A common problem with many nascent massively multiplayer online games is convincing enough testers to put up with a not-yet-finished product long enough to accurately check maximum server loads. However, that shouldn't be a problem for Australia-based developer Auran, as today marks the beginning of the Fury Challenge, a $2 million prize tournament for the fantasy MMOG.

Beginning today, interested players can sign up for Fury's open beta and begin competing in the first weekend-long tourney. The second weekend competition begins October 5, and those who preorder the game will be able to partake in a midweek practice session running from September 31 to October 4.

Players can compete as many times as they want in Fury's seven different tournament ladders, but only their top 10 performances will be logged for prize considerations. A sampling of the prizes at stake include Dell XPS computers, Nvidia GeForce 8600 graphics cards, Logitech peripherals, and GameStop gift cards ranging from $ 10 to $ 500 dollars. A full rundown on the tournament, as well as beta registration, Fury client download, and a full list of prizes, is available at the Fury Challenge Web site.

Fury defies conventio

When I last saw Star Trek Online, it was March and I was at Perpetual Entertainment's studios in San Francisco. There were a few early (and impressive) terrain builds, a handful of character sketches and a group of extremely excited designers and artists working on the project.

Fast forward to the Austin Game Developer's Conference, where I had the opportunity to sit down with Daron Stinnett, Executive Producer of Star Trek Online. Where was the project now? "We are in pre-production, so we have our tools and technology in place." said Daron, "We have our ground game-play prototyped, our space game-play prototyped, we have our art style set, we have the design of the world well understood and mapped out. We know where our players will be visiting and the races they'll meet along the way. In 2008 we are heading into production to produce the massive volume of assets needed to create this universe."

Star Trek Online will have classes similar to existing MMOGs, although they are called "professions". I asked if they will be tightly focused and defined, or if they'll have overlapping skills, allowing development of the quintessential "mage-tank". Stinson responded, "We are going to make

Rumors of Google's plans to create a virtual world that rivals that of Second Life have popped up once again over the weekend. The company could now be collaborating with Arizona State University to test the 3D social network, which may be tied into Google's current applications of Google Earth and Google Maps.

ASU students received a questionnaire yesterday, screenshots of which were originally posted by a MacRumors forum member, that hinted strongly at Google's plans. Specifically, the questionnaire intro says that students will be able to test a product that will be publicly launched later this year by a "major Internet company," and the graphic makes reference to 3D modeling, video gaming, and avatars. It proceeds to ask questions about students' involvement with social networks like MySpace and whether they have Gmail accounts. The social network referenced by the questionnaire is currently being dubbed "My World."

As the Google Operating System blog points out, ASU has had a heavy affiliation with Google in the past: ASU was among the first to test Google Apps, the university depends heavily on Google Maps, and all ASU campuses have full 3D models in Google Earth. Google even

Although the discussion was supposed to focus on where the genre is headed, questions ranged far and wide when the audience got going.

The panel was made up of Kevin Maginn – Lead Designer for Pirates of the Burning Sea, Matt Miller – Lead Designer for City of Heroes and City of Villains, Ed Stark – the former Lead Designer for Dungeons & Dragons and now the World Designer for an unannounced MMO, Chris McKibbin – Executive Producer on Gods and Heroes, and Noah Ward – Lead Designer for EVE Online. The discussion was technically moderated by Jason Justice from Ntreev USA, although since the crowd was quite respectful and things moved along quickly, he served more as an additional (if quiet) panel member and a timekeeper than anything else. Each question will be listed individually, followed by an overview of the responses by the panel members.

Q: Why don’t we see more balanced classes instead of hyper-specialists?

Stark started off by referring