If you're a stalwart fan of Forsaken World, your winter holiday of choice came early this year. The game's latest expansion, War of Shadows, has just gone live, bringing with it an entirely new race for players. Lycans can transform from their normal humanoid state into hulking wolf-creatures, providing a variety of new abilities and upgrades while they remain transformed. Other races have also seen several adjustments to bring them in line with the new kids on the block.

Even if you're not interested in new races or balancing old ones, the expansion features a new zone (Eclipse Hollow) and new dungeons (Ancient's Battleground and Hell Road), which provide new quests and challenges for players. Take a look at some screenshots of the expansion in our gallery, look at the full trailer for the expansion just past the break, and then get on in and start running around with your new wolfman.

[Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release]

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One of my favorite parts of doing this column is reading your comments every week. I've discovered that there are several other gamers who are passionate for this type of music and have plenty to say about these songs. There's a lot of memories that are triggered by these tunes as well, and I love hearing about them.

Unbeknownst to you but totally beknownst to me, I've been collecting comments regarding your favorite songs in the game's we've covered so far. My opinions on the best of every soundtrack isn't the be-all, end-all, after all. Sometimes you guys and gals show me a song that I overlooked or perhaps didn't appreciate the first time I heard it.

So what I've decided to do is turn your favorite songs into an occasional column, and this here is the first. Instead of focusing on just one MMO this week, we'll be looking at six additional tracks from titles we've discussed over the past few months. If you were gnashing your teeth that I overlooked an MMO classic, then you might just be in luck today!

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Darkfall Unholy Wars developer Aventurine is notorious for running a bit long on projects, so it's probably not going to surprise longtime fans that the game is missing its revised release target tomorrow. Developer Tasos Flambouras informed players that the launch will be delayed most likely until January, although a firm date has not yet been established. He also apologizes for the last-minute announcement, citing a need for several different bits of cross-communication before the decision was final.

To mollify those who just can't wait to start the game, a beta will be kicking off on December 17th for any pre-order customers. Returning players can pick up the game at the normal subscription price, while new players will still be able to get a discount by ordering. Flambouras promises that all pre-order players will receive a full 30 days of free time when the game goes live, as well as access to the beta during its duration. If it sounds like something you can't wait to jump on, keep your eyes peeled on Friday for purchasing details.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

The fanbase has rallied around City of Steam, sending its "Steam-o-Meter" shooting straight to the top. Mechanist Games announced that the community topped the meter with four million points, which means that the company is making good on its promise to include more content for the developing title.

The new content that's coming to the game includes a Marshpuggle pet, a steampunk motorcycle, the Dwarf race, and an as-of-yet-unspecified way of shaming developers. There are pictures for several of these, including a couple teasing a special reward.

The team also overhauled the game's hotbar, saying that while the old design was functional and aesthetically pleasing, the devs thought they could do better. The new hotbar not only has more of that gear-happy look but has a convenient button for emotes.

What could possibly more fun than hunting down and killing Santa? How about doing it in a corset and fishnets?

From December 14 to January 2, TERA is inviting players to find both Fat and Tiny Santas in game during their Santa's Slay event. Holiday drop loot includes themed cosmetic items, enchanting gear, and high-level consumables. You also have a chance to win a Santa cap that's exclusive to this event.

Check out more info on the event's official announcement.

It's a gloomy day for Trion Worlds, as word has come down that the independent developer is handing out pink slips to some of its staff. The studio confirmed the layoffs in an official statement:

As a response to market conditions, product timelines and the natural evolution of our company, we have made some organizational changes, which include a workforce reduction. This was a difficult decision and we wish the best for those affected by these changes. At Trion, we remain focused on delivering top quality online game experiences, and are committed to supporting RIFT and launching our highly anticipated new titles Defiance, Warface, and End of Nations in 2013.

Twitter was ablaze over the subject, saying that as many as 30 people were let go. One staff member wrote, "I managed to survive this time. Lots of REALLY good people got let go though." Another indicated which jobs were lost: "Not a good day. If anyone has a lead for a Sr. EQ or Assistant Lead QA job, please let me know."

Trion recently brought End of Nations in-house after Petroglyph suffered its own round of layoffs.

[Source: Trion Worlds press statement]

If you haven't heard, there's this new game out that doesn't play friendly with itself. PlanetSide 2 is built around a three-faction PvP setup, and SOE is not going to let you sit on the sidelines. No, you must pick a side, play favorites, and learn to hate the opposing sides with a vengeance. To help you with that, the studio's released new faction videos that beckon you to join each respective side's team.

After the jump you can check out the Terran Republic and Vanu Sovereignty videos, and then let us know if they have swayed you to their way of thinking. Or perhaps you've yet to pick up this free-to-play shooter? If so, it couldn't hurt to watch the following and see if it tugs on your interest!

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The good news is that Diablo III is now available to play on consoles. The bad news is that you'd have to apply and get accepted for a job with Blizzard to see it. The company admitted that it's continuing its experiments with a console version of Diablo III, saying that the game is running on a non-PC platform in the office.

Chief Creative Officer Rob Pardo said that this doesn't signal a certainty from the company, just an indication of its interests: "We're still kind of exploring it. We've got builds up and running on it. We're hoping to get it far enough along where we can make it an official project, but we're not quite ready to release stuff about it, but it's looking pretty cool."

Blizzard said that it wants to expand Diablo III, has plans for an expansion, and will be revealing "the next big thing" for the franchise during the next year.

