You probably found it funny when the NPCs in Burning Isle look weird during "Victory or Death." However, you didn't find it funny anymore when your map suddenly goes amok in Dragon's Throat or Scarred Earth.

We're guessing that the guys behind Guild Wars feel the same way too. It must have been that, or you sent more than enough death threats to NCSoft due to the "map-blackout" in certain areas. Anyway, they have made quite a number of fixes in the game that you might want to take a look at. Why? We'll give you a hint: it actually includes a map-update.

• Updated graphics for existing character faces.
• Made additional preparations for the Guild Wars Nightfall World Preview Event.
• Fixed a bug that caused the Effects Monitor to shrink below its customized size.
• Fixed a bug in Burning Isle that caused NPCs to misbehave during "Victory or Death".
• Improved the Mission Map (the window accessed by using the "U" key) so that it works properly in Dragon's Throat, Scarred Earth, Sorrow's Furnace, The Courtyard, The Deep, The Dragon's Lair, The Hall of Heroes, The Undercity, The Underworld, and Urgoz's Warren, where previously it showed only black.
  

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Dungeons and Dragons Online has just updated their WarCry database, and for this update, it's all about good old Ranger Love. DDO has new items in store for their players, such as Flaming Arrow and Bolts of Goblinoid Bane.

What the Goblinoid Bane does, we have no idea. The word 'goblinoid' seems to tell me that it's some sort of a goblin-wannabe creature? We don't know, but feel free to inform this clueless writer though via comments. In addition to new items, there are also new enhancements, spells, and updated feats.  Here's the full list of updates:

New Items
+1 Flaming Arrow, +1 Bolts of Goblinoid Bane

New Spells
Cure Critical Wounds, Bestow Curse, Divine Power, Holy Smite, Inflict Critical Wounds, Neutralize Poison, Poison, Summon Monster IV, Break Enchantment, Summon Monster V, Resistance

New Feats
Favored Enemy (Aberration), Favored Enemy (Animal), Favored Enemy (Chaotic Outsider), Favored Enemy (Construct), Favored Enemy (Dragon), Favored Enemy (Dwarf), Favored Enemy (Elemental), Favored Enemy (Elf), Favored Enemy (Evil Outsider), Favored Enemy (Giant), Favored Enemy (Goblinoid), Favored Enemy (Halfling), Favored Enemy (Human), Favored Enemy (Lawful Outsider), Favored Enemy (Magical Beast), Favored Enemy (Monstrous Humanoid), Favored Enemy (Ooze), Favored Enemy (Reptillian), Favored Enemy (Undead), Favored Enemy (Vermin), Improved Wild Empathy

Updated Feats
Improved Two Weapon Fighting, Manyshot, Rapid Shot, Two Weapon Fighting, Evasion

New Enhancements
Elven Arcane Fluidity I, Ranger Desert Lore I, Ranger Tundra Lore I, Energy of the Wild I, Vermin Empathy, Elven Melee Attack I, Favored Defense II, Favored Resistance II, Favored Attack II, Ranger's Action Boost III, Favored Damage III, Favored Defense III

So, you think you're better than Rubeus Hagrid in caring for magical creatures? You think you know more about dragons than Eragon himself? You can prove it in Lineage II, especially now since we've got you some neat little tricks to get your Hatchling into a Strider, in two shakes (of a dragon's wing).

Once you're a mid-level player, the Pet Manager in Giran will get you started on your dragon quest (not of or relating to the Square Enix game franchise). After finishing a special task, you start raising your dragon by feeding and caring for it, and bringing it to battle - you can summon your Hatchling by using a special flute. Now, you should know that there are different kinds of Hatchlings, and these are determined by what they are attuned to: wind, stars, or twilight. A Hatchling of the Wind is your attack/defense-focused dragon type. A Hatchling of the Stars can cast healing or offensive magic. And a Hatchling of the Twilight grows up to be a good and fast flier.

And when your hatchlings grow up (and gain experience so far as to reach Level 55), they go into the next stage in their life as a Strider. Care and battle experience is still a must for them, and to summon, you'd need a Dragon Bugle. What's good about the Striders is that they allow you to quickly get from one point in the map to another. You can ride on them as well, and they'd give you aid in battle.

(And then the final stage of the dragon's life is when it reaches Level 17,028, it eats you up and flies back to a secret hideout cave to sleep until eternity over its hoard of gold and jewels.)

Have fun with dragon rearing, folks! It's a very rewarding challenge!

