We can all stop making "Waiting for Godot" (Godhuum?) jokes. Thursday evening ArenaNet quietly updated "The Waiting Game", the Guild Wars quest we all picked up back around Halloween. Dhuum is awake, he's not happy, and the Shadow Form debate rages on.

The update to The Waiting Game revealed that Dhuum will appear once all of the Underworld quests have been completed, and defeating him is now required to "complete" the Underworld. With a skill set including things like "Judgement of Dhuum", this new addition to the Underworld is most likely the challenge that bored Guild Wars players have been looking for.

Shadow Form continues to be a hot topic, however. Many players expected this to be the thing that put an end to Shadow Form Underworld farming, but one of the earliest reported successes proved that wrong very quickly. Players responded quickly with one commenter summing up many people's thoughts: "It's...disappointing that even a God of Unholy Death can't bypass shadowform...". (Community Manager Regina Buenaobra stepped in to mention that the goal was new content, not a nerf of SF farming.)

In the meantime, Dhuum seems to be the biggest challenge around in Guild Wars -- kudos to ArenaNet for the new content!

Times have been somewhat erratic for Warhammer Online, but most everyone can agree that the switch to an endless free trial was a positive move for the game. It's almost transparent how the change came almost immediately following the changes made in patch 1.3.2 to streamline the starting experience, but it's a wise move all around and makes the game more accessible than ever before on both levels. Producer Josh Drescher recently sat down with the Zam network to talk a little more about the rationale behind the change, as well as the limitations on the experience.

As Drescher points out, one of the major limits toward any sort of time-limited trial is that many players feel pressured for form an opinion in a very constrained timeframe. For more casual players, it can be almost impossible. The new move makes it both easier for players to take their time, and easier for players to try it, hibernate, and then try some of the new features as they come out. For more of the specifics, as well as a rather oblique non-answer to the question of Warhammer Online's future in light of recent layoffs, take a look at the full interview.

As time winds down before the reset coming in Cataclysm, many World of Warcraft players are working their way through all the raid content, including Ulduar. For those who have never wandered into this particular dungeon, we have this great World of Warcraft screenshot from Deadend on the Exodar server. This is the bullet train that takes adventurers to face the insane tinkerer, Mimiron. Deadend writes in to give us his thoughts on this shiny transport: Best train ever.

From big to small, we want your MMO screenshots and stories! If you'd like to send something in, it's really easy. All you have to do is email your screenshot to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post it out here for everyone to enjoy and give you the credit.

Her ascension has come, her name is well-known -- Shantotto is blessed both afar and at home. Final Fantasy XI's resident genius has long been admired as clever and devious. Not so very long hence, you'd recall our report that a contest was held, an artistic sport. After all, who could deny that true inspiration would come from a lady of such reputation? That contest is over, the judging all done, now look through the images to see who has won!

Three pages of entries await to be seen, a collection of art unrivaled on one's screen. The portrait above, while quite suited for framing, was not the first winner in the contest we're naming. That image must indeed be seen and admired, but all of the portraits should meet one's desires. At the top of the tier, there's more than just rotes, for each entry is graced with the professor's own notes! View all of the entries, we gladly suggest, for Shantotto as subject is quite hard to best.

Any DnD fan is going to be familiar with the Drow, and it's pretty much a given that they would be a playable race in Dungeons and Dragons Online. If you're not familiar with them, Turbine has given us a series of beautiful screenshots with a closer look at the Drow.

The official site has a history of the Drow as well, if you are hoping for a bit more background: Most drow choose a life of adventure out of necessity, given the dangers of their homeland. Still, they greatly desire personal power, and many drow take up the mantle of adventurer seeking to satisfy their ambitions. Most drow follow the evil scorpion-god Vulkoor, though exposure to the cultures of Stormreach has brought a few of them to less malevolent deities.

If these screenshots are enough to get you interested in checking out the Drow race further you can explore more of their story and the prerequisites for unlocking them as a playable race, as well as inherent abilities and enhancements on the DDO site.

