It began as a rumor but was confirmed at SOE Fan Faire 2009 -- EverQuest's 16th expansion will be called Underfoot and is coming in November of this year. We've mentioned some of the features that Underfoot will bring to the game, like the expansion progress window and new zones, and Sony Online Entertainment is also updating the game's lore.

The lore update explains the subterranean Plane of Underfoot and some of its notable inhabitants, namely Brell Serilis, the Duke of Below. But mostly it provides EverQuest lore fans with a history of Underfoot, from the time it was shaped by the gods to the creation of Norrath's races. It's all part of the official EverQuest Underfoot announcement over at EverQuest Players.

The kid-centric MMO Wizard101 from KingsIsle Entertainment seems to be doing quite well for itself, having already gained millions of unique users since its launch last September. Wizard101 has gotten a steady stream of updates as well. In fact, today marks the game's largest expansion release to date, adding a new land called Grizzleheim with a Norse theme, and a Bazaar in Olde Town where players can buy and sell their wares.

Perhaps the biggest addition to Wizard101 with today's expansion is a crafting system which will bring new gear into the game that spans the various schools of magic. Wizard101 players will be able to craft hundreds of items ranging from clothing to Treasure Cards. In addition to using crafting tables in their houses and dorm rooms, players can progress through five tiers of crafting advancement.

Massively Speaking Episode 59 returns this week with regulars Colin Brennan and Kyle Horner as they join Shawn in discussing the current MMO events. There's talk of China's new anti-gold-farming legislation, SOE's community address at Fan Faire, Runes of Magic expansions, Mark Jacobs leaving Mythic and more!

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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Moogles. A rich, noble race that's been around for ages. Sure, their contributions to society are overlooked -- such as their dedication to keeping your house clean, changing your jobs, and acting like a save point in oh so many Final Fantasy worlds. But that doesn't mean that this race has many more things to share with society.

Things like haunted mog houses, engagement rings, and... um... mogfia bosses? What's going on here?

It's a Moogle Kupo d'Etat, the next add-on expansion pack for Final Fantasy XI! Just like the first pack, A Crystalline Prophecy, this expansion will once again provide a short storyline and an augmentable item at the end, all for the low price of 10 bucks.

This time around, it's the headpiece for the sets! The Champion's Galea, Anwig Salade, and Selenian Cap are all up for grabs once the mini-expansion is completed.

The add-on pack will be available for pre-order on July 5th, and will most likely roll out with the next version update later in July. Check out our gallery of some of the scenes from the upcoming pack, as well as our look at the new items!

Well, OGPlanet has been quick to update, and now the US version will also be graced with Soul and Siena. The game has been updated as of today, and players will be able to access all of the new goodies.

Tasos Flambouras of Darkfall has posted details on the game's forums of some big events that are just around the corner. The US server launch has been scheduled for the 7th of July, but as we learned previously, players from the European server won't be able to transfer their characters over straight away:

"Characters from the European server can be cloned and moved without their possessions 3 months after the American launch. Certain restrictions and charges will apply, to be announced at a later date."

The only way to play on the US server from launch is to buy the American Darkfall client. Tasos later added that American players currently on the European server would not need to buy the new client in order to transfer over when the time comes, to help the US early adopters -- any others jumping ship will need to purchase the US version of the game.

In addition to this, during the first week of July players can expect a free expansion to roll out, which will include new content and updates to PvE and PvP. A new website is also in the works, with forums that the public will be able to read, but only Darkfall subscribers will be able to post to.

[Via MMORPG]

Summer is a time for expansions in Wizard101 as the game will be seeing the addition of Grizzleheim, a Norse themed area adding all sorts of new content. The biggest feature being added is probably the crafting, followed by a bazaar. However, players will also get the chance to meet three new tribal races: Viking Bears, Wolves, and Ravens.

Yeah, you heard us, bears that are also vikings.

KingsIsle Entertainment has also said they're adding plenty of new social feautres, although didn't elaborate much beyond that. So if you like snow, mountains, plenty of fir trees and vikings, we're sure you'll be happy exploring Grizzleheim -- which you can do right now on the game's test server! Thought you'd have to wait to check it out, didn't you? Well, as it turns out, you won't.

Hot sun. Sandy beaches. Exotic creatures. It almost sounds like a great vacation spot until you realize the heat is unbearable, the beaches run alongside a poisonous river, and the creatures are determined to kill you and then mutilate your corpse. The Land of the Dead may not be for your average snowbird but courageous adventurers will find treasures and excitement in great abundance - and it all starts today.

Game Update 1.3 launched exactly one week ago and introduced a special Live Event called Rise of the Tomb Kings. The event pitted the realms of Order and Destruction against each other in a massive resource-race to determine who would gain first access to the Nehekharan desert via airship. That race ended this morning and Mythic just released a patch that grants the winners 24-hours of uninterrupted dungeon access.

The Land of the Dead was a massive undertaking by Mythic that began shortly after launch in September 2008 and it will change the way Warhammer Online fans play the game from now on. How will it affect open field RvR, city siege, scenarios and other raid instances? Only time will tell (and we'll keep our eyes on it for you).

