It's been a long, difficult road for Stargate Worlds -- a game that has been mired in financial woes for quite some time. Now and again we do get to report some positive news about the sci-fi MMO, but it's clear that Stargate Worlds isn't out of the woods quite yet. Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment recently made an announcement to the game's fan community, thanking them for their support through tough times. CME stated, "We know you expect nothing less than the AAA content in Stargate Worlds our development team is working hard to give you along with some additional exciting news we will be revealing very soon! We want to thank everyone for their continued support and passion for Stargate Worlds and we can't wait to show you more of what we've been cooking up over here."

As to what they've been working on, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment released some new screenshots of the armor and weapons for the Goa'uld, Jaffa, Soldier, and Scientist classes. CME explains, "Each of these armor sets will have unique traits that make them ideal for certain situations. As players become familiar with each world and the various environments they will encounter, they will discover which sets of armor best suit their play." The most recent Stargate Worlds images can be seen at the top of the gallery on the SGW Community Site.

It might be a slight exaggeration to say that everyone in the world is looking forward to Star Wars: the Old Republic... but only slight. With the latest class reveal, the Imperial Agent is poised to give an excellent sneak-and-snipe playstyle to the Sith side of the game. All well and good... but as Kill Ten Rats notes, how is this game going to get any PvP balance? To the best of everyone's knowledge there's no equivalent ability in the Smuggler's arsenal, the Republic's counterpoint to the Agent, and it's not much of a matchup when one side is invisible and the other side isn't.

Overly Positive recently made a few observations regarding the class balance, noting that BioWare seems to be taking an approach a la Warhammer Online -- each class has a loose equivalent on the other side, but they don't result in being direct copies of one another. However, the downside to this approach is that you can easily wind up with one side's class being overpowered in relation to the other. Direct equivalencies leech some of the flavor, but they ensure that the game remains perfectly balanced for both factions. It's a question worth considering and keeping an eye on as the game moves through development -- after all, if a Jedi and a Sith Warrior can't face off in fair combat, it'll be a sad day for many players.

We've pretty much known about it for a while, but Star Wars: The Old Republic now officially has an Imperial Spy class. Granted, even before, we had a pretty good inkling that some kind of spy or rogue class was in the wings for the Empire players -- especially since the Smuggler had no logical counterpart.

So what's the big deal about an official announcement? A class page full of juicy information just waiting to be devoured by eager fans. The combat tactics movies are easily the most impressive section of the class page, simply because the abilities shown are exceptionally fun. We can't decide which we like more: the stun dart / targeted blaster strike or the orbital bombardment. Even the ability to throw down an energy shield in the middle of combat looks pretty cool.

Whatever your favorite ability or class happens to be, there's no doubt these new screens are looking better than before. We're always excited to see progress being made and it's heartening to have a visual reminder that Star Wars: The Old Republic is coming along.

There's a lot of interesting material coming with the Siege of Mirkwood expansion for Lord of the Rings Online, not to mention a large number of player questions and curiosity about where the game is headed. Luckily for the playerbase, WarCry was recently lucky enough to get a chance to chat with the developers, with a full transcript now available for all who missed the live chat. As is par for the course for developer chats, there's the occasional question that seems rather out-of-place or unnecessary, but on the whole it's full of tidbits that should excite the game's fans.

The discussion ranges from the tangible issues with the upcoming expansion such as class upgrades (each class will get one new skill upgrade at level 62), meta-issues (there will be a Skirmish sneak peek coming soon to let players try the new format), and some wholly random bits (the developers will not add your farm on Facebook as a neighbor). It's a weighty and lengthy chat that can't be summarized easily, so it's best to take a look, digest, and start thinking about the first thing you want to do in Lord of the Rings Online when the expansion goes live.

Those of us looking forward to Final Fantasy XIV have a bit more to look forward to now, with a new update to the official site. Continuing the slow reveal that the recent updates have included, this update contains two classes who have been previously named but not discussed in detail, the Gladiator and Pugilist. In addition, the update offers some details regarding the weaponry used by these classes -- which, as we've reported earlier, are the central element for each class in the multifaceted world of the game.

Gladiators are what their pictures would tend to indicate, heavily-armored sword wielders with a penchant for close melee combat. They're also slated to be masters of throwing knives, and will have the option of using a shield or eschewing it for more offensive combat. Among their weapons are a number of swords and shields, including the blade-encrusted Lantern Shield that offers simultaneous offense and defense. Pugilists, by contrast, are lightly-armored melee fighters that use a variety of hand-to-hand attacks -- shades of the classic Monk. Their weapons are a bit less novel, but any player familiar with Final Fantasy XI will feel some nostalgia at the sight of baghnakhs and cesti. Take a look at the official site for more information, including the galleries of weapons and multiple images of the new classes.

