The Hunter's Mark has an interesting post regarding making the transition from casual to hardcode raiding for if you decide that you have enough of PuGs or your casual guild and want something a bit more hardcore. Although aimed at WoW the ideas and concepts are true for all the other games that also have a similar raiding system.

The guide starts off with the important point of checking that your current guild doesn't already have plans for that already, not burning your bridges with your current guild leadership because that may well be asked what you are like by your new guild and then where to go to actually find your new guild. It follows up with actually getting onto your guilds raids if they use DKP or a system like EPGP, how to be prepared through doing your homework and finally how to keep that spot when you get it so that you can continue raiding.

EVE Online's Faction Warfare system was released almost one year ago with the Empyrean Age expansion and was initially a complete success. It provided a stage on which thousands of players waged war. From fleets of over a hundred players to gangs as small as two or three pilots, everyone found their own place in the conflict. After the initial wave of success, questions began to arise on the lack of rewards to offset the cost of losing ships in PvP. In addition, while the point of faction warfare initially revolved around capturing systems, holding an enemy system provided no benefits beyond bragging rights. Almost a year on from its initial release, faction warfare has barely changed, prompting very real concerns from players that EVE's developers CCP have entirely abandoned it. These issues have even made it as far as the Council of Stellar Management.

In this article, I take a retrospective look at how faction warfare has (or hasn't) progressed in this past year and ask the question "Has Faction Warfare been abandoned?".

EverQuest II's Game Update 52: Monument and Might is almost ready to roll out on the Test server, and the official community site has put up a preview of some of the highlights of the patch. There seems to be a focus on the Rise of Kunark areas for this update. Here's what the preview tells us is coming:

• The player-written books we had a look at last month
• A new zone called the Emperor's Athenaeum in Charasis
  
• A group instance called Kurn's Tower: Breaching the Void
• A x2 raid zone also based on Kurn's Tower
• Research Assistants that can upgrade spells and combat arts
• Over 80 new quests in the overland zones of RoK

We spotted a post from Kiara on the forums saying that these things are planned to be on Test next week if possible, so it won't be long until we know a lot more.

Stealth bombers were originally advanced frigates aimed at an ambush predator role. They launched cruise missiles at foes from a distance and dealt very high damage to small ships like cruisers and other frigates. With the changes in the recent EVE Online expansion, they've been re-focused into an anti-battleship role. They now fling massive torpedoes that deal impressive damage to large targets but poor damage to smaller ships. In addition, they were switched from an ambush predator role intended to use normal cloaking devices to a pack hunter role able to warp while cloaked using a covert ops cloaking device.

It's all very well to speculate, but how well do the new stealth bombers actually perform? I took a gang of stealth bomber pilots out on the town for a tense PvP test drive. In this gallery article, I show a visual record of our adventure and go on to give my opinion on the new stealth bombers after a night of EVE PvP.

Of course we laugh about a topic like this one. Games aren't suppose to be serious, that's why they're games! They're suppose to be fun and enjoyable. If you're not having fun, then you're doing something seriously wrong. For the most part, all of this is true. Yet, there are small segments of the games that we play that actually can require everyone to sit down and "get serious."

We see it in raiding tactics, player vs. player tactics, loot distribution, and many other areas (including the entire universe of EVE Online, which seems to be played very seriously.) We've even dedicated a segment of our culture to this type of behavior -- the "hardcore" crowd.

So, let's go forward and look at the question, "Are games getting too serious?"

You might see where this is going now...

This is a hard concept to explain, yet it's the concept that drives all social games, real-life based or online based. If you're taking the game so seriously that you're not having fun, then you've found the line where the problem begins.

"Serious business" sounds like a joke, but all games have some degree of seriousness in them. The only ones that are truly unbound by this rule are the ones that are entirely luck based, like The Game of Life, Chutes and Ladders, or Trouble, where the dice determine the progress of game play. Players have no true input into the game, thus no true focus is required.

"So are games getting too serious? Nope. They're doing the same things they've always been doing."

Once decision making is introduced, strategies begin. Once strategies are introduced, players will formulate efficient ways to win and those winning methods will always win unless luck determines otherwise or a more efficient strategy is found. Regarding our MMO games, which require player movement, button presses, and (to some degree) luck, you will need players who are focused. If players aren't standing in the right places or if the right skills aren't being used, then loss will almost constantly occur. Players don't gather in raids to lose, they gather in raids to win.

