Got an inkling to sign up for Legends of Norrath: Oathbound, but don't have/want an EverQuest/EverQuest 2 account? We've just picked up a press wire from Sony Online Entertainment reporting that they've released a stand-alone version of their recently released online trading card game which doesn't require players to be singed into either EQ or EQ2.

Those interested in purchasing a 55-card starter deck will want to ready US$ 9.99, with the 15-card booster packs selling for US$ 2.99. As a reminder, Oathbound - the first of the Legends of Norrath series -  contains 375 cards in total. SOE Denver's Director of Development Scott Martins had this to say regarding the new stand-alone package:

When we showed Legends of Norrath at GenCon last month, it was just as big a hit with hobby and strategy gamers as it has been with our EQ and EQII players. We've had a great run so far with the exclusive access we've provided for our existing fans, and can't wait to bring it to a much wider audience with today's release.

New players will be able to enjoy the game in a single worldwide community with thousands of people that span its own client as well as both of our EverQuest MMOs.

The stand-alone sets can be bought at the Legends of Norrath official site via the read link. The site also carries a free trial starter deck, in case you'd prefer to give the game a try first.

NCsoft, one of America's biggest online gaming firms, will be hosting player and developer meet-ups in Indianapolis, Indiana and Austin, Texas in the coming months where there will be lots of food and goodies for everyone.

The event is under the company's GenCon banner and it aims to bring together players from all over the country to socialize, find teammates, share ideas and ask questions from the creators of their virtual worlds.

NCsoft is the company behind such hits as Guild Wars and Lineage which have both proven popular to a wide age group. They are also in the process of developing MMORPGs for next-generation consoles.

The Indianapolis GenCon will be in the 18th of August in a location which is yet to be announced. The Austin gathering, on the other hand will take place on September 22nd at Dave and Busters. Both are slated in at 6:00pm to 10:00 pm.

Registration is free as long as you own an account for NCsoft games. You can register for limited slots in their site and you'll be sent an email if you're among the lucky ones. Those below 16 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian above 21 years of age to participate. The parent or guardian must also register for the event.

Do you guys know that there's another GenCon coming up? It feels like it was just a few days ago since we had the one in Indianapolis. This time though, the festivities will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in California from November 16 to 19. Also, you might want to be wary of booth #404 as pirates will be manning that station.

What bloody pirates you ask? Why, the Pirates of the Burning Sea of course! Accordingly, developer Flying Labs Software will be at hand during the event to provide hands-on demonstrations of the game. Also, the very development team will be present to answer fans' questions. We wonder if Drew Clowery would be there. Being the new guy, we'd like to get a few insights from him.

Aside from the booths, GenCon also offers seminars and workshops as well as game tournaments. It began 38 years ago as a meeting between some friends to play games in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin - hence the name Geneva Convention. It has evolved today into a big anticipated gaming event being held in three locations: Europe, Indianapolis, and Anaheim.

The official EVE: The Second Genesis Collectible Card Game launch will be held at the GenCon Indianapolis from August 10-13, 2006. For your trouble, you get a chance to chat with Devs from the CCG and online game. You can ask them all the questions you've been dying to get an answer to. Maybe even get some helpful tips and strategies to aid you in the game, if you ask nicely. That's not all though. If you drop by the GenCon EVE Store, you can compete in the first official EVE CCG tournament, with over $10,000 in prizes at stake. So you better have your game on when you step into that store.

CCP will have a booth located in the exhibition hall (2001 in the south east corner) and a large number of tables in the tournament hall. You folks going?

If you plan on attending GenCon Indy next month (August 10th-13th), be sure to stop by booth #246 on the show floor. There you'll get to meet some of the movers and shakers behind the upcoming MMORPG, Pirates of The Burning Sea, including  Producer John 'Rev' Tynes, FLS CEO Rusty Williams, PotBS Lead Designer Taylor 'Augustus' Daynes, PotBS Content Lead, Jess Lebow, and Community Envoy, Troy 'Aether' Hewitt.

These development team members will be coordinating hands-on demonstrations and will be available to answer player's burning questions.

If you'd like an opportunity for one-on-one face time with a member of the Pirates of the Burning Sea Team, send a note with your name, organization, and two different preferred meeting times. All FLS appointments at GenCon Indy will be scheduled between 11:00am and 5:00pm. Unless otherwise arranged, all interviews with team members will be conducted at the Flying Lab Software booth. You can also contact Aether via the PoTBS forum's private messaging feature with special requests or arrangements.

If you're planning to attend GenCon in Indianapolis next month, here's some news: ArenaNet, creators of Guild Wars, will be sponsoring a live open-to-the-public tournament. At stake is $5,000 in cash and prizes in a sealed-play, 4v4 player-versus-player match-up.

Players can enter your teams, or sign up as individuals - in which case they'll be placed in a team with others. The highest-scoring team from each qualifying round will advance to the semi-finals.

Each team will receive a set of 64 randomized skill cards to build their characters. Once character builds and skills are decided, players place 8 cards of their choosing on the stand by their computer and set up their characters using only those skills. Then, the games begin...

Each match will be best 2 out of 3 battles and will last about 20 minutes. The winning team will receive 3 points and stay to play again, while the losing team will get one point, then must pick up their cards and step away from the computers. They will be able to wait for another opening in order play for more points, however. At the end of each qualifying time slot, the team that has earned the most points will advance s to the semi-finals.

Prizes will be awarded to the teams placing 1st – 8th place. Additional rules and details on prize structures are not yet available, but should be posted on the GW website within the next few weeks.

The developers of greatly anticipated Pirates of The Burning Sea over at Flying Lab Software have been partyin' hearty this summer - between a trip to the "Game On!" exhibit at Seattle's Pacific Science Center and and renting a whole theatre for the gang to see "Dead Man's Chest," it seems that working at FLS is nothing but good times and boogie nights.

Producer John Tynes assures us that they're still hard at work on PoTBS, however. "We’re accepting about 50 new players to our beta test program every week," he says. "But last milestone, we only put out a couple of beta builds because it takes a lot of hours to verify the builds for release to beta. I wanted to change that, so we could release a new beta build frequently without spending a lot of QA time ensuring that basic functionality was working. Thanks to fantastic work from our QA team, this is now a reality."

New game builds are done every night. Automated tests are performed on the build overnight and error messages sent to team members via e-mail, so by morning, everyone knows what needs fixing.

So - what's in the works?  "Our content creation team is busy working on missions for ranks 16-30." reports Tynes. " New missions and characters are going in all the time and it’s great stuff. We recently added the ability for NPCs to react to a player emote, so that if you use '/emote bow' before a noble we can have him acknowledge your action."

New additions also include keybinding and the implementation of the "persistent ship system," as well as some avatar tools. Now, when characters use an item (play a fiddle, drink from a mug, etc.), that object actually appears in the character's hands. The art team is also busy creating town art, including a "scuzzy" pirate village, a shantytown on a volcanic island, a plantation town and a mining camp.

Members of FLS are planning to attend GenCon in Indianapolis next month, followed by the Penny Arcade Expo, so if you're anxious to give PoTBS a try, show up!