The guys over at Mgame International contacted us with a new event they were running for their free-to-play MMORPG: Hero Online. They also provided us with a number of keys, which give free items to those participating in the event itself, to give out to our readers. To find out more about this promo and the game head on over to the full article.

Download: Hero Online Client

Shaolin monks have a long, deep seated history with the martial arts. They've not only been able to master and create different sorts of fighting style, but they've also managed, with the help of their discipline and training, to master all sorts of bodily functions. That being said, who wouldn't want to hang out with a guy who can kill you with a chopstick, right? (Ed: I wouldn't! LOL!)

One of the many other reasons why I'd want to take a monk into World of Warcraft is because they want to keep others from making money off their martial arts prowess. Who better to be litigious about martial arts than the masters themselves, right?

With the right party, any half-decent Shaolin monk will be an offensive powerhouse capable of tanking you through Karazhan in the search for intellectual property infringement. That being said, I'd be more than willing to let a Shaolin monk play shaman for my team any day.

Reasons why await after the jump!

Sad tidbit right here. If you've been following the progress of MMO titles like 9Dragons and Carpe Diem, then you might have heard that their developer, Persistent Worlds, has gone kaput. In their official website for 9Dragons, the only thing that's left for us to see is this vague and sad statement:

It is with regret that we have to announce that as of Jan 22nd Persistent Worlds has ceased trading. The servers will be shut down in due course.

As for the reason why this happened, nobody knows for now. From what we can see, 9Dragons and Carpe Diem get a lot of attention every time we feature something about it. The Martial Arts MMO 9Dragon indeed offers something different to players while the Fantasy MMO Carpe Diem is also making some noise in the scene. For now, we do not know what's gonna happen to them aside from the servers shutting down.

We'll give you more updates as things become clearer in the coming days.

In the martial artist's doctrine, the first step in mastering the art of war is mastery of specific moves. And from individual mastery, the student moves up to learning how to combine them. Battles are not won by one move alone, but by the fighter's mastery of myriad techniques into one fluid stroke.

And what is true in the martial arts also holds true in Guild Wars. We have already discussed the the starting guidelines for aspiring warriors in a two-part PvP primer Skill Synergy guide. And now, the battle can only get more intense as we tell you of the Hero Battle Skill Synergy Guide that they've posted on the Guild Wars site.

If the previous articles focused more on the individual character classes, this guide will now focus on the game's intense Hero Battles - from practitioner to battlefield. The guide will provide helpful hints on combatants on ideal character combinations, and on the skill synergy these classes have been attributed in the past PvP primer guides.

Be your party consist of Dragon Sword or Prison Assassin, Fast-cast Monk or Blinding Dervish, this guide will tell you of how to handle yourself when the fighting is at its thickest. Remember the wise words of Yagyu Munenori: That while two warriors may know hundreds of moves, victory lies in the single technique optimized for the situation.

Over at the MMORPG site, Indy 21 has updated their developer journal for their upcoming game, 9Dragons. This time, they talk all about the combat system, and how you can pull off the deadliest attacks that the game will allow. The journal gives a whole lotta info on this, so join us as we give you some of the nifty info discussed.

First off, you will start the game with no fighting ability at all. As in nil, none, zip, nada. You won't be able to work a saber, or sword, and not even a staff! BUT, the devs say that you could punch and kick a stray dog. But hey if that gives you kicks, then why not, right? Seriously though, you'll need to learn Kung Fu first before you get to wield a sword or use the other weapons. And to learn Kung Fu, you're gonna have to enroll yourself in a Martial Arts school or seek the help of a Sifu (Kung-Fu guru).

You should also know that all of the clans in the game have a unique form of Kung Fu, and each form serves as a compilation of hundreds of moves that you can choose to create your own attack and defense combinations. Now, if you do well in studying Kung-Fu, you can then progress to...*drumroll*... practicing some more. Hahaha, yep, you still won't be able to pull off the wicked moves you learned, so you really have to do well in training before you can execute those moves in a real battle.

Now, all these info are just primers on the whole combat thingamajig, and it doesn't even touch on the real "delving" into the nitty gritty of kicks and stances, hack and slash action you'll eventually get to do in the game. We strongly suggest you check out the rest of the journal to find out more about 9Dragons' combat system. See the "read" link down there? Just click on it and you're all set.  9Dragons is still currently in beta testing mode but is expected to be released late 2006.

Steven-Elliot Altman, lead writer and loremaster of the Acclaim Martial Arts MMO, 9Dragons, had some interesting things to share about what's up with the game and just what we could expect come its release date. Yup, that developer journal was sure oozing with info and we are sure that this Altman interview is info-ridden too.

When asked of how historically-accurate the game will be, the lead writer mentioned that the Korean design team was given instructions that if it didn't exist in China's Ming Dynasty, it wouldn't have any room in the game. Every detail - the music, design of the cities, clothes, and weapons - are all historically based.

As for the writing part of the game-making process, he promises to bring ancient Chinese wisdom in English, but then again the writing team will balance familiar storytelling elements with historically accurate visuals. So don't expect this game to be your guide through that Asian History subject of yours.

Altman also says that beta-testing is virtually essential to them since community should be their strongest asset. He says that it is always fun and inspiring to see them testers discuss game details or report bugs. He also says that 9Dragons aims to be the world's best free-to-play game, supported solely by in-game ads. Which may be a bit confusing because if post-modern ads get mixed up with a Ming Dynasty setting, well, the game just wouldn't work. But as Altman said, they are working on it. They'll be asking what their players think and might even let their players create their own ads.

