Massively^™

Every week, hardworking Massive gaming fans put their voices on the line to bring us news, opinions, and 'critiques' of their favorite games. Podcasts are a staple of many hobbies nowadays, and fans of online worlds are especially fortunate in this regard ... there are a ton out there.

As such, every so often we'll try to update you on the podcasting world. Keep your eyes on this space for links to your favorite MMO-commentary celebs. Good and bad, straight-man or blue-mouthed, they all have something to offer about this amazing style of gameplay.

This week I want to make it a point to mention the Van Hemlock podcast, the audio companion to the really excellent Van Hemlock MMO blog. Hemlock and his cohost Jon take on the world of MMO titles with a quirky attitude, an educated perspective and (most impressively) a British accent! If you've at all enjoyed Hemlock's writing in the past, you'll equally appreciate his verbal impressions of the genre. Very much worth a listen.

• Massively Speaking: That's right, folks, we've got our own show! Episode 3. LOTRO Book 13 gets our stinkeye, and we bash on Conan a bit. Episode 4. High hopes for CoX Issue 12!
• WoW Insider Show: Episode 36. The many mounts of Warcraft get a lot of attention, and some thoughts about the premo features of WotLK.
• VirginWorlds: Episode 115. Brent takes exception to a post here on the site, talks theory about the next EQ2 expansion, and previews the new Lineage 2 expansion.
• Voyages of Vanguard: Episode 39. New hosts Beau Turkey and Luper discuss the Immersion project rules, as well as a UI mod for the game.
• Ringcast: Episode 21. Lady Sinaea tackles Book 13, the game's Anniversary, and the return of lifelong subscription pricing.
• Shut Up, We're Talking: Episode 25. Darren and new co-host Karen match wits with two talented podcasts to talk about monster, microtransactions, and suspension of disbelief.
• Warp Drive Active: Episode 35. News in EVE sounds like the wild west, becasue it is. Insurgency, hard targets assaults by the Band of Brothers, and (a new features) the funniest killmails ever.
• Travels with Troy: Veteran podcaster in the VirginWorlds network Troy kicks off his own show with a two-part discussion of multi-boxing software Multiplicity, and a mini-review of NCsoft's Dungeon Runners.
• Van Hemlock Podcast: Episode 4. This loquacious blogger-turned-podcaster returns for the fourth in his podcasting series. Along with cohost Jon the two take on the Open Beta phenomenon.
• Keen and Graev: Age of Conan's open beta fully explored. Average perfomance, stability issues, and the debate between stylized/regular graphics.
• The Instance: Episode 104. The 'casters take a look at the Arena teams to beat as the Tourney rolls on. Episode 105. A discussion of the Major League gaming adoption of WoW.
• SWGWYAMB: Episode 94. The mystery of the dissappearing backback!
• GFW Radio: 05/07/2008 The ex-GFW crew takes on the Age of Conan beta.
• Legendary Thread: 05/08/2008. The Lich King content rocks the socks off of 1up's MMO podcasters.
• The Official SOE Podcast: Episode 34. A rundown on the Community's Volunteer program, the international community team, and a bit of feature preview.
• Warhamma the Podcast: One of my favorite listens is now on hiatus. Come back soon, guys!
• Epic Doll: Episode 34. Ranks, leadership, and guild issues in the World of Warcraft. Episode 35. Children's week dovetails nicely with their fourth episode in the Guild resources series.
• TabulaCast: Episode 21. The latest patch on the test server and the 6 month rewards recieve some scrutiny. Episode 22. Patch 1.8 hits the live side, and Paul Sage's departure from the game.
• The Addicted Gamer: Episode 11. Gax Online veteran Sara Pickell joins Peter for a walk across the genre, including EVE, LOTRO, and other genre titles.
• The Drone Bay Podcast: Episode 8. The highly contentious Bacon mod gets a harsh look. Episode 9. All about Drones, this episode, plus discussion of Crazy Kinux's jumping to our hearty Massively crew.
• DDOcast: Episode 65. The DDOheads jump on the upcoming Monk content, and offer up a transcript of their third chat with the devs. Episode 66. More talk about monks, plus level 1 spells for the 'caster's corner'.
• Pet Food Alpha: Episode 98. Leveling a Paladin. It's a tough gig. Episode 99. Who doesn't love a good Dynamis?