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We're not going to get into those arguments again. You know, the ones that focus on whether any given game is a (cough)-killer or not. All the same, the thrust and riposte between corporate figures is always a delight to read. The latest comment is very much in the 'we could take you all down with only one Dalek' vein.

We're indebted to mtv.com for bringing us a lengthy interview with Mark Jacobs, who is VP of Mythic as well as being lead designer for Warhammer Online. Jacobs takes the opportunity to dismiss the figure of one billion dollars, the sum cited by Activision Blizzard CEO as the sum it would take for a competitor to take on World of Warcraft, as 'ridiculous numbers'.

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	Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Today kicks off the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Washington, and we here at Massively are just as excited as you are about the events, booths, panels and concerts involved with this monumental convention. In fact, we'll be at the event all weekend covering the latest and greatest in MMO news, so you can certainly be sure to look for more coverage throughout the weekend and into next week.

So we want to know what you, as players, are most excited about. We want to know what it is that brings you out to this event, or what you want to see covered the most. Is it the unveiling of Lord of the Rings Online's Mines of Moria? Is it any information about Lich King? Is it continued coverage of Warhammer Online? Perhaps it's an Indie title, or the after-parties you're most interested in. Let us know!

With the recent news of Ryzom's slow rebirth, allowing previous subscribers to reactivate their accounts for free, we're happy to report that free accounts are open to new players as well. This new account reactivation is happening in increments though, so if you've unsuccessfully applied previously, be patient! These activation stages will occur when each previous limit is reached, gradually bringing the populations back up in the game.

This new player activation is completely free, but they say it won't last long. If you've never tried the game and were put off by the reports of its untimely death, now is your chance to see what all the buzz is about.

Sci-fi MMO fans received some bad news when Spacetime Studios recently announced that their Blackstar IP was in jeopardy, due to needing a publisher for the title. Surprisingly, selling a publisher on the IP -- where action occurs both in space and on the ground -- has been a challenge.

While they may be on the ropes, Spacetime Studios is far from throwing in the towel with Blackstar. They've announced that they will be meeting with people at the Austin Game Developers Conference in September, and are inviting business inquiries about the title. While we wait and hope a publisher will step up and make the title a reality for gamers, Spacetime Studios has given us a new video of pre-production footage of Blackstar. Check out the fast-paced video footage below the cut, for a look at what may yet be.

Social networking and virtual worlds are related technologies; they're both digital spaces where people can form and maintain relationships with one another. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are commonly used to market products and services. MMOs are both products and services, so putting them on Facebook makes sense.

Realtime Worlds thinks so, anyway, as it has opened an official APB Facebook page where it can hold contests, and post news and media, and where fans can converse about the game. While pages are often used as half-hearted attempts to keep brands visible, Realtime Worlds is swinging for the fences by making its APB page an integral part of its public relations strategy.

WarCry talked to Realtime Worlds community manager Chris "Ulric" Dye about that decision, and he described in detail what the company is trying to do and why it's trying to do it. It's an interesting read, and there are a couple more general game-related questions slipped in. Most of them are artfully dodged, though! Nevertheless, Dye announced a fan art contest. Go to the Facebook page and submit your "best APB-themed graffiti/artwork" to win an as-yet-unannounced prize!

I'm feeling a bit cranky these days, so for this week's Ask Massively, I thought that I'd give you all my unvarnished opinion instead of kissing your collective backside in order to generate a few more page hits. Get your claws out for this one, folks. This nugget of truth is going to hurt a little.

Why do MMO's only have 1 shot when they change so *drastically* over time?

Games such as EQ2, DDO, Vanguard, Tabula Rasa, perhaps AoC...

6 months to a year later when the game is good and bursting with content etc. Why do players always chime the mantra "Too little too late" and perfer to just wait for the "next big thing" instead of re-visting these other games?

I understand feeling burnt for not getting everything at launch, but who cares? if the game has everything you wanted *now* who cares about the past when it *didnt*?

I just dont get it.

-Ding Dong Dang

Ouch. That word pretty much sums up this article we found over at MMOCrunch regarding their opinion on the current state of Age of Conan. As declared in the article, it wasn't written to convince potential players that the game is bad (although... uh, it does?), or to tell current players that their game sucks, but it was addressed to Funcom and any other MMO developers out there currently working on a game to let them know why they're sometimes referred to as "Failcom" by the community.

This article is harsh, straight to the point and pulls no punches. That's exactly what we love. But whether you agree or disagree with the author's prognosis, these MMO postmortem articles are always written to charge people up. Give it a read and let us know what you think.

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	Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!

MMORPG.com's video scoop from the Leipzig Games Convention wasn't limited to info on EVE Online's upcoming expansions. They also got some face time with Lead Economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson of CCP Games, who discusses some of CCP's projects and initiatives, namely the Council of Stellar Management (CSM).

Dr. Guðmundsson shares his point of view on the process of having players interact with the developers on affecting the development pipeline. He also addresses the poor voter turnout in the CSM election, which was not surprising given the general apathy many people have about real-life elections, he comments. The interview largely focuses on Dr. Guðmundsson's experiences with the CSM, but given his role in the company, he also mentioned the economic impact of factional warfare on the market in EVE. More information on this aspect of EVE should be covered in one of his forthcoming Quarterly Economic Newsletters, he says. Be sure to see the video at MMORPG.com if you're interested in seeing more about the Council of Stellar Management and the economics of EVE Online.

