NCSoft has recently announced that the latest free content update for their North American Lineage service has gone live. Episode 5: Temple of Shadows is the latest for the original Lineage game which, despite now pushing a decade, still has a worldwide customer base of more than 50 million.

Temple of Shadows contains nearly 450 MB of new content, including a first look at the Dark Elf-controlled Lastabad corridor. Other maps include the self-titled Temple of Shadows where Karma, a new type of gameplay will be introduced. Earning Karma gets players to higher levels of the Temple and unlocks more quests and craftable items.

Additional features introduced in Temple of Shadows include a new wearable earring, new morphs and skills and new monsters to summon during combat including the Lava Golem, Dire Bear and Cockatrice.

WoW players must have been having the time of their lives with the in-game Hallow's End celebration. We heard that players can bob apples, wear masks, and do virtual trick or treating to various innkeepers until November 1.

On another note, NCSoft celebrates the Halloween festivities with cool quests. Lineage, for one, will have a monster invasion , while a certain quest in Lineage II may result to a Coffer of Shadows/Omega's Cat purchase for 50,000 adena. Guild Wars will commemorate the event together with Mad King Thorn and his ghouls. Rumor has it that those who want to take a look at this monarch's otherworldly glow will be rewarded with prizes, or if they get lucky, a Halloween gift or two.

No kidding. A lot of MMOs really put a lot of effort in incorporating the usual holiday festivities, and a lot of gamers really look forward to experiencing those. In fact, according to our source, there are around seven million gamers who look forward to gaming holiday festivities (and probably we here at QJ are guilty for being part of that statistic). Honesty, who wouldn't? Not only are there loads of decorations to ogle at, there are cartloads of treats being given away as well.

And although some people think that this is just a marketing ploy to "steal" gamers away from their loved ones during the holidays, we think that these holiday rackets are sure a lot of fun. In fact, some gaming companies even think that these holiday add-ons make the games more grounded on reality:

"The primary purpose of the event is to change the face of the world for a while, which is a driving philosophy behind many of our events," Blizzard representatives said. "We enjoy making the World of Warcraft a more dynamic, living world, and these events certainly help this."

Way to go, Blizzard. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some WoW Hallow's End catching up to do. Do let us know what you think of this, alright?

Halloween has always been one of the biggest holidays for MMO players all over the world, so as a special treat for all of you NCSoft fans out there, we're giving you the lowdown on how NCSoft's MMORPGs will be celebrating Halloween this year.

First off, let's take a look at Auto Assault's Halloween event. It's Trick or Treat time in the Central Wastelands, and All Hallows Eve brings with it loot galore. That's right, loot drops will see a huge increase in the period between noon of October 27 and the morning of November 1. Get your weapons locked and loaded, because the blood will certainly run non-stop!

Lineage, meanwhile, will celebrate Halloween 2006 with a monster invasion. Pretty appropriate, eh? A variety of event specific monsters will be spawning all over Aden starting today, and the onslaught will get even tougher until it reaches the October 31 climax where boss monsters will finally start popping up.

Halloween-specific drops such as candies and pumpkins will also be available from various NPCs. The candies cause random effects to whoever eats 'em while the bronze, silver, and gold pumpkins can be opened for a special prize. For those who want their Lineage characters to get into the Halloween spirit with some snazzy costumes, several restricted or limited "costumes" or polymorph options will be available.

Over in Lineage II, a skilled fighter named Omega has been kidnapped by the leader of a legion of nasty undead warriors, and so his faithful servant is trying to raise the money for her master's release. If you want to chip in and help, you can buy a Coffer of Shadows from Omega’s Cat for a fee of 50,000 adena.

We know, the cost sounds kinda high, but keep in mind that these mysterious containers can turn out to have special head accessory items from the netherworld like Demon Horns or the Mask of Spirits. Even better, extremely lucky adventurers might even find a stage 11 or 12 Soul Crystal inside! Start pooling your money now and try your luck, and even if you don't get the item you're looking for, remember that the money you spent is going towards a good cause. This event runs from October 24 until November 7.

Finally, let's take a look at the inhabitants of City of Heroes and City of Villains. Player in both games will get the chance to go virtual trick-or-treating, knocking on doors in either Paragon City or the Rogue Isles for treats such as inspirations and temporary powers.

Of course, this wouldn't be Halloween without the tricks, so some players will also get tricked in the form of blood-thirsty ghouls and other monstrosities. These ghouls drop a special set of four savage drops, though, and once all are collected they can be turned into an additional costume slot by delivering the salvage to special contacts, so on second thought, we guess this is really more of a treat than a trick.

Also, pumpkins and giant monsters such as the Pumpkin King and his minions will appear all over both games, roaming the streets and adding to the mayhem. Additional treats such as badges will be available for defeating the Halloween-themed monsters. Finally, on Halloween night itself, signature heroes and villains will appear at the Pocket D Dance Club to mix and mingle with Halloween revelers.

Whooo! This Halloween's really shaping up to be one heck of a big celebration, not just out here in RL but over in the various MMO lands as well. Kudos to NCSoft for coming up with such enjoyable activities for their various MMOs.

While you might be having loads of fun engaging with boss monsters in Lineage II Chronicle 5: Oath of Blood, you might want to revisit its predecessor, Lineage this Halloween for a little trick or treat. We're telling you that the land of Aden will be full of surprises that are both delightful and frightening.

The events will commence on October 26 until the end of the month. Expect a variety of event specific monsters to spawn throughout the world in various and random places. As the event unfolds, especially prior to its ending, expect the monsters to become more vicious and to appear more frequently. Beware of various traps such as the spike and the poison ones. Also, polymorph options or the restricted and the limited costumes are going to be available during this Halloween.

When the festivities finally reach its peak on the last day, October 31, prepare to be attacked by various Halloween Event "Boss" monsters. Slaying these creatures will bring fame, experience and of course loots. NPCs from time to time will drop candies, pumpkins and other items with each having specific effects. The pumpkins by the way, come in gold, silver and bronze. Needless to say, the gold ones would be the most coveted as it contain special prizes.

Lineage's North American audience will receive some special treatment as they make substantial gameplay changes that were previously available to only one of the North American servers. Look forward to the new ruleset for The Lands of Aden (LoA) that has been published to all servers. Meantime here's a taste of just a fraction of the changes made to Lineage. The detailed list that includes Combat , NPC Monster, and Item Changes.

Changes:

• "/accuse" command (to enable bot reporting) is available to characters level 10 and higher.
• Lance of Aden, Ring of the Crawling Claw, and Amulet of Rabbitkind can now be traded.
• Adjusted the drop frequency of Heart of Dragon.
• Removed "Pirate Island Tour Guide" from Giran town square.
• The Lance of Aden now appears as a dagger when equipped.
• Samuel and Phineas will now speak with Dark Elf characters.
• Ancient Demon’s name is fixed.
• Galiene’s name is fixed.
• Beagles will no longer defend other creatures—really!

In addition, US Lineage servers will have a downtime for a maintenance reset on Tuesday, September 12th at 1:00 PM CST. The enhancements to improve your gameplay experience never stops for the Lineage team.