Drew Karpyshyn is the senior writer for the Star Wars: The Old Republic team with plenty of experience writing characters from the dark side, but now he's stepping out of his comfort zone to take a walk on the Jedi side. The fun he's having writing the Jedi Knight class comes through clearly in Friday's developer blog entry: "Nothing says Star Wars like a brown-robed figure brandishing a shimmering energy blade of righteous destruction."

Exploring the Jedi Knight class meant delving the Jedi Code and how it works in theory vs. how it works in practice. What happens when you take that code and mix in a hefty dose of "what if?" is a recipe for all kinds of possibilities, and Karpyshyn is having a great time exploring them. His experience writing the dark side gives his version of "what if" a little edge, exploring thoughts of renegade Jedi Knights who are willing to bend the rules for the greater good.

It's a fun read, with a great look into Karpyshyn's thoughts on the class -- you can take a look at the full entry on the official site.

We've got Trooper, Smuggler, Jedi Knight, Bounty Hunter, Sith Warrior, and now Imperial Agent. BioWare revealed the sixth class for Star Wars: The Old Republic today on their forums. This news comes as absolutely no surprise to those who attended the EA Press Tour earlier this week -- they enjoyed advance information from producer Blaine Christine.

Imperial Agents are a rogue class of sorts, doing their work for the Empire with high-tech tools to help them infiltrate the republic and assassinate enemies of the Sith Empire. The announcement from Sean Dahlberg says that Imperial Agents are "heavily inspired by several classic Star Wars characters such as Zam Wessel and Grand Moff Tarkin. [...] Players who choose to be Imperial Agents in The Old Republic (TOR) will see the underbelly of the Empire in a whole new light."

The Holonet will be updated next week with the Imperial Agent, but the class already has its own forum on the official site and discussion is going strong.

Rumors and speculation have been floating around this week about the Jedi Knight, so no big surprise when BioWare reveals that, yes, Knights of the Jedi persuasion are in fact a player class in Star Wars: The Old Republic. The news comes with all the expected class page accoutrements such as screens, concept art and a few videos showing off three Jedi Knight attacks. It's all standard practice information release at this point, which only slightly dilutes the excitement of the announcement.

The videos all show the proper level of Jedi powerhousing that you'd expect, although we're not entirely cool with all the droid destroying that's happening. Sure, we're aware that unlike Sith, Jedi are limited to disabling droids and pushing things around but that's no excuse to pick on the little helpless mechanical people. Yes, we said people -- robots are people too!

In all seriousness, this is probably the class reveal everyone has been waiting for and/or expecting all along. Jedi and Sith were a given, so from here on out it's almost entirely anyone's guess. Spy? Rogue? Droids? Wookiees? Albino Ewoks? Okay, that's a little silly, nobody wants to play a rogue over a spy.

We have a bit of a linguistic issue when it comes to information about Final Fantasy XIV -- while no one could argue that it's not being heavily anticipated worldwide, there's the simple reality that the slow trickle of information to news magazines are going to be in Japanese. Great if you can read the language, slightly less so if you can't. But luckily, the intrepid fans at FFXIVCore have a number of people who can at least manage it well enough to bring us the latest tidbits from Connect! On magazine, which had the benefit of having some input from someone who at least briefly got to experience the game hands-on.

It's already been hinted that Lancers, much like Archers, will be affected by the range of their weapons. The magazine goes into further detail regarding this -- for example, if the Lancer is too close to the enemy they'll have to swing the haft of their spear rather than jabbing with it, but they can also potentially sweep the lance like a staff to hit multiple enemies. There's also talk about the difference in tools that crafters can use and what some of the expanded features of the crafting might involve, possibly including the ability to craft multiple items at once (a welcome expansion for those familiar with crafting in Final Fantasy XI).

There's still no word on when exactly we'll be seeing Final Fantasy XIV, but it can't be soon enough. Take a look at the full translation for more details, speculation, and a clearer picture of how the game is different from its predecessor.

Final Fantasy XI's November update is just around the corner (what with the end of October fast approaching), and that means we're hearing more about what job abilities are due for an upgrade. This time around, we're getting information about the game's two classic pet-using classes, the Summoner and the Beastmaster, and what new abilities are in store for them. To summarize in brief: pure, unadulterated awesome.

Summoners will learn a new ability called Avatar's Favor at level 55, which provides a passive benefit to all party members and reduces the MP cost of keeping an avatar active. With a two-hour duration, the ability is clearly aimed at the longstanding irritation many players have had about the "preferred" approach to summoner pets. Traditionally, the class has been forced to summon their pet, use one of its party-buffing abilities, and then immediately dismiss it due to its low utility in normal combat and the high MP cost of keeping it active. Avatar's Favor obviously rewards keeping a single avatar active on the battlefield to reap the most benefit, and its promise of a cost reduction makes that more fesable.

Beastmasters, meanwhile, are gaining the ability to directly control the special abilities used by their called beasts (as opposed to beasts tamed on the field). The system is explained in brief, but it should help provide some utility and control to a class that has slowly been making the shift over to called pets instead of tamed ones. Both updates should be welcome by the classes, and lend more support to the idea that if the November update is one of the last ones to grace Final Fantasy XI, it will be going out on a high note.

