* Rage generation from dealing damage has been normalized.
o All Rage awards are averaged with our expected rage per swing (adjusted for weapon speed).

Items

* The "Far Sight" effect has changed so that the camera now zooms in to a distant location, rather than instantly showing the distant view. This also affects the items: Ultra-Spectropic Vision Goggles, the Ornate Spyglass, and the Hunter ability "Eagle Eye."
* Spells can now require either a totem item or a totem category item to cast a spell. This means that the Enchanting Rods now count as all of the lower level enchanting rods as well, so you only need a single enchanting rod instead of all six. This also means that "Finkle's Skinner" now counts as a Skinning Knife. Several weapons that are picks have been flagged as counting as a Mining pick as well.
* Items that give bonuses, such as critical strike percentage, have been modified to adhere to a combat rating system.
* All current items will provide the exact same benefit from ratings at level 60 as they provided before the ratings system.
* Thrown weapon items no longer stack, but use durability instead. One unit of durability is lost per throw, and these items can be repaired.
* The tool tip for the Great Staff of the Guardian now shows the proper increase of 28 to the party spell critical rating.
* Items that are useable from player inventory with a cooldown will now update the cooldown in real-time.
* Players will no longer be able to sell the "Blue Skeletal Horse" to vendors.
* The damage Proc from the item "Misplaced Servo Arm" will no longer break the Rogue ability "Gouge".
* The "Skull of Impending Doom" has been changed and will now increase run speed by 60% for 10 seconds, but deals damage equal to 60% of your maximum health and drains 60% of your maximum mana for over 10 seconds.
* The Backfire effect on the "Net-O-Matic" will no longer break on damage.

Professions

* All of the profession-made items that have been created up to now have been given proper stats based on the current expansion item level progression table.
* Most of the items made by Tailoring/Leatherworking/Blacksmithing have had their creation time reduced. Now the cap on time required to make an item in those professions is based on quality and level.
o New Max times required.
+ Level 31+ Green Items at least 8 sec
+ Level 31+ Blue Items at least 15 sec
+ Level 31+ Purple Items at least 25 sec
* Skill level now determines what items you can disenchant.
o Skill 1= Level 1-20
o Skill 25= Level 20-25
o Skill 50= Level 25-30
o Skill 75= Level 30-35
o Skill 100= Level 35-40
o Skill 125= Level 40-45
o Skill 150= Level 45-50
o Skill 175= Level 50-55
o Skill 200= Level 55-60
o Skill 225= Level 60-65
* Players will no longer lose an item when attempting to disenchant on a boat when the loading screen appears.

User Interface

* Meeting Stone gossip options have been removed from Innkeepers in preparation for the new LFG system.
* LFG/LFM UI
o Tips have been added to Loading Screen tips and new player tips
o Meeting Stones now function similar to a Warlock Summon spell.
+ Players select party member to be summoned and right click the stone. A second party member then clicks the portal to summon.
* Enchanting UI has been vastly improved.
* Raid UI now supports frame for Main Tank.
* Spell Alert (Enemy Cast bar)
o Defaults to off
o Enabled through Interface Options
o Displays targeted enemy's cast bar when they are casting.
o May also be displayed with "V" key functionality.
* Auto-loot may be enabled with just one click in the Interface Options.
* Character sheet UI now displays more precise melee, ranged, and spell stats.
* Players can now cast item targetable spells on items that are in your action bar. For instance you can cast feed pet and have the food you want the pet to be fed in one of your action bars.
* Semi-charged items can no longer be placed in the Auction House.
* A knowledge base has been added to the in-game UI.
o Searchable database of FAQ's and common support issues.
* Keyrings have been expanded to hold more key-type items and will now size dynamically for the number of keys in possession.
* The Hunter ability, "Mend Pet," will now turn red when a pet is out of range.
* Players will now be able to disable ability messages in the floating combat text.
* Players will now be able to scroll down their ignore list if it extends beyond one page.
* The tooltips for the Show Dispellable Debuffs and Show Castable Buffs options will now specify they only apply to raid pullout groups.
* Significant changes have been made to User Interface customization.
o For specific details, please visit http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=36975623&sid=1.