Scott Jennings, rather better known as Lum the Mad, made quite a splash recently when Wagner James Au at GigaOm published a piece called Why The MMORPG Subscription-Based Business Model Is Broken. Well, Jennings didn't exactly mean that, and he didn't exactly not mean that. Heck, really, the issue is a fairly complex one and Jennings takes some pains to clear up what he was talking about in more than nine words, and adds more than a little value besides.

Certainly, 15 dollars per month by twelve months with multiple subscriptions seriously eats into your annual games budget, even though a single subscription is often quite affordable in and of itself.

Jennings acknowledges, though, that subscription-based MMOGs can be fun, and that they can rake in the big bucks as well. That's not really the broken part. To get your fledgling MMOG to release and maybe get a piece of that money pie, it's actually irresponsible to innovate under current publishing models.

As announced today by Codemasters, the first Lord of the Rings Online expansion, Mines of Moria, is now available for pre-order in Europe. The website information gives us a complete run-down of what's available with this expansion and each boxed version, including the exclusive Special Edition content and special pre-order content as well. What's interesting about this is that on the Play.com site listing, it reports the release date as November 14th, which other online retailers such as Amazon UK had previously reported as well. Meanwhile, the official Codemasters online store lists the release date as only "Autumn 2008".

Where's the North American pre-order information? It hasn't officially been announced yet, but expect news to surface soon. When it does, we'll let you know!

This Friday marks the kickoff of the Penny Arcade Expo 2008 in Seattle, Washington. If you're going, you may already have your schedule planned out with which panels you'll attend, which booths you're stopping by and which contests you're going to enter.

However, you may be overlooking the most important part of this entire weekend: the parties! That's right, a few of your favorite developers are throwing their own afterparties where players can mingle with the game developers, community teams and other fans of the game. Leave it to us to compile a comprehensive list of these parties for you all to enjoy. Check after the cut for a detailed list of these top MMO developer parties.

If you're one of the many people who preordered Warhammer Online from Amazon.com, and you're confused as to where the access code is, EA Mythic has just posted complete directions on their main website. Since this process is a bit trickier than other preorder options, they thought it would be wise to cut through the confusion and point out that they will not be mailing those codes, as some have speculated. To access your game code after you've preordered through Amazon, simply follow these steps:

1. Select "Your Account" from the upper-right corner of the Amazon.com screen.
2. Select "View Your Media Library" from the right column in the "Where's my stuff" section near the top of the page.
3. Log in if necessary.
4. When the Media Library page appears, at the top of the screen you will see several tabs, one of which is called "Downloads". Click on the drop-down arrow to the right of the word Downloads.
5. Select Bonus Items.
6. You should see all the codes you have access to here.

The MMO genre is more than World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, and Warhammer Online. Here's what's going on in the rest of the world.

Mabinogi welcomes Generation 3
The MMO that bills itself as "your fantasy life" has gotten its next upgrade with Generation 3. Now Mabinogi players will have the ability to marry each other, complete with license and wedding attire for both genders. An overarching quest will require warriors to recover dungeon seals to prevent the Fomor from entering the world. And finally, the pet system gets an overhaul, with new interactions, behaviors, and controls. The removal of the combat cap, increased UI options, and new items all await players in Generation 3.

Neocron 2 developer declares insolvency
10Tacle Studios AG, parent company of Reakktor Media GmbH, developers of Neocron 2, declared insolvency on August 6th. They are awaiting an insolvency administrator to determine what will happen with the game servers. In a later update to the original forum post, Kirk Lenke, CEO of Reakktor Media announced that the insolvency will not affect business operation of Neocron 2, and that they are still in development for upcoming title Black Prophecy.

Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine has just announced their official licensing of Havok Physics, Havok Animation and Havok Behavior 6 for their yet-unnamed MMO project. As you may remember, Turbine stated intent for creating their next MMO on PC and consoles, which would fall in line with this Havok engine which includes support for multiple platforms including the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.

The Havok 6.0 suite is a collection of development tools made specifically for programmers and artists to build "interactive character performances" that are said to respond to their physical environment in the game. With this advanced set of tools and the recent venture capital in hand, Turbine may indeed be on their way to making the first truly cross-platform MMO.

Where is it all going? With an MMOG you already know: Content updates, free and paid expansions, and so forth. A broadening and sometimes also a deepening of the game experience.

Virtual environments tend to be a bit hazier, largely supported by microtransactions they may include game-elements (like Entropia Universe), sci-fantasy settings (like the upcoming Blue Mars), specific celebrity events (Habbo) or merchandise and marketing-focused experiences (Virtual MTV, Barbie Girls Online and more).

In a very real sense the virtual environments industry is largely about focus. Targeting a market, wooing a demographic, and showing them where you are going to take them in the coming days.

Interesting, then, that the world's best-known virtual environment, Linden Lab's Second Life lacks the answers to fundamental questions, the answers to which directly impact every user and organization who participates (or who might participate in future). In fact, hardly anyone is asking those questions. Now isn't that peculiar?

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	Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.