A football team and a raiding party are actually closer than one might think. Both get together to overcome a challenge presented to them, whether it be the Blue Mountain Eagles from the other side of the county or Patchwerk of Naxxramas. The fun comes from the work of overcoming the challenge; from "winning" the game. Sure, there might be rewards involved, like trophies or purple loot, but there is also going to be work involved. So are games getting too serious? Nope. They're doing the same things they've always been doing.

So next time you're in that raid group, or next time you're on that PvP team, or in that corporation war, or sieging that city, remember that focusing is not being overly serious. It's about working to get the task done, not screaming at one another. It also means that perhaps you might want to save your list of jokes and gossip for another time.

There's always more time to kid with friends. But right now is one of the few times you may be standing in front of Malygos.

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Colin Brennan is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who is still forced to make decisions he totally doesn't want to. When he's not writing here for Massively, he's rambling on his personal blog, The Experience Curve. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com. You can also follow him on Twitter through Massively, or through his personal feed.

These days, most discussion of sci-fi themed massively multiplayer online games tends to focus on Jumpgate Evolution, EVE Online, or the hotly anticipated post-apocalyptic titles that are on the way. But Anarchy Online is still going strong, and Funcom has just announced a new expansion for the title: Legacy of the Xan.

The Anarchy Online (booster) expansion will feature two new adventure areas and bring players to the hidden city of the Xan civilization. There are also new team instanced encounters including a 12-player raid encounter, and two new storylines -- "Dust Brigade" and "Alien Invasion." Anarchy Online will also give you new ways to boost your characters, through symbiants, spirits, and deck items.

Oh Turbine. Just when we were starting to wonder how many more of these Moria preview videos you could bring out, you hit us with the best one of all. In this most recent video trailer from Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria, we get a look at a group of players battling the Watcher in the Water as part of the 12-man raid instance in the game.

Luckily, we've fed you all the info you'd ever want to know about the Watcher in a recent Know Your LotRO Lore article, so you should be well-prepared for this video. Our sister site, Big Download, plays host to the low and hi-res versions of this video, so check it out embedded after the cut below, or at BigDownload.com.

One of the big lures to EVE Online is the fact that its PvP isn't just shoehorned into consensual duels and battlegrounds. Instead, EVE PvP can occur anywhere whether you like it or not and punishments are levied after-the-fact for engaging in unsanctioned combat in designated safe areas. In the previous three parts of this exhaustive guide on where you can take your PvP career, I described the different types of PvP EVE has to offer from small gang warfare to massive territorial fleets. In this final part, I explore EVE's evil side as I talk about piracy and corporate infiltration.

Griefing?:
In most MMOs, stealing from other players or indiscriminately killing them for fun or profit can be considered griefing and may be against the rules or worse. In the cold, harsh universe of New Eden, however, piracy and theft are just another facet of the complex player-based gameplay. From the common gatecamping pirate to the criminal masterminds behind the Guiding Hand Social Club heist, players of all kinds are drawn into the criminal underworld of EVE Online.

If piracy, theft and corporate infiltration sounds like your cup of tea, continue reading as I delve into the dark side of EVE Online.

Fleet warfare in EVE Online is a big step up from the small, casual PvP gangs discussed in last week's PvP Masterclass article. In this guide, I explore the day to day activities of EVE's largest combat machinations, from 30-man faction warfare gangs to 300-man territorial fleets. In stark contrast to a small and highly mobile gang, a large fleet is a lumbering hulk that favours combined firepower and good co-ordination over all else. Massive fleets of hundreds of pilots routinely clash in the outskirts of EVE's lawless 0.0 space. But when they move at the speed of their slowest member and are really only as good as their fleet commander, what can you do to make sure your fleet is a success?

Fight-by-numbers:
The essence of fleet warfare is that using more ships is usually better. By focusing all attacks on one enemy at a time, a larger fleet has a very high damage potential. It also allows a more diverse range of ship types to take part in the fight such as an electronic warfare wing or sniper squadron. Forming a large fleet usually requires some planning and co-ordination, making them less suited to casual PvP and more suited to organised assaults on specific targets like POS.

Read on as I tackle the question of how to make a fleet effective from the perspective of both the fleet's individual members and the fleet commander.

