Jes! Another Ultima Online expansion pack is announced below. Now if EA would allow the production of a sequel, I'd be *really* happy...not like this fake happy I put on for the cameras....

Seriously, if any MMORPG deserves a sequel and deserves it now, it's Ultma Online. Someone needs to pick up that old project started way back and finish the sucker, lest I smite the world.

Stubborn, sedentary jerks like myself have reason to celebrate today, as a new expansion for Ultima Online has been announced, to be called Mondain's Legacy. The newest playable race to be introduced in this expansion is the Elves. Along with a New Elf city, other Elvan additions such as new combat abilities, a new trainable mount, a few hundred new craftables, and new housing materials will be available. New monsters specifically relevant to the Elvan race will appear, adding a bit more depth to their portion of the world.

Ultima Online: Mondain's Legacy, while an expansion pack, will not require purchase of previous editions to play; it will come with everything needed to start a new account in Ultima Online when it ships to retailers on August 30. A detailed list of upgrades and additions not mentioned here as well as an FAQ can be found on this page of the game's official site.

Magic Hat Software is currently beta testing its fantasy MMO Irth Online. The world of Irth is 38,000 square kilometers in size and will grant a free house to each account. The insides of these home will have a degree of visual customization and be layed out like a real house--not just a big room. owning the house also comes with owning a bit of land outside it, though exact details of what a house looks like and what the players' landscapes will be depends on what town they live in.

Six races are available in Irth Online in the form of three for PvP and three for PvE, and any job class can be used by any race. Nevertheless, certain attributes develop differently for different races, so there is certainly some strategy involved in race/class combination. The PvP races can romp through terrain and quests specific to their style of play, while non-PvP races will focus on crafting and building wealth. Whether the Civilization vs. Civilization combat will be reserved for the PvP gang hasn't been speciifed yet.

The game will be released mid July, but not shipped to retailers. Instead, distribution will take place completely online. Visit the game's official website for details on that, as well as some neat media.

If you have any questions about Irth Online, please ask away. If all goes according to plan, you'll get your answer in the next column, straight from Magic Hat developers themselves. Email rage@rpgamer.com with your questions.

George Ziets has written a new developer diary about how he and the Lord of the Rings Online team will create quests, story segments, and NPCs for the game. A thesis quote: "One of our goals for The Lord of the Rings Online is to inject a healthy dose of story into the MMO experience. Turbine has a solid history of providing strong story content for our games, but for LotRO, we're going a step beyond." Read the whole shebang here.

Morpheus is supposedly dead in The Matrix Online. Says the official announcement, "The Hunt for Morpheus event in The Matrix Online began with the disgruntled Morpheus resorting to drastic measures to coerce the Machines into giving up Neo's remains. Empowered with a new mission, Morpheus set off bombs around The Matrix MegaCity. These code bombs threatened the fabric of the Matrix, releasing a virus that would show humans' 'reality' and potentially crash the whole system." A mysterious "someone" sent an assasin to bust some caps in Morpheus. This lead to him being caught "in a hail of bullets that even he could not dodge." Psh, he'll be back. You heard it here first.

The beta test for the Xbox 360's version of Final Fantasy XI may be closer than initially expected. Citing nebulous "reports from Japan," IGN.com claims that Square Enix is planning Final Fantasy XI's 360 beta to launch with the system.

Holy crap, it's Meridan 59. I haven't heard anything about this game in...well, years. Now, Near Death Studios is offering a new free trial of this ancient MMORPG. This trial will run from June 1 until June 30. Check it out here.

I got an email containing links to the official Vanguard website and a few bits of information. It seems E3 unloosed quite a bit of dirt on the game.

Vanguard makes no attempt to appear solo friendly; game programmers have said in various reports (see the above-linked official site) that there is no way to really experience the combat system without a group, then further state that a character can only safely solo a dungeon several levels lower than his or her own level. Since doing so is generally useless, Vanguard is not the place for players who like to split play between solo and party.

While fighting, characters with sharpened awareness can learn skills from their enemies. When combat abilities are used in fights against players of a similar class, those players can gain information of that ability, and over time, obtain it themselves. For example, when a party is fighting some enemies and an opposing warrior uses "Bust a cap" (I totally made that skill up. You won't see it in Vanguard.), the opposing melee classes can learn about it, and if certain stats are developed enough, they might even learn it. "Love thy enemies" indeed.

Revealed playable classes so far are Ranger, Warrior, Sorcerer, Cleric, and Pscionisist. More are said to be in the creation process. You can see a video of the game here, and check out a highly recommended fansite in Epic Vanguard.

Gah, this is unbelieveable!

We're back doing that screens thing. I've got some MxO and WoW stuff sitting in my backlog, so I'm not desperate, but I could always use more. Pile them on me. Don't be shy.

Anyway, here are some guild wars screens from Ourobolus. His own comments are below the screen table.

Screen 1 - Oh...wait...rangers are...long range, huh.
Screen 2 - Stalwart? Well, I guess it's better than Unpleasant (no joke).
Screen 3 - Nice view of Thunderhead Keep, before we go storm the place.
Screen 4 - The pinnacle of Thunderhead Keep...hmmmm....no.
Screen 5 - Cynn, standing tall for the camera!
Screen 6 - NOOO!!! The Flaming Hell Golems have captured all of Tyria in...shudder...Snowglobes!!!

Send me your screens!

Readers Speak

A letter I forgot to print earlier. Oops.

Virtual Property Ranting the idea in my opinion is ridiculous. Its not real. Why should we waste anymore tax dollars( or others in other countries) in things like that? Its truly silly. People like the guy who stabbed his friend should be placed in prison surrounded by huge tough lonely men for the rest of their lives. -Henry HEATH Ah yes, the infamous Legend of Mir 3 stabbing. I've decided I'm going to make a reenactment of this event. It will be pretty hilarious if I can capture on film what I have in my head. I can pull it off if I obtain the following materials required for filmmaking: 1) Film. 2) Editing equipment more professional than the Sony Handicam and 3 VCRs in my room. 3) Legend of Mir 3 4) Since I don't like spending money on special effects, I need a friend willing to be stabbed for the sake of movie-making. 5) Heck, I just need a friend, period.

Log Out

And that closes yet another chapter in MMORPGamer. Chapter 35, to be exact. What will Chapter 36 bring? No one knows, but if you'd like to be a part of it, email rage@rpgamer.com with info, stories from your favorite MMOs, screenshots, and all that other jazz that makes the column go 'round. Don't forget to ask your Irth Online questions, too.

Are you feeling stupid? I know Heath Hindman sure is. rage@rpgamer.com