This past January, Cartoon Network launched their first foray into the MMO space with the wildly successful FusionFall, offering families who like to game together a great deal at $9.95 a month for up to four separate MMO accounts. Since those exciting first days of launch, they've given away all manner of funky swag, racked up over 5 million accounts, and started a whole new generation of explorers down the road of MMO enjoyment. With this summer, however, they're planning on adding even more to their fantastic freemium game with their first major content patch since launch - Dexlabs Upgrade 1: Speed and Style!

This super souped-up update, slated to launch later this summer will bring vehicles to the lands of FusionFall. The first one will be a cool new limited-time availability promo vehicle which will be collectible by both paid and free members. After the first vehicle is launched, players will then be required to reach level 10 to start their collection of other vehicles. What types of nifty ways to get around will there be? Well, as you can see above, we have an exclusive first-ever look at FusionFall's Jetbike, Hoverboard, and a very special guest appearance by Kimchi from Chowder! We're not sure, but considering FusionFall still remains the only MMO where players can get around via flying monkeys, we'd bet that whatever they come up with will be cool.

Sony Online Entertainment's fantasy MMOs EverQuest and EverQuest II may be due for new expansions if what Kody over at Curse has unearthed holds true. SOE has filed trademarks for two new EQ properties with the US Patent and Trademark Office. They are EverQuest: Underfoot and EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate.

It's a good find, but more of a tease than anything right now as no further details are available about either expansion. As Curse notes though, SOE Fan Faire is very close, just over a week away, and an announcement could be made then.

Have a look at what Kody has to say about the potential for new EverQuest expansions in his post at Curse.

European CABAL Online fans will be happy to hear that their second major update of the year, Soul & Siena, will go live tomorrow. This is only three months after the previous expansion, which introduced us to new hunting grounds, a title system and many new items. This newest expansion will continue the trend of new content by adding a new raiding dungeon, high level armors and a unique bonus skill system.

In addition, CABAL is implementing a new security feature for players' accounts with the sub-password system. This allows players to create an additional four-digit code to protect their equipped items, storage and even their character. Sounds like something a few other major MMOs should take a look at.

Remember, this expansion is 100% free, as is the game itself, so all EU players can head on over to their site and download the client starting tomorrow!

[Edit: We're informed by OGplanet that the US version will be coming soon as well, so stay tuned for more news on that.]

As mentioned in a post yesterday, Warhammer Online and Mythic are hosting an expansive community event like none they've done before. Today, we received our piece of this contest in the form of a human skull wrapped in mummy rags and hay. Yes, the hay is real, but the skull is not. Darn.

This contest was created to celebrate the release of WAR's Land of the Dead, later this month. Those who are able to decipher the hieroglyphs from a variety of MMO websites will be rewarded with exclusive in-game items. Follow along after the jump to find out more information on this contest, and to see the photos of our unique Tomb King Cartouche.

From movies and books to computer games, the concept of the sequel is firmly embedded in the entertainment industry. It's usually a much safer bet to make a new part to an existing successful intellectual property than it is to back an untested product. In the games industry, sequels are a great way to make more money from the same game concept but as usual MMOs have proven to be something of a different animal. Subscription MMOs don't conform to the same rules as non-subscription games, favouring recurring orders and longer-term customer commitment over single purchases. While development studios often take sequels for granted, I'm forced to ask whether MMOs should have sequels at all or if a different paradigm is more appropriate.

In this article, I explore the games industry's obsession with repetition as I ask the question "Should MMOs have sequels?"

Massively is proud to host a new dev diary from the folks at Paragon Studios. This particular dev diary was written by Christopher Bruce, Senior Lead Animator/VFX Artist for City of Heroes, and it pertains to the character customization options that have been improved with Issue 15. Enjoy!

In addition to supporting the two new task forces for Issue 15, we also wanted to focus some attention on expanding our character creation system. Character customization is a hallmark of City of Heroes and we're always striving to improve and expand upon our players' ability to create a truly unique super powered hero or villain.

For Issue 15, there are two new costume sets available to everyone, created by the newest addition to our character artist team, Cheryl Austin. "Vines" is a new pattern while "Ulterior" is a new texture set, both of which work with most of the existing costume pieces. Cheryl has also created over twenty new face textures, something we haven't done since City of Villains launched. While our options for individual costume pieces and sets have continued to expand over the years, our selection of faces hasn't received the same amount of attention. Her goal was to create a set of new face textures that were a bit more subtle and realistic and while also working well across our full range skin tones.

First it was a movie and a box of hair dye that announced the coming of the Choppa and Slayer in Warhammer Online. Then it was the infamous "violent valentine" cards that announced the Night of Murder event coming to WAR. Now... now we have blogs receiving bones with glyphs and letters on them. You have to hand it to Mythic's marketing department. They have some pretty inventive ways to do announcements, one has to admit.

This announcement however, is pretty big. In conjunction with the release of the Land of the Dead, blogs all about the blogosphere will be getting "Rosetta Bones." These bones will feature different symbols on their faces, each linked with a letter of the alphabet. The bones will also be accompanied with a map that points out special tomb unlocks, a flag to show which version the bones belong to (Europe or North American audiences will be getting different bones) and a parchment page containing storyline clues for what will be occuring in the future.