Always complaining about the weapons in Guild Wars and their perceived shortcomings in beating the hell out of your enemies? Well then, if you think you can do better, this post's for you.

Time to let those creative juices flow fellas, because NCSoft has just announced that they're hosting a Design-a-Weapon contest for your beloved RPG. No idea as to what kind of weapon they're looking for? To give you a general idea, check out that image right there, that was last year's winning Axe design by Peter Walthius of Netherlands.

So if you can do a whole lot better than that, here are a few contest details you might want to know:

• NCSoft is looking for new designs for various weapons: swords, axes, bows, hammers, spears, rods, wands, scythes, staves, and daggers, shields, and focus items that are also used in combat
• You can draw inspiration for your designs from the regions of Tyria, Cantha, or Elona
• All you have to do is send them a drawing, sketch, or printed image of an original concept for a new weapon, shield, or focus item and submit it to the dev folks for judging.
• Prizes/perks: If they choose your design, it will be placed permanently in the Guild Wars world's arsenal of weapons and you will be given website recognition. Oh and you'll get Guild Wars goodies too, of course.

More details can be found behind that read link below, so if you're interested and would like to show the folks at NCSoft the insanely wicked ideas you have for weapons, head on to the Guild Wars site now for more details.

Now that Valentine's Day is so over in the waters of Voyage Century Online, World War has broken. You may ask how this happened? It could turn back to the Great Continent in 15th century when the English established the eastern India Company. Whoever could take control of the water way would also monopolize the economy on the sea.

Various European countries like the Netherlands, France, Spain, and England are all eager for it. And with that, there's no way to settle this but go to war.

Since the World War is bound to erupt any time now, a siege war in inevitable. Guilds all over the world grew stronger to the point that most of them have exceeded the king’s power, making him a puppet leader who can't secure his country. To solve this predicament, the king decided to entrust some big guilds in Voyage Century to control and protect his city.

To the big guilds, this is a great opportunity for them. They can control the city and obtain important military materials from the country. So, Siege War is crucial to the development of guilds. The kings of other countries also realize the cabal and follow. Chaos, opportunity, and recognition - who knew these three could kick it together?

Ready for World War in Voyage Century Online? Click on our link below to know more about it.

 

The Official Linden Blog has a post out describing the key metrics involving Linden Labs Second Life. Below are the relevant data:

The size of the world – Linden claims that the size of the world, as measured by virtual square kilometers of simulation, expanded by 23 percent last January over December's 361 square kilometers.

The economy – The virtual economy, as measured by LindeX volume, and user-to-user transactions increased faster than land mass. User-to-user transactions increased 37 percent to 6.1 billion. The Official Linden Blog reports that this is consistent with the 47% increase in user hours. Conversely Linden Lab sold fewer Linden dollars in January than they did in December.

Resident population vs. Unique Users vs. Log ins vs. Active Users – The report informs that a comparison of total resident population to unique residents that have logged in grew approximately 38 percent over December. Residents with Premium Accounts increased 16 percent to more than 57.7 thousand. To address the controversy regarding total residents versus unique residents, the report informs that Unique users represent approximately 63 percent of total residents.

Usage by nationality - The top five countries represented in Second Life are the US, France, Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands.

A preliminary version of the Linden metrics report is to be had by clicking on our read link below. Be aware that it is an Excel Workbook. Linden reassures that they'll post a PDF of the report soon.

 

Amidst all the Burning Crusade news, most of us almost forgot that the Day of Hearts is fast approaching. Yep, just a few weeks to go until Valentines Day 2007 goes in full swing. And just like last year, World of Warcraft has something up their sleeves that is sure to make your hearts melt.

The first to announce their Valentines Day activities is WoW Europe. They are currently holding a Valentine Card Contest to get you in the mood for some lovin'. Basically, you'd have to design a Valentine Card showing your love of WoW. The price, a Gurky key! Anyway, the contest will run from January 22 - February 2  and the number of entries is limited to five per household. Those who are eligible to participate are:

• Participants aged 15 or more residing in:
• France
• Belgium
• United Kingdom
• Luxembourg

• Participants aged 18 or more residing in:
• Germany
• Austria
• Sweden
• Finland
• Denmark
• Norway
• The Netherlands
• Spain
• Ireland

To read all about the contest, click on our read link below to know where to submit your entries and to check out the full terms and conditions of the contest. Good luck!

Halloween's just around the corner, and Blizzard's celebrating it too, with an interesting gaming twist! Blizzard's giving out Blizzards iPods to five lucky winners of the Blizzard Costume Contest, which is already ongoing.

Want to join? Well, if you're aged 15 and up, and happens to be residing in the specified countries (take a look at the bottom of the article), then just dress up as your favorite Blizzard character (any Blizzard game will do) and send in your photo via email. You need to take two pictures of yourself, one prior to the Blizzard character makeover (meaning, you should be in normal clothes), and another when you're in full Blizzard-character garb. Errr no, photoshoppery is banned in this contest, so stay away from photo modifications, alright?

All photos are to be submitted through the Contest Submission page, so better bookmark it now if you intend to join. They're accepting entries until November 1 only, so better get your creative juices flowing before Halloween. Want to know whether you're eligible or not? Check out the list below:

• Participants aged 15 or more residing in:
• France
• Belgium
• United Kingdom
• Luxembourg
• Participants aged 18 or more residing in:
• Germany
• Austria
• Sweden
• Finland
• Denmark
• Norway
• The Netherlands
• Spain
• Ireland

Remember, this is a Blizzard Costume Contest, so stray away from that Spongebob Squarepants costume of yours, alright?

Last June, we reported on a detox clinic in Netherlands for gaming addicts. Now, a hospital in the United States offers pretty much the same thing. Located in Newton, Mass., the McLean Hospital actually has a "Computer Addiction Services" department, that aims to help people who are hopelessly immersed in video games.

The said department's coordinator, Dr. Maressa Orzack, believes that "game addiction is a true mental disorder." According to Orzack who has treated all types of addictions for 15 years, there's little difference between drug use, gambling and video game addiction. She adds that video games work on a theory pretty similar to gambling, called the "variable ratio reinforcement."

Basically, it means that players will set a goal (like finish a particularly a hard mission), and will keep playing until they accomplish it, even if they fail doing it a couple of times. However, they would still keep playing even if they reach the said goal. Thing is, before the players know it, they're addicted. They're already immersed in that "particular gaming world," and see it as a way to escape problems in real life.

Orzack's prescription? "Video game addicts" should accept their problem and be willing to change. And therein lies probably the biggest problem as most people don't see video games as "potentially harmful," as opposed to getting hooked on drugs or other vices. She also adds that there should be "warning labels" in video games packages, pretty much like the warning labels in cigarettes.

What about you? Do you agree with her? Share us your thoughts.