Word of mouth is a powerful advertising tool, and most companies realize this. Quite a few are even willing to hand over some freebies or other incentives in exchange for a good word from their current customers.

Giveaway Gamer, a site dedicated to...well, giveaways, is the latest site to jump on this bandwagon, and the carrot on the stick is a year of free Age of Conan playtime. All they ask is that you spread the word about their contest in whatever way you choose: Twitter, Facebook, interpretive dance, mention it on your blog or podcast; it's entirely up to you. Send Giveaway Gamer an email telling how you passed the word along -- links, screenshots, photos, and videos are even better -- and you're entered in the contest.

The contest runs through December 18th, and the winner will receive a year of free AoC playtime and pile of in-game goodies as well, such as the mammoth, rhino and horse mounts. All of the entry information can be found here at the Giveaway Gamer site. While this doesn't count as an entry for Massively, we wish you guys the best of luck!

Those in the past - or in strange fantasy lands - used this time of year to finish harvesting and laying in stores for the winter to come. For those of us who game in fantasy worlds, it's a great time to look back and reflect on the things that we may have achieved earlier this year instead! One such example is this incredibly picturesque image that comes to us from Yavvy, who captured this during a live event in Warhammer Online earlier this year. (Admittedly, a land more about conquering than harvesting, but still.) Yavvy writes in: Catching a ride with the great eagles in Hunter's Vale, the dungeon for the Wild Hunt live event.

Have you captured a great image from an in-world event? If so, we'd love to see what you've been up to. Just email it in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post it out here and give you the nod.

A new patch for an MMO is a bit like a present. At best, it can provide a number of new opportunities for fun and enjoyment. At worst, it can break several things you already liked and now have to replace. Aion has recently deployed the new patch 1.5.1 and, as could be expected, fan reaction is somewhat split on whether it's a nice present or the immortal pairing of socks and underwear. Certainly there isn't a major content influx, and the often-requested reduction of the game's grind has yet to be implemented, but there are still a number of nice updates and additions.

Leaving aside the bugfixes and optimization with only a mention that they should help the game play more smoothly all around, several instanced dungeons have been adjusted somewhat. Nearly all of these changes look beneficial to players -- reductions in difficulty and increases in reward, as well as added UI displays for important objectives. They've also added stealth-detecting NPCs to starter areas and increased several NPC health totals in an effort to curb destructive PvP tendencies. Quest experience at mid-to-high levels has been adjusted upward, rewards have been slightly improved on several quests, and level-difference experience penalties have been reduced. Last but not least, there's now more incentive to hold a fortress in the Abyss and work to defend it, as rewards are offered for defending players. Aion's fans aren't all happy about the changes, but it's best if you take a look at the changes yourself. Just remember that even if you don't like it, this present is unreturnable.

All right, now that the inflammatory title that makes you look at my column is out of the way, let's get down to business. This week we got to see a 30-second teaser trailer from the folks at NCsoft about Blade & Soul, a game from NCsoft that has been stealthing in the background, waiting for the right time to strike and jump in front of Aion.

Blade & Soul isn't a brand new game though. In fact, the game's artwork has already made a guest appearance on our website. (With subsequent comments on how that woman's back is going to break in half if she should walk forward.) Plus, if you really want to see what the game has to offer, a quick YouTube search will bring you to the Blade & Soul HD gameplay video which looks, well, simply stunning.

So why am I dedicating my opinion column to a game that's nowhere close to being released? Well, because I think it has potential, and because it's my opinion column. So come along after the break, and let's look at Blade & Soul.

It's time for this newest installment of NDoors Interactive's biweekly developer journal here at Massively. We've already covered the Stimulus Package event and the game's one-year anniversary, so now we turn to the upcoming Thanksgiving event. Here's what they had to say:

Thanksgiving time in Atlantica Online has never been so festive, as we are introducing two new in-game event items this year. Players will be introduced to an NPC who will offer them a special Thanksgiving quest. The rewards for fulfilling that quest are new additions to your formation, as well as a new clothing item for your avatar.

