Player Perspectives columnist Jaime Skelton writes this latest article looking back on the history of GM interactions with players and how they can no longer be as cool as they once were.

GMs used to be cool. I don't mean that the current GMs across the world of MMOs are all dull, lifeless drones in small cubicles with no love for gaming. I mean that, in the majority of cases, game masters have been stripped of the ability to have fun and do the things that players can love them for. While the people behind the specially marked names may be awesome gamers, often they must suppress their inner geek and put on a suit of cold professionalism.

It didn't used to be this way. There were days when GMs were generally loved by a server's populace because the greatest among them were able to do great, fun things for their server's and game's community. GMs had the ability to run in-game events unsupervised, the ability to teleport at will, to chat with players outside of problem solving, to have a public presence to let their personalities shine and offer a new dimension to the game. There were, of course, the spoil-sports of the GM world: the cold professionals who played by the rules and wanted nothing to do with “the customers.” There were many more, however, who made names for themselves.

Read I Can't Be Cool.

MMORPG.com is pleased to present a new feature at our ever expanding website - the Allods Online game DB! We have partnered with Playata to bring our Allods fans an up to date game database for this title. If our community like this new addition we will look forward to adding more games in the future!

You can check out the new item database at this link.  Also note that you can quickly find this in our new network bar located at the top of all pages!

MMORPG.com is working with Eudemons Online to give away 4000 Beginner Package keys. These keys are just for new registered players. So don’t hesitate and get your gift package today!

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE BEGINNER PACKAGE KEY!

Massively.com is reporting that Alganon's David Allen has parted ways with Quest Online and is no longer involved with the game. Allen has been replaced by the often controversial creator of the Battlecruiser 3000AD series, Derek Smart.

As Massively notes, this departure comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Alganon will be going free-to-play, something Mr. Allen has stated in the past would never happen. Perhaps there is some correlation. Alas, we will likely never know.

Alganon is still in a "soft launch" phase with the full official launch set for mid-April.

Via Massively.

[Thanks Christopher8 for the tip!]

UPDATE: Ok. I guess I was wrong. We will know indeed! Derek Smart has pulled no punches, opening up on the situation  in an absolutely scathing (and candid) post made to the official Alganon forums.

Smart kicks things off by correcting the record, stating quite clearly that David Allen did not leave Quest Online, he was in fact fired due to insubordination. Smart also discusses a number of issues at length, including the fact he also fired Allen's "longtime buddy" Jason Blood, and admits that the December 1st release date was a mistake.

Smart then switches course to shower his team with praise and reveals a number of quite dramatic plans for Alganon's future.

First on the agenda, is getting rid of the "WoW look-a-like" style of the game. Smart doesn't shy away from the comparisons, instead he tackles them head on and states he plainly told the team to throw it out and work towards a unique look for Alganon and Alganon's UI. Smart admits that Quest Online doesn't have the budget to take on WoW, so instead of doing that (as apparently David Allen insisted on) they are going to be going their own way.

Indeed, Smart is brutally realistic and claims they aren't interested in "meelions" of players, even though they would absolutely love that, they are happy with working to create a game that they can carve their own niche out with.

Smart also mentions the recent announcement that the game would be going free-to-play, and that players will be receiving a full refund for all their subscription payments. An e-mail address will be setup in the near future to facilitate refund requests.

Finally, Smart reveals that everything that has been added to the game has now been disabled and he has the team working full bore on fixing the game up. The April 8th launch is still set, but only if the team can get the game into an acceptable state by then, which includes getting a number of critical elements and features in place, as well as  the aforementioned UI changes.

Even if the game does not fully launch on April 8th, it will continue to run subscription free with patches pushed out for players to put through the paces.

In the end, even Derek Smart admits he doesn't know what the future holds for Alganon, or whether the game can even recover its footing after all that's transpired, but he states that he and his team are determined to take the game all the way with what they have and find out.

Read the full post here.

[Thanks Kost!]

SteveManly over at FFXIVCore has come across a cornucopia of information and images of Final Fantasy XIV from this month's issue of Famitsu.

Image Credit: FFXIVCore

An interview with Square Enix's battle director Atsushi Okada and planners Sei Sato and Kenichi Iwao discusses a number of topics ranging from the role of elements in FFXIV, to the importance of distance in combat,  to how MP replenishment will work.

There is also a breakdown of a number of the game's Jobs including descriptions of their abilities and comments from the developers themselves. The jobs outlined include: Conjurer, Thaumaturge, Blacksmith, Miner, Pugilist and Archer.

Screenshots from the VanaFest 2010 opening trailer are also available, but what is most interesting is a single in-game screenshot that also features the game UI.

Get the full details over at FFXIVCore.

This week’s Community Spotlight focuses on the thread “Sooo… The Future for MMO’s? – 5 Things you would like to see” by Breezeycouk. Breezeycouk’s thread is an attempt to channel a lot of the dissatisfaction and negativity many of us are feeling into a positive discussion on what five things you would like to see in future MMOGs.

Read Community Spotlight: Five Things You'd Like to See.

MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy reports on his travels across the ocean blue in this re-review of Flying Lab Software's swashbucklin' MMOG.

Pirates of the Burning Sea launched to somewhat little fanfare just over two years ago. From indie developer Flying Lab Software, the game might not be a titan of the industry, and while it’s consolidating down to just two servers PotBS still has a vibrant and enthusiastic audience and the game has seen many additions and improvements since its launch in 2008. Still the crux of the game is about the economy and the controlling of the game world’s many ports, and while many little things have changed in two years’ time the big picture remains the same. But for those players who have never tried FLS’ seafaring MMO or those who left and haven’t checked back in a while, is there any reason to give this title another look? The answer is a resounding “it depends”.

Read our re-review here.

MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood writes this week's column on the importance of accessibility to the future of traditional MMOs.

One of the most interesting things that we have seen while we were here at the 2010 Game Developers Conference was a new iPhone app from the folks at Icarus Studios. I won’t go into the fine details here, that’s for another article, but what I will say is that the app allows players to do basically anything they could do in-game (save for actually move around the world) from anywhere.

This, my friends, is the future of traditional MMOs.

I know that what I’m saying isn’t particularly revolutionary. I also get the fact that these guys aren’t the first to break into the iPhone space, but if there’s one thing I’ve noticed at this conference, it’s that the iPhone side of the industry and the Facebook side of the industry both now have a much bigger presence here.

Read Jon Wood: Accessibility is King.

Gamasutra is reporting on a study that has found that American gamers have spent 3.8 billion dollars on MMOs in 2009. Wow!

Image Credit: Gamasutra

The charts provided in the article break down the spending figures from six different countries, including: the US, Germany, Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The highest spending nation behind the US is Britain at 270 million, which definitely puts things into perspective!

The figures were further broken down into categories of spending. So where did your 3.8 billion go? 47% went to monthly subscriptions, 15% to annual subscriptions, 19% to virtual currency, 8% on direct microtransactions, and 11% on the boxed game or client downloads.

Some other interesting revelations: The Brits spend the most (of their total) on direct microtransactions at 19%, Belgians spent the most on annual subscriptions (20%), and the French really love their virtual currency (31%).

Of course, we still spent more total on all of the above. But it is definitely illuminating information with regards to the tendencies of gamers in different countries.

View the original article here.

[Thanks EricDanie for the tip!]

The next Open Beta event for Craft of Gods is upon us! The event will run from today, March 11th through to Saturday, March 13th.

Highlights of the changes made since the last test are available below:

• Brand new User Interface.
• New spells to try.
• Major issues solved according to users' reports and suggestions.
• Level cap set to 20.

Go here to get started.

[Thanks Senarus for the tip!]

This live-action video continues the Global Agenda "No Elves" campaign as a victim aims to identify an Elf.

The elf is apparently guilty of "enchanting" the victim's "sacred meadow."

Watch the video here.

I also must warn you that this year one in five gamers will be accosted by an elf. If you're tired of it, go here.

MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller gets a feel for Aika's PvP offerings in this latest preview coming out of GDC 2010.

Aika is a game coming to the North American audience through Gala-Net. The game offers a PvE experience we have come to know in any MMO. The real story in this game is the five nation PvP system that works similar to Dark Age of Camelot. With fast paced combat and huge fights players can jump into this world and enjoy an MMO that takes its faction PvP seriously.

Read the full GDC 2010 preview here.

Icarus Studios has announced today that a Beta version of the upcoming Mac release of Fallen Earth is now available!

If you're a Mac gamer with hardware that meets the listed requirements (OS X Leopard 10.5, Intel CPU, and dedicated graphics), and an itch for post-apocalyptic MMOG gameplay, you can get started by downloading the beta client here.

View the original announcement here. A FAQ is also available.

[Thanks Einherjar_LC for the tip!]

CCP Hammer has posted a new dev blog on the official EVE Online website detailing the Planetary Interaction features which will debut with the launch of EVE Online's newest expansion, Tyrannis, later this summer.

CCP Hammer kicks things off with a bit of backstory, explaining that CCP has wanted to do Planetary Interaction for some time, and teasing us with the progression of EVE from interacting with planets as players will come Tyrannis, down to the boots-on-the-ground experience of DUST 514, and inside stations with the release of Incarna.  The goal is for EVE Online to be the "ultimate sci-fi simulator." But as Hammer admits, he is getting a bit ahead of himself.

So what is Planetary Interaction, exactly? Hammer explains below:

A little about what Planetary Interaction is; PI is a feature in which industrial minded pilots can now take advantage of the resources on planets which had previously been laying dormant. To do that one simply opens the planet browser, finds a suitable planet via a scanning interface then plunks down various things we have internally been calling PINs (planetary interaction node), links those PINs together and then configures routes for all of the stuff moving between the PINs. PIN is just a working title and we've got our highly trained sci-fi experts on the task of renaming everything so you should expect the name to change by the time they reach Tranquility. Our ultimate goal being to create a nice additional revenue stream for people that's wrapped up in a sexy UI with lots of sci-fi feeling content that eventually ties in seamlessly with DUST 514.

