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When news of impending server merges in Age of Conan broke in December, it caused a bit of a stir -- particularly in the post's comments. Age of Conan Producer Craig Morrison later said the merges would take place in stages, but then technical issues arose, postponing these changes for roughly a month before Funcom was confident it could go off without a hitch.

Earlier today, one month after the initial plan, the first set of servers were merged in Age of Conan: Bloodspire and Hyperborea have now merged into Bloodspire. Apparently AoC's virtual realm did not implode as the worlds were spliced together. Glen 'Famine' Swan, Age of Conan's US Community Manager, jokes, "I'm currently on Bloodspire now watching the global spam." Well there you go, business as usual in Hyborea. For the Age of Conan players among our readership, did the server merge affect you in any way -- be it positive or negative?

2008 was quite a year for the sci-fi massively multiplayer online game, EVE Online. It was chock full of surprises -- both good and bad -- and of course the requisite drama you get when putting as many as 45,000 players in one galactic setting.

So much has happened that columnist Michael Lastucka has written a recap of 2008 in New Eden for Massive Gamer Magazine. Longtime EVE Online players also know him as Winterblink, someone who's been playing the game since its beta days, and he shares a bit of his perspective on the major happenings in EVE over the last year -- and what a year it was:

Not everyone is a social gamer, even in an MMO. There are many players who would just rather play by themselves, while still occasionally joining a pick-up group or their kinship for the more difficult quests. There's nothing wrong with that, as Turbine acknowledges in a new series of guides for Lord of the Rings Online aimed at the solo player.

In this first guide, the focus is soloing through levels 1 through 20. There are helpful tips and tricks on everything from picking the right quests for you to knowing when to run. It's a wonderful seven-page article just filled with so much helpful information, that even the veteran players may find it useful for any new alts.

Now that Earthrise's closed beta process is in full swing and we all eagerly await the status of our applications, Masthead has given us a new batch of screenshots to gawk over. In these shots over at Ten Ton Hammer, we see some of the wasteland areas of Old Town, and its mutant rodent inhabitants.

If you're unfamiliar with the storyline behind Old Town, check out this excerpt from the game's website: "During the catastrophic events of the Third World War, many people tried to reach Old Town for sanctuary. The residents turned them away, keeping the already scarce resources for themselves. Not every group of refugees was willing to give up so easily, and they attacked Old Town. Ruined shells of primitive bunkers and defensive obstacles are all that remain to mark the effort to keep the now demolished city."

With a game like the upcoming Darkfall Online, the opinions can become quite polarized. It is already labeled "The Fantasy EVE", in regards to its hardcore nature, and I think most people understand that it will be a niche game without wide appeal. But is that such a bad thing?

Over that Keen and Graev's blog, they've compiled a detailed list of the Darkfall features that they're looking forward to the most. This includes everything from the hardcore PvP to the degradable loot to the fact that the game has no levels. Don't forget about the crafting system! Personally, while I'll miss leveling a tiny bit, every aspect of this game excites me to no end. I'm looking forward to setting up shop as an expert crafter, and even throwing out a little security money to the local roughneck guild that will protect my shop from ruffians.

So check out their list and let us know your own in the comments below.

When half of the staff leave/are laid off from a gaming site as notable as 1UP, it affects essentially everyone within the industry -- as does the closure of EGM, one of the very best gaming magazines around. Their excellent coverage of games like Final Fantasy XI, Warhammer Online and World of Warcraft (to name just a few) have always been the sort of things we here at Massively strive for in our own features. Whether it was podcasts like Legendary Thread or the infamous live reading of a certain Age of Conan incident on GFW Radio, the group working at 1UP were always in it to entertain, inform and hopefully make everyone think a little bit about their favorite pasttime.

Understandably, the massive layoffs have created a sort of hate brush fire that's been roaring across the internet mostly via message boards fueled by a mix of ex-1UP Twitters and hearsay. While it pains us as fans to see so many talented and hard-working writers let go, there's some truth to the saying, "You can't win 'em all" in this situation. Our own searing anger was doused a little upon reading a lucid post detailing the why behind the whole debacle.

Every so often we open up our mailbox to find a strange, glitched shot from an MMO someone captured and sent in. This One Shot from Warhammer Online certainly fits the bill, with more than just missing armor. I'll let Dablos explain: After years in CoX and several other games in the non-fantasy genre, I decided to give Warhammer Online a try after a friend's recommendation. Well, I am loving it, and have really become engrossed in PvP (or RvR in WAR) for the very first time in my personally long MMO history. It's a blast! The picture is a weird one: my main, Dablos the Witch Hunter, was in Altdorf (Order's capital city) exploring a bit. I came across a NPC city guard who was, shall we say, not up to the uniform standards of her fellow soldiers. There she was, marching up and down the square, with her armor - and the top of her head - missing! A weird bug to be sure, but I thought it was funny. Personally, what makes it funny to me is his head-down look like he's just been busted and her hefting a giant sword like she's about to club Dablos senseless with the flat of the blade for looking at her.

If you've caught someone strutting around in bugged gear, or just seen some strange glitches when you were out playing, we'd love to see your moment of 'what?' Grab a quick screenshot and email it to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and what game its from. We'll post it here and let everyone else gawk at the weirdness while giving you credit.

Massively Speaking Episode 38 returns to form with a trio of podcasters talking all the MMO news from the just-past holiday. Shawn Schuster, Colin Brennan, and Michael Zenke gab about the Worlds.com lawsuit, the Turbine Microtransaction Manager position, a bit about the Keg End holiday, and mull the new content coming to one of EQ2's oldest zones. Tune in to get the full skinny on the last few weeks worth of news!