Karos Online publisher NHN Corporation has announced that open beta for the fantasy MMO will kick off on Friday, December 4th. The official site's link for CBT sign-ups is still active, so this may be worth a shot. Those gamers already in the Karos Online closed beta will have some things to look forward to in the final CBT event running from November 27th - 28th. Characters will be given gear and items for high-level play with rapid experience gain. NHN says players will reach a level cap of 44 "almost immediately". There will also be new monsters, weapons, and Holy Creatures to tear into.

In addition, players in the CBT will be able to reserve their character names for when Karos Online's open beta doors swing wide to the masses. The English version of Karos Online is scheduled to launch in Q4 2009, with German and Turkish versions to follow in 2010.

OGPlanet is known for its free-to-play games, and as of this week, there's another one on the table.

OGPlanet announced the launch of Lunia Chronicles on Tuesday. Lunia Chronicles is the story of the different races on the continent of Rodesia and their conflicts. Players can download the game and explore several different characters including Lime the Fighting Slime, friend and companion to Eir the Healing Princess. The official site carries a nice overview of the game's story and character histories, as well as tutorials on combat strategy and keyboard controls.

To get people playing and help celebrate the launch of their newest game, OGPlanet is offering up a nice incentive for those who check the game out. They're holding a 30-day launch event to celebrate. Players need to download the game and play to level 50 by December 16th (Yes, THIS December 16th), and they'll be entered in a drawing for a Dell XPS gaming laptop.

With Halloween now giving way to Thanksgiving next week in the United States, we figured it was a great time to show this one last Halloween image we recieved from Guild Wars. Thorband caught this image of his character howling at the lunatic moon during the recent Mad King celebration. The other thing we really dig about this image is the lovely fall colors, like those of a roasting turkey -- and of course, tasty pumpkin pie. Mmm, pie.

We love holidays in MMOs almost as much as we love pie -- maybe even more, depending on the game! So if you have a chance to grab some holiday celebration screenshots while you're out and about, please send some our way! We love to see what's up in the different worlds out there. All you have to do is email them to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post them out here and give you the love.

It was announced some time ago that Square-Enix would make it easier for Final Fantasy XI players to get married in-game, with the vague insinuation that the feature would go live at around the same time as the version update. Sure enough, the new wedding system is now in place, and it makes the entire procedure so much easier that it's almost trivial. After all, you already get to avoid meddling in-laws, reams and reams of wedding invitations, and the joy of finding a caterer who won't server your guests microwaved dog food.

The official page offers all the details you could want on the wedding system, including the procedure for crafting all of the wedding items if you prefer that option to purchasing them. It also offers traditional Vana'diel wedding vows, a nice touch for a roleplaying event, especially one supported by the game's official systems. So go ahead and tie the knot in Final Fantasy XI, free and without the bulky and restrictive system of the past. No rumors yet of a messy and acrimonious divorce system being added into the game, but now that marriage is simpler, perhaps it's in the cards.

Darkfall is among the most specialized niche titles available now, but like many niche titles it fills a void that just can't be simulated anywhere else. That void might be confined to a certain frequently-reviled but very vocal sort of player, but it's still there. And if the promise of bonuses for recruiting new meat for the grinder wasn't enticing enough, fans of the game have even more to be happy about now -- the game's next free expansion is slated to release late next week according to an official developer post.

Conquer the Seas was originally slated to be released a bit sooner, but as developer Tasos explains, the expansion contains a larger number of bug fixes and minor updates than they had originally intended. It's a good sign that Aventurine is willing to take the extra time for development to produce something better in the end, and Darkfall players certainly should enjoy the new update. If you don't play the game... well, did we mention that any friends you have that do play can get some extra cash if you sign up? Just try not to read too much into the look of glee on their face at the time.