After giving us a sneak peek of the new Exchange System for Pirates of the Burning Sea, developer Flying Lab Software's Anna Murchison is telling us more about the new Exchange Shop feature. Head over the full article for more details.

Blizzard is sending out word that tickets for its upcoming Worldwide Invitational event in Paris have now sold out. We imagine this shouldn't come as big surprise for the fans, given what sort of events await those who decide to pay the cash for their admission fee. More details are available in the full article.

StarCraft II for the PC platform was announced during last year's Worldwide Invitational. With this year's event just announced by Blizzard, rumors about a new title are now circulating once more.

The rumors have been going on for some time now especially after Blizzard mentioned that it's working on a yet-to-be announced MMORPG project. Could it be Diablo? Know more after the jump!

Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational is coming to Paris! This year marks the fourth Worldwide Invitational and Blizzard has just announced that tickets will soon be available. Details about the event in the full article.

It was recently revealed that EA Mythic's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning team will be traveling around Europe to various gaming conventions. This is being done to promote the upcoming MMORPG to those attending these events.

Fans of the game can expect to brush shoulders with the developers and see the latest build of the game in action. If you want to know more, head on over to the full article for more details.

Blizzard Entertainment just announced that a Russian version for their smash hit MMORPG, World of Warcraft, will be available by 2008. This marks the fifth official language version after English, French, German, and Spanish. Read more for full details and a remark from Blizzard president and co-founder Mike Morhaime.

GOA, the European distributor for EA Mythic's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning MMORPG, has announced that it will be attending this year's D3 gaming show in Copenhagen.

Warhammer: Age of Reckoning will be the focal point of GOA's booth, and a bunch of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning-related goodies will be available for attendees to experience. Find out more at the full article.

 

The official website for Square Enix's Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess has finally been opened with new information about the expansion. It contains videos, screenshots, and details about a new job class that'll be introduced in the game.

The video on the home screen is a trailer for the expansion while the screenshots show off some of the new content that players can expect. The new job - the dancer - has been described as a magic wielding class that apparently supports units by buffing them, or weakens foes by granting them various penalties. Here's the exact description from the website:

With their aggressive steps, these thewy terpischoreans would weave forbidden magicks upon themselves and their enemies, producing results rivaling those of even the most powerful sorcerous cants. The popularity of this profession reached its peak during the Great War, where dancers were common additions to allied army units fighting on the front lines.

Slated to be released by November 20 this year, this expansion is highly anticipated by Final Fantasy XI players everywhere. To give you an idea of how what to expect, why don't you take a look at these screenshots from Jeux-France.

    

More screenshots in the full article!

In an effort to raise awareness and to ramp up its environmental campaigns, World Wildlife Fund or WWF bought some virtual land in Second Life and named it "Conservation Island". The island will be populated by different animal avatars and the objective, according to WWF, is to teach human avatars how to live in harmony with nature.

"WWF set up the island as a way to help people learn about conservation issues and the need to live sustainably. We want to be able to show people that WWF has solutions to the real environmental issues affecting their 'first life', commented WWF International Online Outreach Manager David Cole.

One avatar SL residents will meet in the island is Mr. Tangee. He's a scruffy looking orangutan that can be found in an ice cream van. His purpose is to let people know that the total number of plantations producing soy and palm oil that are being used in ice creams, cosmetics, and chocolate bars now cover an area the size of France.

This, of course, threatens his kind because most of his natural habitat are being converted to industrial areas. Another notable character is a panda that guides visitors around the wind-powered local town and chats about environmental issues.

 

It's official, the number one selling PC title in both Europe and the US is Codemasters and Turbine Inc's The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadow of Angmar. Recent industry reports from NPD, Chart-Track, GfK and Media Control have shown that it has outsold all other PC games across North America, Germany, United Kingdom, and France.

Midway chief marketing officer Steve Allison spoke about their product's success saying that it is "the most successful North American pre-order program in Midway's history. As the positive reports and reviews continue to come in, gamers are settling into the game and experiencing Middle-earth as never before." The positive reports and reviews he mentioned come from pretty big names such as GameSpy, which awarded the game an Editor's Choice award and a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Computer and Video Games gave it a 9.2 out of 10 while U.S.-based GameDaily rated it at 9 out of 10.

Be sure to check out the game if you haven't bought it already, since there has already been a lot of talk that this is THE World of Warcraft killer. We'll have to wait and see though as more developments happen in the industry before we can say for certain.