The next Cryptic Studios MMO Star Trek Online should be an interesting mix of avatar 'away mission' gameplay with the ship-based combat that existing sci-fi titles like EVE Online offer, as well as what's on the way with Jumpgate Evolution and Black Prophecy. We'd mentioned that the STO devs would be answering questions from Star Trek fans for their dev chat yesterday. If you missed it, however, you can still read the transcript on the official Star Trek Online forums.

Cryptic Systems Designer Steve Nix (aka "Snix") was on hand to field questions from the fans about player progression in Star Trek Online. Snix discussed a number of aspects of how players will interact and progress, from race selection/Species Traits that allow for character customization beyond aesthetics to STO's take on a sidekick system, which will allow for grouping of players at different levels. He also mentioned some of the tactics involved with avatar ground combat as well. If you're following the development of Star Trek Online, be sure to check out what Cryptic's Steve Nix revealed about the upcoming title in the latest dev chat transcript.

BioWare Producer Blaine Christine recently sat down for a Star Wars: The Old Republic interview with Steven Crews at The MMO Gamer. The interview hits on a number of facets of SWTOR's gameplay and the process of creating the title. They also discuss how BioWare is designing the game to dissuade everyone from (only) running around wielding lightsabers through the unique strengths of each class, but their talk really focuses on the game's story.

Blaine discusses how the story for SWTOR players, whether they choose to be good or evil, will always be more than kill ten rats or "collect ten boxes for some random vendor." That story you play through fits the role you've chosen for yourself. Blaine likens a player's story progression to Knights of the Old Republic. He tells The MMO Gamer, "If you look at KOTOR and how that worked out, if you played light side versus dark side, there were distinct differences in the story, and distinct differences in how your character developed. It's going to be very similar to that."

The optimal ways to play are pretty easy to find, these days. If you didn't have several dozen sites with forums, guides, and other tricks to let you know exactly what the best approach to a given game might be, many players will also be very helpful in offering their advice. (Often they'll offer it repeatedly, whether you want it or not, with little regard for phrasing or whether or not they even know the subject well.) Naturally, if you want to play the game at your best, you should be reading these guides and tricks and deviating as little as possible.

For some of us, of course, that's exactly why we've disregarded everything the guides say.

When you play an MMO, do you try and make your character optimal, or do you throw all caution to the wind and grab whatever you want? Do you play undervalued classes or use skills generally considered sub-par just because you like working up to the challenge? Do you like trying to crack a new build that no one else will realize the strength of for a while? What are your little ways of rebelling against the "correct" way to play and build your character, if you have them?

It's hard to tell how far along Final Fantasy XIV is in development -- there have been rumors that it's aiming for a beta late this year, and the pictures we've seen already have a metric ton of polish, but there are a lot of questions unanswered. Luckily, the intrepid fans at Final Fantasy XIV Core have been hard at work combing not just the official American information releases, but the plethora of Japanese magazines covering the title. Recent translations of features in both Dengeki Playstation magazine and Famitsu have shed some more light on features and intents regarding the game's overall direction. Although some of the information has been stated elsewhere, such as some of the general attributes of the Discipline system, there are some interesting tidbits.

One of the more noteworthy features is the promise that there will be an "optimal distance" for attacks not just for archers (a feature it has in common with its predecessor), but for lancers as well. Lancers are also slated to be gaining the option of using javelins as thrown weapons. We're told nothing regarding having multiple jobs, but rather that leveling one job will also level attributes useful for several different jobs -- possibly indicating a more holistic approach to levelling in multiple fields. If you're even remotely interested in Final Fantasy XIV (and who isn't by this point), take a look at both translations for more nuggets about the game, including some of the game's slated music and several high-quality scans.

Square-Enix is going to release information about Final Fantasy XIV at its own pace, as the company always has. However, that can be more than a little agonizing for those of us on the ground, who are left running along after scraps in a desperate attempt to get more information. As a result, we can only be happy when there's an interview with Hiromi Tanaka, producer of the game, in which he gives more information about the upcoming game's features.

Among the more interesting answers are the fact that there will be no player flight (which ties in with his answers in an earlier interview that there will be no jumping), that players will not be pledging their allegiance to a single city-state a la Final Fantasy XI, and reinforcement of the idea that there's not really a concept of "classes" extant in-game. Rather, it's a matter of several different disciplines based upon what weapon or tool you're using. Equally interesting is the response to the question of whether Roegadyn and Miqo'te will be dual-gendered races, after their predecssors (Galka and Mithra, respectively) are all single-gender. He doesn't say they'll add in the other half, but he also doesn't discount the possibility, implying it might well be in the cards. Along with more reinforcement of the game's focus on allowing players to focus on or skip crafting as they wish, it's an interesting set of questions, so take a look at the full interview.