And since there are no live, fire-breathing dragons during the Ming Dynasty, you shouldn't expect for rideable mounts/ dragons here. But, he divulges that three advanced clans (The Union of Noble Families, Black Dragon Clan, and The Disciples of Iron Fist) will be user-controlled. As for physical representations, their "Epithet" system will get you covered. It is basically a title above your character's avatar that will tell others who you are and will also raise your stats.

If you want to read the word-per-word interview, click on the 'Read' link below.

It was about a week ago that Mythic lifted the NDA they imposed on all Beta testers for the Labyrinth of the Minotaur update, and we're sure by now every message board out there related to Dark Ages of Camelot is abuzz with the testers' adventure tales within this new realm. And to add momentum to the growing anticipation, Mythic's just released info on two new classes we'll be seeing when Labyrinth of the Minotaur makes its bull run.

The Mauler: For the guys who prefer their fighting In-'Yo-Face, we're introducing this new usable class for LotM. The Mauler is a martial arts experts with nothing more than rune-enhanced gauntlets for weapons, and uses earthen-based abilities such as magnetism, gravity and auras to help them lay a beat-down on their targets. The name says it all.

More screens and Dracolich info after this jump!

Mythic Entertainment celebrates Dark Age of Camelot's fifth anniversary in grand fashion with the release of the MMORPG's seventh expansion, Labyrinth of the Minotaur. With this expansion, the first new playable race to come in two years - the half-man, half-bull Minotaur - finally makes its debut, introducing a hulking new player race, a unique new player class, a massive new dungeon, and an exciting new Realm vs. Realm gameplay experience.

In Labyrinth of the Minotaur, the ancient race of half-men half-bulls have finally returned to the lands of Albion, Midgard, and Hibernia in a quest to reclaim powerful but cursed relics hidden long ago by their ancestors. To do this, the Minotaurs have asked the three Realms for help in reclaiming the relics and preventing them from falling into the wrong hands. In exchange, they offer the secrets of the Mauler, a unique player class whose practitioners draw upon the powers of the earth to enhance their martial arts prowess.

See if you have what it takes to brave the Labyrinth and retrieve the lost relics. Be warned, though, for even if you manage to emerge from the Labyrinth in possession of a relic your adventure is only beginning, for those who possess them are forever marked as targets by those who will stop at nothing to acquire them.

The Martial Arts MMORPG, 9Dragons, is still pretty much in its beta state. This fact though doesn't prevent us from dishing out some of the things you should expect from it so you won't be caught off-guard come its release (which will be during the last quarter of this year). This time, we're going to talk about a new developer journal from the people who are slaving to bring it to the West. By now, you already know that you'll begin your journey as a peasant armed only with big dreams. Often being picked on by the village bullies, you often daydream of ways to fight back.

According to the journal, this is a different twist in MMO land as you don't just grab the biggest weapon around and start punishing the bullies. In 9Dragons, before you become a Kung Fu legend, you must first train your inner "Chi" or energy flow. How do you do that? Through mini-games. Hard part's over? Nah, now that your Chi is finely tuned you must find a trainer and then hopefully a clan might let you join.

Teachers could be good or bad. Some will build you up, others will pull you down. But in this game, what your Sifu (teacher) teaches you depends on the choices you make in developing your character. If you chance upon a really good clan, its leader might even show and teach you some exclusive abilities which will prove to your advantage during quests. Each of the skills you develop belongs to one of the following categories: Active, Smashing, Charged, Finishing, Casting, Rounding, Channelling and Mind techniques.

Now comes the harder part of mastering those learned skills - practice, practice, and even more practice. Each clan has extensive training grounds where you can hone your talents before you leave to follow your quests, again a mentor is there to guide you along the way.

The journal also divulged two of the most important skills you'd have to master- meditation and Lightfoot. Meditation enables you, Kung Fu phenom-in-waiting, to recover your life and Chi after battles. The Lightfoot skill makes your body lighter enabling you to attack or retreat faster.

Truly, this game is for the patient. For the one willing to sacrifice lots of hours to learn, practice, and obtain new Kung Fu skills. It may not be for everybody, but it's interesting plot and gameplay make it stand out among the collective.

Richard Garriott sat down on Thursday morning at GDC and gave a seminar about the history and future of Tabula Rasa, apparently his seminar was one of the more popular ones. Richard has been hard at work over the past few years working on several incarnations of Tabula Rasa. Richard is a legend in the MMO community making it nice to hear about the struggles and achievements the Tabula Rasa team has been through. Keep your eye open for part two.

GDC Panel: Designing Tabula Rasa

In the first part of our two part preview, we cover Richard Garriott's GDC talk

On Thursday morning at GDC, Richard Garriott gave a seminar about the history and future of Tabula Rasa. The seminar was one of the more popular. Richard is a legend in the MMO community so it was great to hear the struggles and triumphs the team on Tabula Rasa has gone through. Part two of this article will focus on the sit down interview I did with Richard after the seminar.

One of the main points that Tabula Rasa is trying to give individuals is the special feeling you get from solo player games. Rich’s point that MMOs are simply about numbers of players takes away from a persons individual experience. The other important element that Tabula Rasa is trying to implement is a system where both Asian and western players can join the same game with very few barriers in language or culture.

Click the jump to catch the rest.