Lineage's North American audience will receive some special treatment as they make substantial gameplay changes that were previously available to only one of the North American servers. Look forward to the new ruleset for The Lands of Aden (LoA) that has been published to all servers. Meantime here's a taste of just a fraction of the changes made to Lineage. The detailed list that includes Combat , NPC Monster, and Item Changes.

Changes:

• "/accuse" command (to enable bot reporting) is available to characters level 10 and higher.
• Lance of Aden, Ring of the Crawling Claw, and Amulet of Rabbitkind can now be traded.
• Adjusted the drop frequency of Heart of Dragon.
• Removed "Pirate Island Tour Guide" from Giran town square.
• The Lance of Aden now appears as a dagger when equipped.
• Samuel and Phineas will now speak with Dark Elf characters.
• Ancient Demon’s name is fixed.
• Galiene’s name is fixed.
• Beagles will no longer defend other creatures—really!

In addition, US Lineage servers will have a downtime for a maintenance reset on Tuesday, September 12th at 1:00 PM CST. The enhancements to improve your gameplay experience never stops for the Lineage team.

Guild Wars has just released new cartographer info in The Scribe, and this time, it talks about the hidden and unexplored areas of Tyria. If you think you know Tyria inside out and know everything there is to know about the place, think again.

The Scribe tells us that although many adventurers have travelled across Tyria in search of treasure, or a cartographer title, there are still some areas that are left unexplored because of their distance and obscurity. The Scribe shares with us some of these unknown, hidden areas and where they are located:

Dragon's Gullet: this is located on the northeast of the Nolani Academy and is full of Hydras and Abominations. To get to Dragon's Gullet, the best path to take is from Grendich Courthouse, go northeast through Diessa Lowlands and then to Flame Temple Corridor. Then just follow the path as it turns east, and you'll find the entrance to Dragon's Gullet. Dragons Gullet is a large area, and we suggest you explore it thoroughly if you want to gain the Grandmaster Cartographer title.

Iron Horse Mines: The Iron Horse Mines is located northwest of Yak's Bend, and the easiest way to get to the mines is to head south along the path, and then follow the path's turns heading northwest. Very few go to this area as it is one of the most dangerous parts of Tyria. But if you're serious about being Grandmaster Cartographer, you're gonna have to explore the mines as well. There are many dead ends and you might just be going in circles so you have to pay close attention when travelling to the horse mines.

Granite Citadel: This area is found in the Shiverpeak Mountains area, more specifically, northeast of Sorrows Furnace. The Granite Citadel is one of the areas often overlooked by aspiring cartographers because of its obscurity. If you head further northeast, you will come upon Tasca's Demise and Mineral Springs, both of which are often not included on maps of Tyria. It is advisable to have a guide or local henchmen with you when travelling to Mineral Springs, as it is a large and dangerous area.

You have two options on getting to Granite Citadel, you can either go northwest from Copperhammer Mines, head northeast from the Deldrimor Warcamp. From there, just follow the twisting paths that lead to the northeast part of the citadel and you will find yourself in some of the most obscure areas within Tasca’s Demise and Mineral Springs. Stay tuned for more info on cartographical updates, as these will come in handy for you to be named Grandmaster Cartographer. Next up, the ins and outs of Cantha!

Codemasters have released a whole host of new screenshots and Artwork for their upcoming MMO for PCs all around the globe, ArchLord. They have also taken this opportunity to announce that ArchLord has now entered Beta stage 3.0, edging closer to the release still scheduled for Q3 2006, sometime this month if all goes well. This fantasy-themed RPG gives you the chance to become an ArchLord: A supreme ruler in the middle ages, a chance that most people would give anything to try!

The screenshots released today further show the benefits of becoming an ArchLord. The ArchLord's ornate and powerful set of armor stands nearly twice the size of normal players, has three deadly royal guards, a castle from where he can influence the worlds economic system, and his very own fearsome free-flying Dragon Mount. Attaining the rank of ArchLord will not be easy in this game, but when you get there it'll be like living in paradise.

ArchLord Beta testers can also benefit from this press release, by entering a competition with Codemasters to win up to $1500 through the game's website. This up-and-coming RPG looks even promising and with these screens could even convince some of the hardcore World of Warcraft players out there to give it a try! Feel free to click on the thumbnails.

   
   

Raising your own dragon in Lineage II  can be both rewarding and challenging. On the upside, they're great hunting partners and can take damage for you (while being better able to absorb it). When your hatchling reaches Level 55, they can become Striders, and thus rideable.  It's no bad thing to have quick, agile transportation, especially if a PvP encounter is not going your way. Finally, if you have entrepreneurial inclinations, you can always breed a number of them open your own Dragon Lot!

