It took some serious grinding, but we managed to crank a good chunk of E3 news out between our (non red-shirted) away team, and the highly-caffeinated home team. We got to check out MMOs we know and love, and hands-on (or at least eyeballs-on) time with a few of our most anticipated. We got to jam out with rock-stars, interviewed the gaming version of rock-stars, and did a hell of a lot of walking. But all that aside, today - now that you've gotten your fill of E3 news for another year - we wanted to ask: what's your favorite news from this year? Was it the spine-tingling trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic? Perhaps you're more excited about the new things coming to Free Realms or Runes of Magic? Was it the reveal of Final Fantasy XIV? Heroes of Telara, APB, or any of a dozen other titles? What E3 MMO news hit your personal "awesome" button?

Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009 proved to be a significant event for the gaming industry once again, with a fair amount of news and announcements related to MMOs. Massively was there on the ground for E3 this year and we've been putting up breaking announcements, interviews, and hands-on previews throughout.

Given how much info came out of E3 on Massively, here's a roundup of our coverage, day-by-day. Be sure to check out the rest after the jump as there's plenty more content, plus you'll find E3 galleries for these games as you click through. To cap it all off, we've also put together an E3 2009 wrapup video for you at the end of this post. Read on to see where the MMO industry is headed in the next year and beyond!

• Star Wars: The Old Republic world's first fully-voiced MMO

• Final Fantasy XIV announced

• Jumpgate Evolution releases E3 trailer

• EA to publish All Points Bulletin in 2010

• PlayStation Home hits 6.5 million accounts

• Trion World Network unveils Heroes of Telara

• Massively's day 1 video from the E3 floor

All Points Bulletin wasn't the only crime-themed MMO I saw at E3 last week. I also got to check out Vogster Entertainment's CrimeCraft. Just before the conference, the developer announced an August 25 release date, a monthly subscription as their business model and an exclusive deal with Best Buy.

On the floor, associate producer Aaron Krasnov laid down what's new in the game, how it's different from APB, the help he got from former Warhammer Online developers and how CrimeCraft is a natural progression for players of Halo and Call of Duty.

Last week at E3, we had a chance to sit down with Alexandre Zambeaux, Marketing Director for Cities XL developer Monte Cristo Games, for some more info on the current state of the game, and what MMO gamers can expect from such a project. You may remember a pre-beta Q&A we did with the Monte Cristo team a few months ago, and as the game hasn't hit an open beta just yet, it will later this year. The info we got from that initial interview helped carve an idea in our heads of what this whole city-building MMO could possibly be, but now we're happy to offer a few more details.

Even though this meeting was very informal, we took some great info away from Alexandre to relay to you, the readers. Follow along after the jump to find out more about the business model, expandability, gameplay and more.

It's a post-apocalyptic world. Civilization has completely collapsed. You find yourself scavenging for food and supplies on a barren American frontier. And the thing you're looking for? Clean water. Just watch out for giant mutants along the way.

No, I didn't just describe a Fallout game. Well, actually I did, but I'm also loosely describing the plot of Fallen Earth. Developed by North Carolina-based studio Fallen Earth LLC, the MMO shooter takes place during the near future in America's Grand Canyon and allows players to switch between third- and first-person views. The game promises over 600 hours of play, extensive character customization, no fixed classes but six factions, and plenty of everything that good MMOs have to offer: an epic, immersive story, voice-over in missions as well as tons of equipment, weapons, vehicles, crafting and PvP.

However, besides all that, there was one main idea that lead designer Lee Hammock wanted me to take away from our demo session at E3: Fallen Earth is not the Fallout MMO. See his explanation why.

Ever since it was shown at GDC last year, All Points Bulletin has been one game that both MMO and shooter players alike have been following closely. During E3 this past week, Realtime Worlds, the Scotland-based studio headed by Grand Theft Auto creator Dave Jones, announced that the massively multiplayer crime-themed game will be published by Electronic Arts.

After getting a close look at APB's detailed customization options during a demonstration at E3, I spoke with lead designer EJ Moreland, whose past work includes EverQuest II, Star Wars: Galaxies and Ultima Online. During the interview, Moreland talked about the importance of having players feel unique, being compared to Spore and the possibilities in APB's future.

Just from what we saw at E3, we know that Realtime Worlds' All Points Bulletin isn't your typical MMO. After I checked out the crime game's expansive character customization and grilled lead designer EJ Moreland about it, he also talked about a variety of topics, like how the terms "MMO" and "PvP" don't apply to APB, the MMO elements the game has, how some Crackdown fans might be disappointed and, of course, competing with the "800-pound gorilla" that is World of Warcraft.

There's been a lot of speculation about All Points Bulletin, the upcoming game from Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds, but at a closed-door demonstration at E3, we were finally able to take a good look at the game with lead designer EJ Moreland. And while many MMOs have detailed character customization, we've never seen anything quite like this.

During the video presentation of the game, Moreland said that the developers were focused on "the three C's" -- creativity, conflict and celebrity. The heart of APB is giving players the maximum flexibility to create what they want. Using the same customization tool that the developers use to make the thousands of NPCs in the game, players can modify their characters in a myriad of ways.