Sometimes we need to see certain things from different perspectives in order to understand the whole truth. If detectives listened to only one eyewitness, then the totality of the crime would be missing. They could head in the wrong direction, thereby letting a criminal go free and possibly detaining an innocent person. Although game design isn't exactly like busting a criminal, it is a lot like other parts of detective work. Designers attempt to determine why certain aspects of a game work or don't work. They gather data and design a balanced system, but the totality of success isn't seen until they gather eyewitness accounts from a number of different perspectives. This is why today I want to look at the positive side of the gear treadmill.

Star Wars: The Old Republic launches a new game update today -- Update 1.6: Ancient Hypergate. Along with new warzone and space combat areas, this update adds a new set of top-level PvP gear, gets rid of a PvP gear set, and makes the PvE gear progression shorter by giving level 50s a set of Tionese gear. This update pretty much defines power creep, and normally, I would say that this kind of thing should absolutely be avoided in MMOs. However, this week, I'd like to take the opposite approach and examine why this is a good thing.

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[Thanks to groovy webizen Paul for the tip.]

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MMO worlds are shutting down left and right lately, and fans wonder whether this is the fabled onlinepocalypse we've feared for years. The Mayans predicted the end of such gaming worlds, but their contemporaries thought them mad, and historians didn't know what to make of an ancient civilization talking about "welfare epics," "XP grinds," and "Massively Speaking."

If it is the end of the world, wouldn't you like to hold the hands of two soothing podcasters who have plenty of popcorn to share? If we were you, we would totally do it. Listening to this episode is the next best thing, really.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air!

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes.
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[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.
Listen here on the page:



Read below the cut for the full show notes.

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If you're feeling underfunded this holiday season, you'll be happy to know that you can check out RIFT's first expansion for free. There's a catch of course, and it's that you must be a former subscriber. The Storm Legion trial period is only available for a limited time, so mark your calendars for December 14th through the 18th.

Trion also wants you to know that RIFT Lite players can now take part in the Fae Yule world event as well as build in private, public, personal, or guild dimensions.

Last year, Jagex announced a new feature that would allow RuneScape players to own ports from which to sail out and explore new, unmapped areas of the world. Starting today, higher-level players can claim their port and restore it by upgrading the dilapidated buildings. Gamers can then commission ships to take them to previously undiscovered lands with new lore, monsters, and races.

For more details on the new port feature (or to watch dancing devs in pirate costumes sing a jolly tune), check out the two videos after the break.

[Source: Jagex press release]

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Star Wars: The Old Republic's 1.6 Ancient Hypergate update is now live. The patch features a new warzone courtesy of the titular hypergate as well as six new repeatable space missions designed for level 50 players.

BioWare says that it has also included "a number of minor fixes and changes to the game" in today's patch, and you can view the update notes at the official site. Darth Hater has an update on the latest additions to the Cartel Market. If you're still curious about 1.6, check out the patch trailer after the cut.

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Wargaming.net producer Dmitry "Overlord" Yudo is fishing for player feedback on his development blog. His latest post titled [WoT] Your Global War focuses on World of Tanks' clan wars mode, which he says has been rather "slow lately."

Yudo mentions several possible feature additions, including more territories, historical and non-historical events, seasons for the global map, mercenaries, clan tanks, and more. He even hints at a wipe and object construction as possibilities, so head over to his blog and make your voice heard.

The news of a possible revamp comes after Wargaming.net announced that the clan wars mode will be temporarily frozen over the Christmas holidays.

Wintersday is steadily creeping up on Tyria -- on both Tyrias, as it were: Guild Wars is getting its annual holiday decorations starting the 13th, and Guild Wars 2 will join in the festivities on the 14th. The holiday event lasts through January 2nd for Guild Wars and 3rd for Guild Wars 2, so maybe don't fret so much on when you're going to get in to enjoy the goings-on. That's a nice change from the somewhat abbreviated schedule of the October and November content updates.

But be warned, hero: There's a war on Wintersday. Don't believe me? Read on to find out.

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Last month we reported on Star Citizen's Constellation Mark III, a freighter that boasts its own detachable snubfighter. Today Cloud Imperium has updated the comm-link portion of its website with some additional renderings of both ships.

The update also offers a bit of clarification on Star Citizen's soon-to-be segmented website. Once all of the data from the game's Kickstarter pledge drive has been integrated with the Cloud Imperium pledge drive, the website will be divided into three access levels: public, backer, and subscriber.

The public version is available to anyone and everyone, while the backer and subscriber tiers will be restricted to customers who supported the pledge drive(s) or are currently subscribing, respectively. Head to the SC site to see what content is viewable under each tier.

It's generally very difficult to make wrong choices in an MMO. You can make choices that are less than optimal, definitely, and even choices that you later regret, but there's almost always a way to respec and try again. Even if you can't do that, you can always reroll and transfer most of your stuff from one character to another.

Despite all of this, as I sat down to choose my first powers in Champions Online, I found myself very nervous that I'd pick the wrong thing for my character. I'm pretty sure that level 5 is far too early for me to have any chance of ruining my character forever, and I can always drop a few bucks and try again if that turns out to be the case, but I still couldn't help but have that fear that making the wrong choices would be disastrous.

So what about you? Do you occasionally worry about making the wrong choice with your character, even if you know that most of those choices can be remade if it turns out you were wrong? Or do you forge ahead without fear, confident it will all work out in the end?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!