Bugs

* The Rend Blackhand arena event in Upper Blackrock Spire will now properly reset after a wipe.
* Players will no longer resurrect with low mana and health if they died and released on a Zeppelin or Ship.
* Fixed an issue where effects with 100% chance to be applied were being resisted.
* Fixed an issue where high level players were not being properly credited the right amount of faction reputation.
* Party members will now be properly credited for completing the "Dead Man's Plea" quest when a totem or pet gets the killing blow on Baron Rivendare.
* Slowing abilities and spells will no longer decrease the speed of a player when traveling by Gryphon.
* Fixed an issue where players were re-taining talent based abilities even after re-training.
* Fixed an issue where the Warlock spell "Shadowburn" was improperly consuming two Soul Shards.
* Fixed an issue where players were unable to click on anything if they had any add-ons installed.
* Fixed an issue where players were able to use "Mana Burn" on mobs and players without mana.
* Fixed an issue where spells that proc while a player was standing would not proc if they were sitting or lying down.
* Fixed many interface overlapping graphic issues.
* Fixed an issue where Seal of Justice (Rank 2) will now refresh with melee strikes.
* Blood Elf mobs in Azshara will now have the correct model.
* Fixed an issue where a spell with two procs would be reflected and one of the procs would still hit the player that reflected the spell.
* Fixed an issue that was putting Hunters back into combat when they have the "Spirit Bond" Talent or have the Cryptstalker set bonus.
* Fixed an issue where players were being awarded the wrong item when double looting a corpse under the master loot option.
* Fixed an issue where players interrupted while casting would have a longer cast time than normal.
* Fixed an issue where players could not see enchants when inspecting another player.
* Fixed an issue where extra attacks from "Windfury Weapon" would not proc "Flurry" when they crit.
* Fixed an issue where players that were killed in freezing traps would be stuck there until releasing.
* Fixed an issue where Warlocks were able to despawn a pet to gain a free "Soul Shard"in the Battlegrounds.
* Warrior "Shield Slam" and "Shield Bash" will no longer trigger a proc from an equipped weapon.
* Fixed an issue where players were able to consume a Mana Emerald at full mana.
* The totem, "Wrath of Air," will no longer be useable in "Ghost Wolf" form.
* Fixed an issue where Warrior "Battle Shout" was causing too much threat.
* Fixed an issue where computers with ATi video cards were sometimes having problems when displaying a certain texture.
* Fixed an issue where the Warlock spell "Death Coil" gained double the benefit from the talent "Shadow Mastery".
* Player pets will no longer attack CC'ed targets while in Passive mode.
* "Prayer of Spirit" will no longer cast on the user if there is no other target selected.
* "Lightning Shield" will now have the appropriate cool-down time between uses.
* Fixed an issue where materials were being consumed if a player logged out before an enchantment had finished being applied.
* The Hunter, "Auto Shot," ability will no longer activate on resurrection.
* Fixed a bug where "Inner Focus" was not being consumed when using "Mind Soothe."
* Fixed a bug where Rogues were able to use the ability "Ghostly Strike" when not facing their target.
* Warlock pet dismiss sounds will now play properly.
* Fixed an issue where Fist weapons were sheathing improperly.
* Bags will no longer overlap the Bank UI when the game window is resized.
* Players will no longer be able to whisper to enemy players in Battlegrounds.
* The Skeletal Gryphon ride for the Eastern Plaguelands PvP event will now fly at its correct speed.
* Players will no longer be able to jump onto the top of the Dun Baldar Fortress in Alterac Valley and get behind the terrain to attack other players.
* Shapeshifting will now break "Nogginfogger Elixir" effect.
* You will no longer die when Feign Death is finished channeling.
* "Scatter Shot" will now properly do damage even if the target is immune to the confuse effect.
* "Aspect of the Cheetah" will now properly trigger with absorbed damage.
* Casting a lower rank polymorph on a target that is already under the effect of a higher rank will cause an error message and not consume mana.
* The talent, "Master of Elements," will now properly proc off of totems.
* Players will no longer be attacked by same faction guards when using mind control on an enemy player to attack.
* "Vanish" will now properly un-target the Rogue from the attacker when the attacker is in the same party.
* The talent, "Improved Chain Heal," will now properly add to the base healing done.
* "Healing Wave" Ranks 11 and 12 will now benefit from the Shaman talent, "Healing Way."
* "Improved Curse of Agony" will now properly increase the base and spell power.
* Warlocks will now be properly credited a Soul Shard from their pet when they take a flight path.
* Warlocks will now be properly credited a Soul Shard from their pet when they are dead at the end of a Battleground match.
* Warlocks will now be properly credited a Soul Shard from their pet when they enter an Arena.
* Casting "Dark Pact" after exiting combat will no longer put you back in combat.
* The tool tip for the "Great Staff of the Guardian" now shows the proper increase of 28 to the party spell critical rating.
* Several Chest spawns in Dustwallow Marsh will now properly spawn above ground.
* Items that can give +Stamina/Intellect from random suffixes will now properly apply while dead.
* "Beastmaster's Gloves" will now give the proper 2% crit chance for Hunter pets.
* Fixed a bug where you can end up with overlapping bags after resizing the window.
* Various graphical errors will be noticeable while viewing maps.