PvP Masterclass is a series of articles explaining PvP from the bottom up and showing you how to get involved even if you're a new player. In part 1 of this series, I examined the main types of PvP a player can choose in EVE Online and showed the directions players can take their PvP careers. In this second part, I explore how small gang warfare fits into the PvP landscape of EVE and help you decide what avenues you should pursue if small gang warfare is your cup of tea.

Numbers game:
A complaint I hear all too often today is that small gang warfare in EVE is dead, that PvP is a numbers game and competing on the battlefield means having the biggest blob. It almost always transpires that these people are trying to shoehorn small gang warfare into places it's not suited for like major 0.0 territorial conflicts or that they're neglecting the importance of intel-gathering scouts. Small gang warfare isn't about your gang of five ships trying to take on a blob of two hundred. It's about putting together a small, tight unit of pilots and picking your fights carefully.

Whether you're planning to pirate, fight for the Gallente Federation or declare war on your neighbours, small gang warfare is for you. Read on as I examine the small roaming gang, one of EVE's oldest and most fun avenues of PvP.

If your family or friends ever tell you that dual-boxing is insane and you need to get a life, show them this story. A World of Warcraft player aptly-named Prepared owns 36 accounts that he can actually run simultaneously through his 11-computer set-up shown here. We'll overlook the logistics involved in actually accessing 11 computers at once for just a moment to focus on the cost of such ...dedication. "It costs me exactly $5711 in subscription costs per year with 36 accounts on the 6 month pay schedule. Not bad considering I'm looking at it like it's a hobby and there are more expensive hobbies out there than World of Warcraft," Prepared says. This doesn't even include expansion costs, as he figures Wrath of the Lich King will set him back about another $1500.

So how does he do it? Is it all for show, or can he actually be a one-man raid? According to him, they are all fully-functional with the help of certain add-ons and macros. While this isn't the first time someone has done something like this, with some players reporting as high as 50 accounts, controlling everything simultaneously is where Prepared's rig set-up really shines. Just wait until you hear about his nine level 80s on WotLK's Murmur PvP server.

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	One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!

Been wondering where Alex Albrecht, co-host of The Screen Savers, has been? Turns out he's gotten a few friends together to create Project Lore, a site designed to provide World of Warcraft players with a guide to running various instances. How is this different than all the other websites that offer strategy guides? It's shot really well -- no more tiny, grainy YouTube videos to puzzle over.

The first episode concerns itself with the Hellfire Ramparts instance. The format seems to play out thus: a run through the various mobs, shot at double-speed with incidental strategy tips; a quick regrouping to discuss boss strategy; and then the killing of the boss itself. Sprinkled throughout with WoW-geek banter, Project Lore is sure to either delight or disgust -- such is the way of the Internet. Think you could do better? As one of the team likes to say, "No waiting, just do it!"

I was trolling through the forums at Arstechnica not too long ago, and saw someone chatting up his latest project: WowPlot. Immediately, that thread went into the well for future column ideas.

WoWPlot is a graphical combat log analyzer for World of Warcraft, in a similar vein to WoW Web Stats. According to the developer, "Its main focus lies in evaluating time-dependant combat performance in a very free-form fashion, which is in contrast to the mainly statistical approach of other tools such as Wow Web Stats." From a technical standpoint, you'll need OS X 10.5.x and, obviously, a Macintosh. As I stupidly found out the hard way, you'll also need combat logs from 2.4 or later. I know it sounds obvious, but early testing and subsequent error messages led to a face-palming, "no duh!" moment on my behalf -- it's been a while since I've raided, so I ended up having to beg some logs from a guildie.

Now, before I get too heavy into my discussion on this, this is early beta software. Rather than just e-mail the developer with my thoughts, I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone: I can make my deadline and maybe get him some more exposure and feedback if some of you try it out.

Loot. As a raider, it is both boon and bane to us. If you're in a guild that has a system you can agree with, then loot can be a wonderful thing. However, if not, loot can often destroy morale and even take entire raiding guilds under. We've all heard stories of the inevitable blow-up that occurs after the piece someone's been after forever goes to someone who just joined the guild.

That said, as we know we have lots and lots of people with quite a bit of MMOG experience out there, we thought we'd ask you what loot systems you prefer for raiding? Do you still think the oldest is best, and like to run with DKP (Dragon Kill Points), or are you all about the roll and distribute. Perhaps you prefer one of the other systems like Suicide Kings, which goes down a list that moves based on who attends and doesn't loot (thus heading for the top) versus those who attend and loot (who land at the bottom). We're curious what you think is best for keeping raid looting "fair."