Find out tons more about Planetary Interaction here.

A number of the Planetary Interaction features are now available on Singularity, with some screenshots available here.

[Thanks cosy for the tip!]

It's been quite awhile since Jumpgate: Evolution's delay announcement last year, and until today we didn't know much more about the game than we did then.

In the interest of providing eager fans with some sort of update, NetDevil has broken the silence in a post to the official Jumpgate: Evolution forums, outlining some of the things the developers are working on or thinking about.

So what are the folks at NetDevil working on? Read below to find out:

-"Battlespace" returning to more of its simulator roots from Classic, really a place to practice not advance. I know this will make some of you happy in that advancing will only happen in "real" space not instant action type playing. I still hope to have some achievements/leader board materials form here but not likely to have any equipment or pilot advancing type effects.

-Lots of work on missions. With the new design team map layouts, mission stories, the types of things you do in missions, etc is all MUCH more interesting and varied than ever before. The kinds of things we can now do is very advanced.

-Better faction definition. The stories in the game really tell all about your faction and why you are at war with the others. The story is also darker than before with many of the missions you fly feeling more gray than the typical black and white always doing the good thing type story.

-PvP. Lots and lots of work on systems for PvP, new maps, new game play, new forms of advancement, player built battle stations, capturing sectors, etc. The scope and feel of the massive space battles you will be taking part in against other players will be, IMHO, what really sets us apart.

-AI functionality. Tons of work on making the AI both the right difficulty (it was way to easy before) and also varied in behavior.

View the original announcement here.

What do you think about the changes NetDevil are working on? Let us know in the comments below!

This latest Producer's Note for Star Wars Galaxies discusses the recently released Galactic Civil War update, as well as the future of Star Wars Galaxies, including the upcoming Game Update 16.

Game Update 16 will continue the trend of GCW focused development, this time bringing a number of additions to the often overlooked space component of SWG. With the introduction of Region Defender in GU16, guilds and cities will be able to hold their ground in "148 theaters of operation, spanning 10 planets and 8 space zones." Other space additions include new commands to flag yourself for PvP in space, a boost to space weapons, and new repeatable high-end content for players to enjoy.

Find out what else is coming to Star Wars Galaxies in Game Update 16 and beyond by reading the full Producer's Note here.

[Thanks Christopher8 for the tip!]

Mythic Entertainment is interested in taking some significant steps in order to sort out Warhammer Online's economy issues, and they are looking for player feedback on how to do just that in this latest In Development post made on the official WAR forums.

The main issue of WAR's economy appears to be an imbalance of basic supply and demand: players simply don't have much to do with their gold.

To be more specific, the development team is seeking thoughts from the community on how to improve the viability and value of the game's item rewards:

So how do we look at ways to change our current economy to balance both supply and demand? To accomplish this we need to look at solutions that will tweak the way items are rewarded. Not just how useful they are to the individual, but also as potential trade goods in the economy. We have a good idea on how to do this, but we want to throw the issue out there and get some feedback proactively, before we settle on a design.

What we’d like are some thoughts on how to change our world drops, PQ loot, and the like to make them more viable and valuable to the economy which will hopefully balance supply and demand. Examples would be: making items BOE versus BOP, making items useful to multiple classes, etc.

Read In Development: The Future of WAR's Economy.

[Thanks Christopher8 for the tip!]

Similar to the recently announced "Engineering Reports" for Star Trek Online, Cryptic Studios has posted an "On Deck" list on the Public Test Server forum of Champions Online, giving players an idea of what the developers are currently working on.

Some highlights from the On Deck list include a review of the Supernatural, Melee, and Collective Will powers, as well as a general review of perks.

Read the full "On Deck" list here.

[Thanks Christopher8 for the tip!]

The intrepid reporters over at FFXIVCore have dug up some early leaked details on Final Fantasy XIV from upcoming issues of Japanese magazines Famitsu and Dengeki.

Image Credit: FFXIVCore

While initially reported as rumors, cellphone captured pictures featuring scans from the magazines have surfaced lending some credence to the rumored information.

The leaked information consists of various details on Job abilities and the game's battle system, as well as some miscellaneous details, including information on the upcoming beta and alpha tests.

A few highlights can be found below:

• Everything done in battle in FFXIV increases TP, including casting
• Defense can happen both automatically and at the will of the user
• The PC version will be able to run on PCs from a few years ago, but the alpha version will only run on high-end PCs
• Can be run on 512MB of VRAM and above
• Alpha test starts soon
• Square wants to make it possible to play with your friends from FFXI
• Character customization won’t be fully available in beta (can’t change facial features)
• There’s a mode for restoring HP while moving
• The plan is the make the maximum number of members in a party between 6 and 8, and there will also be alliances
• The important things in battle are distance, range, and direction There will be magic you can use while moving
• There are screenshots in the magazine of the alpha version, and it looks like there have been a lot of small changes
• “Aggro/hate” has a different name in 14 (Translates to something like how much the enemy views you as a threat)
• Enemies will not be set in one area in order for people to pull them to camps; places that enemies will appear will be scattered around

View the full story here.