Wait a minute, day 4 of E3 2009? Remedial math skills? E3 was only a three-day event, but our own coverage of Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009 is going to last a bit longer. We've still got a number of interviews and previews lined up for you in the coming days, today included, so we hope you'll keep reading this weekend. In the meantime, here are a few highlights of Massively's coverage of E3 2009 from yesterday:

• Champions Online interview with Bill Roper on character customization

• Torchlight, from creators of Mythos, to morph from single player to MMO

• Rohan: Blood Feud to get crafting system in June

• Massively's Dragonica Online Impressions

If you'd like to see more, we've got some eye candy after the jump, with galleries for Champions Online, Torchlight, Rohan: Blood Feud, and Dragonica Online.

Continuing the somewhat recurring theme at E3 2009 of "what was old is new again," Dragonica Online has taken the traditional 2D side-scroller format and transitioned it to 3D. The resulting environment will be friendly to any of the Night Elves you see endlessly bouncing around World of Warcraft and fans of nostalgic action RPGs like Secret of Mana.

The game sports fast and furious real-time combat, crafting, guilds, dungeon raids, PvP, and a light-hearted atmosphere. It didn't take us long to realize that Dragonica doesn't take itself too seriously. For example, in the demo, we saw an archer battling shark pirates who were wielding swordfish. We're obviously not in Middle Earth here.

The superhero MMO genre has been ruled by one game and one game alone for the past five years: City of Heroes. NCsoft's title being quite literally the only game in town for superhero fans is about to change, with competitors like DC Universe Online and Champions Online on the way. We have a good idea of what to expect with DCUO given the recognizable characters the game incorporates, but what of Champions Online which is based upon the Champions pen and paper RPG?

We've wondered what Cryptic Studios will do to differentiate Champions Online from the competition; Massively had a chance to sit down with Bill Roper, the game's executive producer, to discuss that question at E3 2009.

We've completely zerg rushed E3 2009, attending press events, demonstrations and sure, hitting some parties as well. But we've also gone out and interviewed the people behind the games that will be arriving on the MMO scene in the next year and we've got a lot to tell you in the coming days.

As the constant hustle of E3 2009 came to a close yesterday and the swarm of game journos scatters, now is when we really shift into high gear; Massively's content over the next few days will feature loads of info and interviews fresh from E3. We'd say to keep your eyes open for it, but honestly you won't be able to miss it. For now though, here's a quick roundup of yesterday's coverage:

• Star Wars: The Old Republic demonstration

• Paul Barnett and the Suicide Girls present All Points Bulletin

• Ether Saga Online set to go live this month with world bosses

• Massively looks at Perfect World International: Age of Spirits

• Jade Dynasty at a glance

• Dungeon Fighter Online impressions

Still hungry? We've also put together galleries for these MMOs after the jump:

The trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic blew nerds around the world away, and has managed to build some of the greatest hype possible for an MMO in just a few short days. The question has been asked whether or not a trailer which contains absolutely no gameplay footage should be producing that sort of hype, but that trailer wasn't all that we saw of the upcoming MMORPG at E3. A panel dedicated to The Old Republic had much more to say.

The panel opened up with the stage being set: The Old Republic begins 3,000 years before the rise of Darth Vader, 300 years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic, which would give BioWare an excellent opportunity to define and expand upon key events of Star Wars "pre-history."

The entire presentation laid a significant emphasis on story and story elements. Right from the beginning, the developers lay out it: RPGs have four primary elements. Exploration, combat, progression, and story. The story element is the one most overlooked in MMOs, and The Old Republic intends to address that head on. They intend to embrace story right alongside the other RPG elements. It will be a major player, and not something just used to justify the other elements.

Nexon's upcoming free to play title Dungeon Fighter Online isn't quite like anything we've seen before -- and at the same time, it's a lot like things we've seen before. At first glance, DFO mimics old-school, style-arcade action-adventure games, the sort of thing you might have been pumping quarters into a decade ago.

Not so old-school, however, are the game's MMO features: a persistent, shared world, character advancement, quests, and loot. These aren't features we'd have ever thought of putting together, but we can assure you that the resulting low-rez adventure is fast-paced and fun. Best of all? You won't need a pocket full of quarters to enjoy it.

We thought the first day of E3 2009 turned out pretty well, with announcements for Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy XIV, and All Points Bulletin. That's in addition to the packed interview schedule we lined up so we'll have plenty more to show you in the coming days. While the Massively team frantically taps their fingertips down into little bloody tater tots to bring you more fresh E3 goodness, have a look at some highlights of what day 2 of E3 2009 brought in MMO news.

• Massively's day one video from the E3 floor

• In-game footage from The Agency

• Platform release info for Final Fantasy XIV

• The Dares concert in Free Realms sets Guinness World Record

• Hands-on with Global Agenda

• Friends fix coming to Free Realms

Want to see more? We've got E3 galleries to flip through for these titles and events after the jump.