Good news for all Ashen Empires players out there! Developer Iron Will Games is giving you the chance to strut your PvP skills as the company has a tournament planned especially for you. And come on, don't give us the crap that you're only joining for fun. We're pretty sure a prize package including 2GB iPod Nano from Apple sounds good enough to persuade you.

To join, send an email to support@ashenempires.com with the subject title "AE Tournament Entry." Your entry should contain your character's name and its level as well as your server. This is the rather tricky part: The tournament will be using brackets and they will be randomly generated. This means that it is possible for a rookie to be paired with a seasoned player so you better start building your character up now.

Furthermore, the tournament will be in single elimination format and will take place in Lotor's Castle Arena. While the bracketing and start times will be announced on February 20, entries should be received by midnight of the 15th and not a minute after. The tournament will be conducted on March 3 and 4.

Though we're unable to cover it, Ashen Empires Halloween events turned out to be a wonderful success like the others. Last Sunday in fact, an all-time high online user count was set on its Heroes server. That indeed was a good day for the people of fantasy world Dransik. In case however you're thinking that is all for this MMO, we're telling you, you are gravely mistaken.

Developer Iron Will Games just gave out exciting news for the game's sequel, The Sands of Creation. Accordingly, the upcoming expansion will allow players to advance up to level 110. Character specialization skills will begin to be available at level 106. This latest addition gives players more opportunity to customize their characters. However, characters past level 105 will no longer receive orb increases.

Level 106
A) Health of the Ogre (Increases Max Base Hit Points)
B) Stamina of the Bull (Increases Max Base Stamina Pool)
C) Capacity of a Packmule (Increases Max Base Carrying Capacity)
Level 107
A) Speed of the Viper (Increases Base Attack Speed)
B) Wizard's Haste (Reduces Spell Cast Time)
C) Crafter's Precision (Lowers Crafting Failure Rate)
Level 108
A) Giant's Hammer (Increases Melee/Ranged Damage)
B) Mana of the Arch Wizard (Spell Stamina Cost Reduced)
C) Resistance of the Diseased Snake (Increases Resistance to Disease and Poison)
Level 109
A) Magic Shield (Increased Resistance to Spells)
B) ManaStorm (Increases Spell Damage)
C) Arch Crafter's Precision (Lowers Crafting Failure Rate, stacks with level 107C)
Level 110
A) Health of the Dragon (Increases Max Base Hit Points, stacks with level 106A)
B) Criminal's Folly (Increases Alignment Gain Recovery)
C) BackPack of the Packmule (Increases Backpack Size to 32 Slots)

One of the discussion panels at the Austin Game Conference talked about a rather interesting topic: starting up your very own MMORPG. Quite a dream indeed, but definitely not an easy task, as the personal experiences of the panel members demonstrate. To all those with similar dreams, you may want to take notes.

"The Joy of Running Your Very Own RPG" panel included moderator Bill Money of Iron Will Games, and panelists David Reese (also of Iron Will), Brian Green from Near Death Studios, and Adam Ghetti of Rapid Reality. Iron Will is responsible for Ashen Empires, while Rapid Reality developed The Chronicle.

It's easy to be surprised by the unexpected when you're setting out on your own in the world of MMO business. Especially if you're a game developer with minimal busines experience. After purchasing Ashen Empires, Reese received a surprising - and nasty - education in busines economics when he discovered that half of the game's subscribers weren't paying the monthly fee!

One thing that all the panel members shared in common, and which ultimately drew them to setting up their very own shops, was a love of MMORPGs. All the panel members had ample experience working in other development studios. In Green's case, that's how he acquired the game that his studio's handling, Meridian 59. He was part of the development team that created the game, but with its original publisher deciding to cancel it, Green went on to form Near Death and purchase the rights to the game.

There is no denying the passion that goes into running an independent, start-up MMORPG business. It's definitely a different ballgame than a big-studio, big-company release like WoW. Smaller staff, longer hours, greater risks, going up against the big boys - but all of it with a personal touch, the touch of a gamer who loves the game. No denying the passion, indeed.