Undoubtedly you've heard of Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (PC, with an Xbox 360 version to follow) yes? Well, if you're thinking of venturing into the Hyborian wastes then you might as well prepare yourself for the long journey ahead of you. No, we won't cast a spell of knowledge for it may upset the Cimmerians in our readership. Instead we deliver an article which discusses everything you need to know to get started. Click on the link below to see for yourself.

A group called the Epiphany Island on Second Life purchased an island and erected a full medieval styled cathedral on it. While this may not surprise some of the more jaded gamers on this MMORPG, it might be good to hear a little backstory on why and how this came to be.

The Epiphany Island's leader and Bible Society CEO in New Zealand Mark Brown was interviewed by Wyrdstuff and he gave quite a few facts on the appeal of the structure. He noted that people are attracted to tradition, and a cathedral gives off that vibe. To support this theory, he cited the renewed interest in the Christian practices of the middle ages.

The cathedral has definitely drawn a lot of attention, both in and out of the game, which further supports his theory. Of course this falls in line with the main reason for putting up the cathedral itself which Brown explained.

To create interest within the SL community. To do this you have to create something special, something unusual… The second reason was the desire to create something clearly Christian rather than something that looks like a meeting hall.

The original cathedrals were built in actual medieval times and their main intent was to create something special. These structures were considered a tribute to the glory of God. This erection of a virtual cathedral is very groundbreaking in lieu of the more aggressive tactics some in-game religions have adopted. How the community will take to this is yet unknown, we can only hope that it does not become a high-profile target for vandals and terrorists.

   

 

Gamers from Australia and New Zealand planning to play Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne would do well to know the changes NCSoft is implementing on the game's billing system. Current subscribers with active accounts don't have to worry though since you will NOT be affected by these changes.

It has been announced that any new accounts activated in the said markets will automatically be set up to pay in U.S. Dollars. In addition to this, any current inactive accounts that are in Australia or New Zealand will have their billing set automatically to that currency as well.

There was no word given on whether players will be able to shift back to paying with their local currencies, but a quick e-mail to NCSoft's billing support should solve that for most players. Be sure to keep checking back here for more updates on Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne.

Word on the 'net is that the first English version of the Koren MMORPG Granado Espada will be ready by May. Granado Espada is the latest project from Hakkyu Kim, the guy behind Ragnarok Online, and has won a few awards including the top prize in the 2006 Korean Game Awards, the Presidential Award for the Best Game of 2006, as well as clinching a prize for Best Graphics.

The localization team for Granado Espada worked on over 61,000 lines of Korean text for the game's latest version, version 2.0. Twenty voice talents also did voiceovers for more that 40 different characters in the game. A lot of attention was paid to each and every detail of the translation, so hopefully gamers who hate poorly translated games will take to the game's English version.

The commercial release of Granado Espada is slated for later this year, while the first English version will be available to gamers in South East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand on May 17.

 

The game Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is looking to be an MMORPG of epic proportions. How can it not be when it's based on the rich lore of the largest tabletop gaming franchise in the world? The developer, EA Mythic, has really been doing extensive research and has come up with a lot of stuff that would make fans of the game drool.

The premise of the MMORPG has been simplified a bit. Some have noted that the game is set in a pseudo-Renaissance Germany with Tolkien influences. There are six dominant factions which have been divided into two fragile alliances: Order and Chaos. The Empire, the Dwarves, and the Elves compose the side of Order. They are being opposed by Chaos, which counts the Green Skins (Orks), the Dark Elves (corrupted Elves) and the Chaos (worshipers of the gods of Chaos) as its members.

Those who want to participate in the Beta test of the game will have to be very lucky since they can only get on board by signing up for EA Mythic's annual newsletter and winning one of the 5 slots in the random monthly draw. They also have events in other venues where you can win an invite - an example would be the 2007 New York Comic Con. For those in Asia, you're out of luck since it's only open for North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

For the rest who would want to see what the game is about, we have a nice collection of concept art work, a podcast, and even a short video of the login screen and an Ork. It's pretty much the closest one can get to the game without being invited into the beta testing, so take a few minutes to view the pictures and download the podcast and videos. If you'd like more, you can check out our previous coverage with more concept art and videos.

Download: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Ork and opening screen video
Download: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning podcast

 

More screenshots after the jump.

Itching to play Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (ain't that a mouthful) and didn't get a much coveted beta key? Well, fret not. You might just be able to get a sneak peek into J.R.R. Tolkien's universe before the launch via the World Tour of Middle-earth.