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

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Starting late last month, the published statistic that showed an unprecedented ongoing reduction in Second Life land area was disabled (perhaps permanently, the Lab hints). The raw data is still available, however, and the decline continues.

We've had no luck in obtaining response or comment from Linden Lab about any of this, but Wagner James Au at New World Notes has fared rather better. However the statements from the lab are fairly tangled and unclear.

The Lab claims that the figures misreport, which is technically true. All of the statistical systems give incorrect information at least several times each month, but according to Jack Linden, the numbers are actually sort of correct, and indeed even skewed slightly in the Lab's favor (the reported losses have been far smaller than expected) -- but just misunderstood.

Our sister site Joystiq recently had the chance to speak with several developers about the future hurdles facing storytelling in games. Two members of the MMO industry were in the mix, and their views on how to tell a story in future MMOs are each a very focused snapshot at how City of Heroes and Guild Wars each approach story. With City of Heroes, it's not about the level of tech, but about how much the audience cares about the story. As for Guild Wars, the opposite seems to be the case: it's about learning how to tell interesting stories with new tools.

We don't think either method is wrong, as both views are a product of their origin. Namely, of what the developer has learned and their audience has demanded. We're certain that both developers will continue produce story within games that evoke unexpected responses from us, for better or worse.

It seems like Champions Online is starting to exist in that development space where there's quite a bit of solid, factual information ready to be divulged. How do we know? Easy, the latest Ask Cryptic -- traditionally at least semi-informative, if not pretty entertaining -- gets quite detailed on the subjects of power customization, grinding, character creation and non-combative roles such as healers and buffers.

Our seasoned MMO geek "detectotrons" are telling us that a tidal wave of new information is possibly just around the corner, but even so, this newest volley of answers is surprisingly satisfying. That being said, we'd love to hear more about the quest, crafting and PvP systems designed into Champions Online. If only because after creating your superhero, his nemesis (and lackeys) and doing the tutorial, those are the meat and bones of any MMORPG.

A lot of time has passed since Age of Conan launched last May and while some things never change, it seems like the player perception of FunCom's slightly misfired MMO doesn't want to play by the rules. It's a good thing, though, as a small poll seems to be showing. Now, we say small because the actual statistics in question only represent about one-to-two thousand participants. Still, as a snapshot of a community, that's not too bad.

So what's the overall verdict? Bugs, exploits, and stability have all seen rises in ratings over the course of three months. The votes have also tilted in favor of communication and content for FunCom. So while we stress that this isn't super-scientific by any means, it does point to more improvements and overall up-trending for a game that saw some pretty rocky rapids just three or four months ago.

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	Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!

Yesterday's grind concerned the very real problem of having to let one of your subscriptions lapse due to the state of the economy. When the times are tough and money is tight, sometimes you need to find what will ultimately pay off in the end for you. So, today's question is ultimately derived from yesterday's question -- would you like more games to offer lifetime subscriptions, like Lord of the Rings Online?

For those unfamiliar with the system, Lord of the Rings Online offers subscribers the ability to pay a fee, about 299 dollars, and then that's it. No more paying a monthly fee for the rest of the lifetime of the game. While it's an extremely high upfront cost, the benefit is that you will never pay again to keep your account active. Instead of worrying about lapsing subscriptions, you can play when you want, whenever you want.

The downside to this, besides the upfront cost, is the problem that may occur if your game doesn't do so well. Hellgate: London lifetime subscribers are currently feeling this problem, as their game is leaving them high and dry. The lifetime subscription is only good if your game survives long enough to make it worth your while -- the one downside to this type of payment plan.

But, we leave the final judgment to you, readers. Would you like more of your games to offer this type of subscription plan? Comment away!

Ryzom has been up and down, with changes in models, cancellation, and being re-launched. Recently, it's incarnation has been a free-to-play game, but word has come down the wire that to continue running Ryzom, they need to reinstitute some type of fees.The good news for those who loved Ryzom before, or who perhaps are newish to this world, is that the fee structure will be less expensive than previous incarnations. The better news is that they will continue the current free-to-play model until the end of January, in case you were considering checking it out but hadn't yet.

For month-to-month, you will pay $10.95 (7.95 €, £ 7.75); for three months at a time you'll get a discount down to $10.25 per month (7.50 € of £ 6.98 per month); 6 months will cost you $9.49 per month (6.99 € or £ 6.63 per month); and finally a year's subscription will discount furthest breaking down to $8.83 per month (6.50 € or £ 6.15 per month). With as many folks who are opting to give up on extra MMO accounts due to the cost, the price break may well keep Ryzom afloat - or even attract some players who want to try out a visually exciting new world for a bit less than the $15 many MMOs charge these days.

[Thanks, AterNox]

GameDaily has put together a short piece titled "Game Developers Resolutions for 2009", which is essentially a look at the state of the industry and how they think it can improve. While the piece focuses on video games in general, it does fire a shot at the MMO industry specifically -- namely its dominance by one company, and one title.

GameDaily's fourth resolution it hopes the gaming industry adopts is: "Beat World of Warcraft." They're not knocking the game when they say this. In fact GameDaily says, "World of Warcraft is great, and deserving of its status as the 900-pound gorilla of the gaming world. But as fans of video game football can tell you, competition is a good thing, and it's not healthy for the massively-multiplayer online RPG arena to have one name dominant for this long."

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	One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!