It's a bit odd to be writing this column. Heath is a good friend, and I'm sure many of you will miss him working here, and especially his style on this column. I have some pretty large shoes to fill.

I thought you'd like to know a little about me, so here it goes. I have been running RPGamer since it started in 1998. A long time, maybe, but I love every minute of it. As for MMORPG experience, I've played in countless betas and followed two into retail: Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft. Having to choose one to play, I stayed with Final Fantasy XI. Too many friends and too many levels to give up.

On Monday, Square Enix released their October Update. This update further expanded the Chains of Promethia region, Limbus, where 18 adventurers can explore exclusively for a set amount of time. By exploring Limbus, three new sets of armor can be obtained, as well as enhancements to the original Artifact Armor.

For those who are still working on access to Al'Taieu, Square Enix has expanded the NPC companion's interaction, including quests to raise its limit above 50. They've also added experience rings, again attempting to address the complaint that the level grind is too much for the casual gamer.

If you're interested, be sure to read all of the October update details.

As Halloween approaches, the cities of Vana'diel will once again be overrun with monsters. Some will be players in costumes, and some will be NPC's who want treats. What prizes will we see this year? Just have to wait and see.

Mythic has been quite busy this week. First and foremost, they are celebrating their 10th anniversary, as well as four years of success with Dark Age of Camelot. They are giving away lots of prizes in their 10-4-10 sweepstakes, so be sure your account information for DAoC or Warhammer mailing list is correct. For those curious about what happened during the other six years, check out their history page including pictures of all the games and many staff of Mythic.

As for their "Come to My Town" contest, the winning city was announced Thursday evening. On Jaunary 20, the loyal patrons of Oklahoma City will be host to a party of Mythic proportions.

For those who have been asking for Mythic to sell the latest DAoC expansion, Darkness Rising on shiny plastic instead of download, Mythic has answered the call. For only the cost of shipping and handling, the CD's can be ordered at last. Activation of the expansion is still $19.99, sorry.

EverQuest II is looking to add PvP to the game, in hopes that the ability to kill everyone else will make the game that much more addicting. Fortunately, Sony Online has set up a poll asking players how they should bring about this change to the game. Go to the EverQuest II home page, login, and vote between having new PvP servers, or opening the bloodbath up on all servers.

It's fitting that my first story about Dungeon & Dragons Online: Stormreach should involve numbers. I struggled with THAC0 far too often not to be a little cynical. Anyway, their forums are abuzz with over 100,000 members, and over 150,000 gamers have signed up for the upcoming beta. Of course, it clearly says that members of the forums get priority over others, so that would explain some of the growth.

Magic Hat software, the makers of Irth Online, are eager to launch. Today they have announced a special pre-launch discount. If you order before the launch date, November 1, they will sell the game for only $19.95, and players will only pay $9.95 per month for the first six months, instead of the regular price of $13.95. They will also get the first crack at the new world, as pre-orders can access the game on October 30, two days early.

Well, I didn't receive any screens this week, but that's alright, because I feel I should use this space to introduce my Mithra character in Final Fantasy XI. I have been playing since the game launched in October 2003, and have leveled Black Mage to 75, and Dragoon to 69. I am part of the HNM shell PlusOne, and my social shell MithraPride. I have selected three screens from my collection.

• My Black Mage, flying on the airship.
• My Dragoon, riding a chocobo to party in the Boyahda Tree.
• This is my NPC, Yoli, as we take on undead in Xarcabard.

Yes, they're 1280x800 screens. I play on my laptop, which is 16:9. Foxworth told me how nice it was, so I made sure that my laptop could do it too. :)

I look forward to seeing what other people are doing in the many MMORPGs out there. Send me a few screens, and captions on what they are. Send them to mmo@rpgamer.com for next week's column.

Thus ends my first column of MMORPGamer. I'll be back next week, so if there's something you want to share, send me an email. I want to hear about all the different games out there. One person can only track so many.

Have fun,
Mikel Tidwell