Turbine and Midway Games are getting ready for launch, and decided to give players a treat. They've launched the free World Tour of Middle-earth and they're inviting over one million players to participate. The Tour will begin on April 6 and will run until LotRO's official launch on April 24. The Tour is open only to residents of the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia (you'll need to download the game and get a key from Gamespot). European gamers fret not, you can scoot over the Codemasters and try to sign up for beta. And another thing, you can pre-order LotRO: Shadows of Angmar and start adventuring in Middle-earth on March 30.

What's to see there? Well, level cap would be set at level 15 and whatever places are available still remains to be seen. We'll give you more updates regarding Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. Stay tuned.

Blizzard's back in the news front with some more Burning Crusade numbers. The company announced today that World of Warcraft's Burning Crusade expansion has sold through approximately 3.5 million copies within one month following its mid-January launch in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

This figure, which enshrines Burning Crusade as the new record-holder for PC-game sales within one month, includes nearly 1.6 million sold in Europe, and more than 1.9 million sold in regions that play on North American realms, including more than 100,000 copies in Australasia.

World of Warcraft's worldwide subscriber base is now more than 8.5 million strong, and it's still continuing to grow as new and returning players join existing players in the game.

"We're thrilled about the overwhelming response that we've received for The Burning Crusade," said Mike Morhaime, president of Blizzard Entertainment. "We have worked hard to build upon nearly every aspect of World of Warcraft with this expansion, and it’s gratifying to see that players and reviewers are enjoying the new content."

Part MMO and part mystery game, Myst Online: Uru Live is now live and online after an announced February 15 release date. GameTap, the provider of episodic games online, adds the latest installment of the favorite adventure franchise to its long list of 800 games under the GameTap Originals label.

The MMO mystery game will allow players to socialize and team up to explore a whole new collection of Ages and mysteries. The game will feature breathtaking sceneries and a changing online storyline that is affected by each and every player's choices made while playing the game.

Cyan Worlds' CEO and co-creator of Myst, Rand Miller, commented, "Myst Online: Uru Live is the most ambitious Myst experience we've ever created. By developing an interactive, online world driven by intrigue and exploration instead of violence, massively multiplayer online gamers now have a choice unlike any of the other options."

Myst Online: Uru Live will be available to America, Canada, and select countries around the world:

• United States
• United Kingdom
• Sweden
• Spain
• Norway
• New Zealand
• Netherlands
• Italy
• Germany
• France
• Finland
• Denmark
• Canada
• Australia

A Mac version will also be available this spring. Mac users can sign up for the Mac beta program at the Myst Online site.

Hmm, how many subscribers does Blizzard have for WoW? Eight million right? And still counting. If the World of Warcraft was a country, it would be the 94th most populated country in the world.

The nation of WoW p'wns the following countries in terms of population: Ireland (4,062,235), New Zealand (4,076,140), Denmark (5,450,661), Israel (6,352,117), and Switzerland (7,523,934). Since Azeroth has something that would equal to an open city policy, it doesn't require a visa or a passport to be a citizen. All you need is a flexible schedule, a flexible income and a flexible PC (read: more than acceptable specs).

With the addition of Outland via The Burning Crusade, who knows just how many more people Blizzard was able to pull in to testify unwavering faith to the Horde or the Alliance. And it's a true melting pot of a country, with ten races and all: Draenei, Dwarf, Gnome, Human, Night Elf, Blood Elf, Orc, Tauren, Troll, and Undead.

Oh, and did we mention Azeroth's population swells at a rate of around 406 people (or whatever race they choose) per hour?

Around the central area of Stranglethorn Vale lies Gurubashi Arena; here, some of the most intense combat found in the Eastern Kingdoms happen. It's a PvP area where every player not in the player's party can attack and be attacked. Every 3 hours, its grounds are blanketed further by blood of fallen warriors the pirate "Short" John Mithril places a chest in the middle of the arena.

This very environment is what inspired Bigfoot Networks for its latest competition. We quote their open challenge: "We're looking for some belligerent adventurers to let their artistic fury fly by taking screenshots of themselves doing what they do best, vanquishing their foes!" That means creating carnage, spilling blood then taking some photo opportunities. Of course, the most merciless and without heart wins the competition.

To the victor goes the spoils, says an old adage. Well, we say indeed. The grand prize winner will receive a package consisting of 2 Gurubashi Gold Coins (real collector's item 24k gold coins engraved with the World of Warcraft logo) which translates roughly to $ 1,000, a Killer t-shirt, and a network card with an approximate retail value of $ 279.00. The complete set of rules and prizes can be accessed here.

Winners will be chosen on October 22 and will all be notified through e-mail. The competition is open to all 13 years old and above and active subscribers in select locations (U.S.A., Australia, Canada but not Quebec, New Zealand and Singapore).