The bad news: Dragons are not cheap to keep. Although some are less expensive than others (Stars require the highest level of maintenance, followed by Winds and Twilights),  Dragon chow is expensive no matter how you look at it. Even if you keep food in its inventory let will auto feed itself, it'll cost you 50%. Gear is also expensive - expect to drop about five million for suitable armor and weaponry. Finally, dragon stats are not as impressive as you might think. They look mean and nasty, but when it comes to actual attack and magic power, their bark is worse than their bite.

Here's a summary of the various Dragons available to players:

Star Hatchling/Star Strider

• Classification: Mage

• C4 Special Skills: Bright Burst (hits mob with an aura flare) and Bright Heal.

• Comment: Nice additional damage dealer for tank classes.

The full article awaits after the jump!

Software distributor Soft-World International, the largest in the Chinese market, has filed a lawsuit worth US$3.78 against popular games-maker Square-Enix. Demanding the return of a royalty payment, Soft-World alleges that Square-Enix failed to fulfill its obligation as stipulated in a 2004 contract regarding the distribution of one of the latter's MMORPGs in Taiwan, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

According to the contract, Square-Enix was supposed to supply the company with the relevant source code for the MMORPG. Having failed to do so, the distribution of the game became problematic, thereby incurring losses for Soft-World.

Soft-World International currently handles Chinese language versions of popular MMO's RF Online, WoW and Ragnarok Online amongst others. Square-Enix, on the other hand, is a  Japanese producer of video games and manga, and is best known for its console role-playing game franchises, including the Final Fantasy series and the Dragon Quest series.

Square-Enix is yet to issue a comment regarding the lawsuit as of press time.

The name says it all: ArchLord. This is where you want to be, what you want to be. This Codemasters game which was originally made for the Korean audience is now being translated and refitted for Western audiences, and it promises to deliver that harder edge that seems to be lacking in MMOs nowadays.

Up for grabs in this game is the status of ArchLord, the ultimate player achievement. But the road to power isn't easy. Laid out before you to the road of ArchLord-hood are a series of trials meant to test the endurance of the most dedicated guilds. As expected, it is highly competitive, and would require massive efforts in both PvE and PvP. Given the perks of the game - summonable guards, a flying dragon for a mount, and a control of the in-game weather system - you sure could bet that laying siege to NPC castles and battling the powerful creatures that guard them are not the only things that you'll be worrying about. But of course, you can't have it all too easy if you're to get the prime ArchLord status.

But despite this hefty price, the rewards are great, as even a single player can have the status of ArchLord and possess incredible amounts of in-game power. However, all good things do come to an end, as being the ArchLord is not permanent. You can only bask in the title for one month, upon which other guilds who have completed the trial can challenge you for the throne. Your challenge then would be to defend your status.

The population of ArchLord is classified into eight classes, divided among the three races of the world of Chantra: Humans (Knights, Archers and Mages), Orcs (Berserkers, Hunters and Sorcerers) and Moon Elves (Rangers and Elementalists). Genders are hard-coded into the race/class combinations - there are no female Human Knights, no male Orc Hunters, and no male Moon Elves at all, except for the NPCs you see in town.

It is in the PvP system that the the game's hardcore sensibilities are made most evident. Come the sixth level, the game becomes a free-for-all, as you can be attacked by other players inasmuch as you can attack them, regardless of Race. As for the much-talked about XP penalties on death , well, it ain't a walk in the park either. While you can't drop in level from an XP penalty, if you don't play your cards right, you will end up right back at square one and you have to keep working your way to the next level. Now, that's tough luck.

While the game is far from being flawless in a technical aspect, as it is obviously still just coming together (the WASD movement controls, for example, don't seem to be fully implemented at this point), what is certain so far is that ArchLord will make all your troubles worth it, and more. So if you're craving for some hardcore MMO action, this royal title just might suit you right.

This week, Funcom, the developers for Age of Conan and Anarchy Online will be at the Dragon Convention at Atlanta. Several events are planned including panels on both games. There will also be a Funcom Fan gathering, and a special panel about getting a job in the game industry. Aspiring game developer? Game Designer hopeful? This could be your chance right here.

ARK, the GridStream Production Crew, Gms and Devs from Funcom will be there to welcome you at the booth 211. Scott Allie, the editor of the Conan Dark Horse Comics will also be there. He'll do signings at September 3rd from 3-4 pm. You can bring your camera and get photo ops with Conan's throne.

See the Dragoncon Schedule for times and locations. Stop by their booth for info on a special Saturday night gathering. The press release mentioned something about cosplay during those times, just in case you're curious.