Mac

* Added support for Multi-Threaded OpenGL on Intel Macs running OS X 10.4.8 or higher. Depending on hardware, scene and graphical settings, this can raise frame rates up to a factor of 2X.
* Improved video hardware detection and default settings, especially with Intel video.
* Vertex Animation Shaders have been disabled for systems with Intel video.
* Improved iTunes key-binding feature for smoothness and track name display.
* Fixed a bug where Tutorial Tips would not be marked as viewed correctly on PowerPC Macs.
* Fixed a rare crash bug in the audio code.
* Improved support for Weather Shaders.
* Added support for changing the mouse sensitivity in WoW. Previously, the Mac version ignored the value from the slider in the Interface Options dialog.

————

Now that's a lot of patch notes. I'll see you folks in game. Send Rande a whisper on Ysera if Blizzard manages to keep the servers from exploding! Michael Fahey

World of Warcraft 2.0.1 Patch Notes [World of Warcraft.com]
Download the patch from Strategy Informer here.

Something interesting is happening in Eve Online, the massive space MMORPG: the largest alliances in the game, Band of Brothers and Ascendant Frontier, have declared war on each other, sucking 9,000 players into the game's first truly massive PvP conflict. Huge battles are taking place for entire systems. And all in a game I once declared the world's prettiest spreadsheet.

Most interestingly, Ascendant Frontier pulled out the big guns in their war against Band of Brothers. In fact, they pulled out the biggest gun, the Doomsday Weapon, which looks like a sort of solar-system sized nuke. But even more hilarious is that apparently, Ascendant Frontier missed, mostly killing a good chunk of their own guys. Check the video after the jump for what the Doomsday Weapon looks like in action.

I always really wanted to love Eve Online because it ad the potential for just this sort of thing, but ultimately, I found that most of my time was spent flying from one place to another... something I would have found more manageable if I could have done it in the background as I worked, but my aging rig at the time didn't allow it. Now, I do have a rig that would support it, but it's OS X... when are you going to do a port, Eve devs? This sort of conflict is just the sort of thing that'd bring me back. Florian Eckhardt

First hostile doomsday device fired [Eve Online Forums]

I've been keeping an eye on the new Conan MMO, my little Frazetta-soaked innards clenching rhythmically with each new screenshot or news of the coming bloodshed. Even if I don't end up playing, the mere presence of the game will soothe some open wound in my soul that responds only the balm of barbarians.

Check out the PVP system in Age of Conan:

Blood Coins are effectively the currency of combat in the Border Kingdoms, tokens taken from the dying corpses of your foes. These Blood Coins are a mark of victory amongst combatants that will serve as bragging rights, status symbols and also a very useful currency in itself.

When you travel to the dangerous and blood soaked Border Kingdoms your passage there must be paid for. When you first enter the Border Kingdoms the coin that would be used to pay for that passage is not taken away, but is converted into Blood Coin. Blood Coins is effectively a separate currency to your normal coin.

BLOOD COIN. That is so hardcore I could plotz. People with higher PVP scores carry more blood coin, so killing successful PVPers will pay off. The better you get, the more hunted you become. That is a damn cool system. Eliza Gauger

More Here [Age of Conan, via Joystiq]

Though slightly floofy in a Renn Faire way, this article over on Got Game? touches on some issues with the PvP system in World of Warcraft, even bringing the credibility budget into it (though the exact term is not applied).

It is incredibly ironic that a virtual world that has evolved from so much of the mythology surrounding a romanticized view of the Middle Ages then chooses to ignore this fundamental tenet of that same view. And it also destroys the believability of the rest of the system - one can't reasonably fantasize about knights and dragons, when the knight just slaughtered a baby for no discernable reason.

I had never really thought of it this way, perhaps too blinded with rage at the level 60 night elf rogue that ganked and /licked my level 22 self for the eighth time that day. But he's right, it does screw with the immersion. And my blood pressure.

But in a game where twin tauren warriors named Orly and Yarly belong to the prestigious guild Forthewin, immersion may be entirely moot. Or mooooooooot. Eliza Gauger

PvP and the Honorable Enemy [Got Game? via TerraNova]

Brief summary of the story behind this video: a well loved World of Warcraft PVPer suffered a stroke, died and her guild decided to hold a memorial service for her in game. Note the orderly line to view the "corpse." A rival guild then decided to slaughter them all. If you want more information, Joe Rybicki has more.

It's caused a lot of outcry, but heartless sons of bitches that we are, we can't help but giggle. Leaving aside the fact that these maudlin expressions of grief are more about patting yourself on the back for caring than adult expressions of mourning and loss, let's put this in perspective. What more fitting tribute could there be to the life of a PVPer than a massive guild war erupting over her lifeless corpse? I'm a PvPer and I'd be damned proud to inspire that sort of carnage with my last life's breath.

Thanks to Glocker hegemon Joel for the tip! Tell us what jerk-offs we are in the comments!

Serenity Now Bombs A Funeral [Google Video]