If you're a WoW-player, you'll be interested in this interview over at 1UP that covers the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Although there's not a lot that's new for the expansion as a whole, there are a few Death Knight tidbits tossed out by the devs near the end of the chit-chat. (If you're still stuck in the Dark Ages and you have no idea what a Death Knight does or even what it is, then here's the official Q&A for you.  There's certainly a ton of lore to look through in the official links!)

In the 1UP interview, the devs speak of how to unlock the Death Knight. In the next expansion, Wrath of the Lich King DKs will become accessible through doing a series of quests (this of course is apt to change). The devs also speak about the way DK spells are cast (using, instead of mana, runes) and giving additional, new details about rune cooldowns and the emphasis placed on the frost, blood, or unholy magic schools. Consider:

In general, Blood abilities are damage oriented, Frost is control-oriented, and Unholy contains utility and damage-over-time mechanics, but that's not a hard and fast rule. "We don't want to pigeonhole it to the point where when you're tanking you use all Fr

RvR is the latest greatest thing and TenTonHammer opens our eyes to what EA Mythic is doing with Warhammer: Age of Reckoning. Chew on this:

"With all these different things to do one can not forget a major part of Warhammer Online, RvR. However, once again instead of just having a bunch of people beating on other people for loot or status, EA Mythic has added a little diversity to the time honored tradition of "pwnage". RvR will count for "points" towards your side taking over that tier zone and controlling it. So how do you get these points? There are 4 different types of RvR that you can undertake. Each style increases in difficulty and culminates in a massive battle for control of an opposing city. Sounds pretty cool, eh?"

As a matter of fact it does sound cool. It sounds like a great way to get people involved in the game according to their own personal likes and dislikes. Some people love PvP some don't, but everyone wants to work towards the same goal. This is WAR's way of handling that.

As stated, there are many types of RvR.

"By making it more than just the standard "I killed you, I get to loot you, and now I get to taunt you" scene, I think EA Mythic will succeed in managing

Playing World of Warcraft on your XBox 360?  Blasphemy!  Blizzard said this would never happen!

Ok, ok, don't get your panties all in a bind.  While this development isn't exactly playing WoW on your 360, it's the next best thing.  Xfire is now releasing a nice bit of free software that allows you to use your 360 controller to play WoW on your PC.  Sure, something similar was done in the distant past, but that required a fistful of technical skill (and was a significant pain in the backside).  Xfire's software makes using the 360 controller as easy to use and set up as possible.  Heck, an orc could do it.

Not only can you kick back while playing WoW, you'll look cool and relaxed, too!

This new fancy-schmancy software is called Switchblade.  It's got a nice pre-loaded configuration, as well as the ability to customize the keys any way you see fit.  We took a good look at the Switchblade set-up, and it appears pretty intuitive.  While nothing will ever replace the keyboard and mouse as a precise interface, the Switchblade setup for the 360 comes pretty close. 

As you can see, the 360 controller - Switchblade interface provides for a wide variety of default actions.  (No, the /spit and /

Every once in a while it's nice to give the "little guys" a piece of the action. With all the hype surrounding WoW, LotRO, Fury, GWII how is it even possible for a little MMO to gain any ground? That's where the Goblins come in.

There's a new, free-to-play MMO floating around and it looks to be a fun little game, Fishing Champ.

"The World's only 3D fishing MMO."

Features:

• In-depth Character Customization
• Easy to use tournament system
• Aquariums to keep your fish as pets
• 30+ species of fish

There's many different maps and interesting places to fish. Many fish are unique enough that they can only be found in certain places and no where else. There are a few different fish types:

• Common: Fish can be found on all maps
• Unique: Fish can be found only in specific areas
• Migrating: Fish only appear at certain times and move from map to map

I want to just try it out for the aquarium feature, which starts you off with a beginner tank for small fish. It's interactive, so you actually have to feed the fish, change out the tank water and do upgrades as needed. Fun!!!!

As you gain experience, your tank gets bigger and you will have access to seaweed and tank decor to make your fish feel more at home. Aq

The upcoming MMORPG,  The Chronicles of Spellborn, has been confirmed to release in Q1 of 2008 after much testing.  This will allow the publishers some much needed marketing time and the developers a bit more working time to smooth a few things out.

The Chronicles of Spellborn is a MMORPG unlike any on the market at this time.  They have utilized a very "European" style of design in a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy world.

Spellborn International Ltd.'s philosophy in game design and game play have been focused on one goal: easy to play, difficult to master.  So game play should be intriguing and entertaining, that is if you can stop looking at the game graphics and how beautiful they are.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT: Super cool database site, MMO Champion has published model-viewer screenshots of the new mounts coming to WORLD OF WARCRAFT in Patch 2.3. Feast your eyes on the awesome shots below and hit up MMO Champion for further news and looks at new armors and items. Holy magic handbag - I need that Engineering flying mount! Good to go!

“Zul’aman preview: When you enter the instance, you can start an event by talking to a NPC called ‘Harisson John’. A 20 minutes countdown will start, the first boss will yell … guess what ? You’ve got 20 minutes to kill him.”

Tera Nova has a very insightful article up on the nature of "losing" in MMOs. The question they pose is an intriguing one: why, in an essentially PvP game like Eve Online, do losers keep coming back? Why do people who are perpetually victims of "leet players" keep playing? Why don't they simply quit the game in frustration?

If you kick someone's ass by having 12 friends attack him with you, does it count as a win?

The answer the author comes to is a complicated one, but essentially he points out that winning can be defined in many ways. Although individual losses in PvP must be endured, overall progress, and therefore enjoyment of the game, is possible.

We at WanderingGoblin have a different theory: the losers keep coming back because, if they left, the leet players of Eve Online would have no one to bully, beat up, or push around. Without a steady stream of fodder, the leets would become unhappy. And if that happened, they'd leave Eve Online and they'd all roll warlocks in World of Warcraft, and there's too damn many of them now anyway. Thus, we all need those who are losing to keep playing Eve, and our thanks goes out to them!