Amazon's "Deal of the Day" today just happens to be Champions Online, so if you were waiting for a price drop (or a deal this good) then get on over there and grab it while the deal lasts. If you're not sure what the game is all about, wWe've got our WoW players guide to Champions Online, as well as our recent interview on current and upcoming updates to the game with its design director Bill Roper.

We'd say something more, but there's a 40% off sale for a freshly released MMO and... well, why are you still reading this?

Champions Online is only five weeks away and with it being so very close, Cryptic has finally announced their preorder bonus plans and partners. If that isn't exciting enough, you'll be happy to know they've also announced August 17th as day one of open beta. Keep in mind that preorders from any of the officially listed retail partners will guarantee access to the beta.

Looking over the preorder bonuses, which you can find after the break, there's some tough choices to be made. If you're the type of person who doesn't like to wait any longer than they have to, then you'll need to go with Gamestop in order to get early access. In addition to that ever-so-tempting early access, GameStop customers will have the chance to "battle an alien menace" and collect exclusive in-game items -- sounds like a world event to us.

However, Amazon is offering both three exclusive in-game items (Harlequin Headpiece, Black Knight Helmet, and Grenade Chest Strap) as well as five extra Cryptic points to be used for what we're assuming are cosmetic purchases. There's also Best Buy and Wal-Mart variations to consider, so choose wisely. We've got them listed after the break with links to the product pages for your convenience.

Some of the biggest news to come out of EVE Fanfest 2008 was the publishing deal struck between CCP Games and Atari. The March retail release will mark the first time the game can be seen on store shelves since EVE Online's launch over five years ago. Players have wondered what benefits there might be in purchasing the game at a store, versus the game most of us have always known, which has been a purely digital distribution. While this is still relegated to the category of "rumor", images of the box and descriptions of its content have begun to turn up on the sites of retailers.

One UK game retailer lists the details what's included with the box: 60 days of game time, instant access to factional warfare (i.e. automatic standings via an in-game certificate), a guide to the game's careers, a VIP Pass (essentially the Buddy Program), and a special edition ship -- which, in this case, is listed to be a shuttle with increased cargo space. Fair enough, but is it real? Well if your German isn't too rusty, you can also see details of the retail release as they're listed at Amazon in Germany.

If you're like the bloggers at Massively, you're wisely staying away from the doorbuster crowds at the major US retailers. That said, even MMO players have to buy Christmas gifts, right? Do what we're doing, then, and shop from home. Joystiq's fantastic Black Friday guides cover the length and breadth of gaming deals today, but you know where we're interested. That's right, the online stuff. Amazon.com not only allows us that great 'avoiding the crowds' feeling, they're also the only retailer to offer bigtime MMO deals! Check them out:

• Guild Wars - $9.95 (Reg. $29.99)
• Guild Wars: Eye Of The North - Expansion Pack - $9.95 (Reg. $29.99)
• Warhammer Online 60 Day Prepaid Game Time Card - $19.95 (Reg. $29.99)
• Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning - $19.95 (Reg. $49.99)
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack - $25.95 (Reg. $39.99)

If you have to go deal with the humans, we suggest you brush up on the full Joystiq Black Friday guide before you do. There are deals to be had at most of the big box stores, perfect for making your games-buying a little more tolerable this holiday.

[Update 2] We're happy to report that Mythic has re-extended the deadline until the end of August 22nd for all customers of Amazon, GoGamer and the EA Store.

Your first day-long binge of Warhammer Online is over and done with, so what's next? If you're Mythic Entertainment you've got from 9am EDT to 1:30pm EDT to get your servers ready for further beatings. Otherwise, four hours is a plenty of time to have some lunch and see a good matinee. It's not really a big surprise that there's going to be some extended maintenance today as the servers have been up and running since last Sunday. It's actually the game's first "weekly scheduled maintenance" in a way.

The other piece of pertinent news is that if you didn't enter your retail CD key by 7am EDT today, then you won't be able to login to Warhammer Online until your account is properly loaded with that magical string of numbers and letters. No big deal for anyone who bought their copy in meat space but if you pre-ordered the game from an online store other than Electronic Arts' tiny online abode you may need to start killing in the name of Sigmar and hoping for the best. If you did make your order through the EA Store you'll be happy to know EA should be sending info on how to keep playing until your copy arrives. This is obviously bad good news for anyone who didn't overnight their game from a non-EA online vendor, but it's irrational to expect EA to force Amazon, Gamestop or any number of other stores to immediately validate every single online purchase.

[Update] According to a post on the Warhammer Alliance forums, the original date for entering retail keys was Monday, August 22nd. That date has since been removed from the pre-order page and apparently changed to today. Swing and a miss? Definitely.

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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!

You've heard the details, now spend the money! Or don't, if you're not the type to pre-order. Maybe you just want to look at the page on Amazon and enjoy having the option to pre-order the Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition. If so, we're not here to judge your pretend time. For those of you who're totally into the whole online pre-ordering thing, it looks like Amazon and Gamestop are all ready to pre-accept your hard earned cash. You probably could have walked into a Gamestop and pre-ordered it yesterday, but then you'd have to deal with meat-world versions of pop-ups: pre-order sales pitches.

Here's the bullet-point lowdown on the CE details, in case you missed it before:

• DVD Installer for Wrath of the Lich King
  
• Art book
• Exclusive in-game pet: Frosty the baby frost wyrm
• Behind-the-scenes DVD
• Soundtrack CD
• Mouse pad with a map of Northrend
• Two March of the Legion TCG starter decks, as well as two exclusive TCG cards

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.

At this point, we work under the assumption that there are probably very few people reading this blog that haven't had the pleasure of playing a Blizzard game from start to finish. But even if through some extraordinary happenstance, there was somebody out there who hadn't played World of Warcraft, there's s chance that they haven't yet had the opportunity to play some of the other Blizzard classics. Though Diablo 3 didn't turn out to be an MMO as we'd hoped, its progenitors are still fantastic games to have on call in the odd occasion that your internet goes down.

That's why we recommend that you take a peek over at Amazon today, as they'll have 5 of the latest Blizzard games on sale today through their Deal of the Day and Lightning Deal promotions. The WoW Battlechest (which includes the original game, Burning Crusade, and a guide) will be up all day, but the Diablo Battlechest, the Burning Crusade expansion, the Warcraft III Battlechest, and Warcraft III proper will be on sale for a limited time and in limited quantities. You can't beat that with a stick.

[Via Cheap Ass Gamer]

The Bling Gnome is ready to scarf down items, poop-out gold and help you fight crime in the hood. Say what? There's no other reason to purchase the retail edition of Dungeon Runner's, a cardboard box stuffed with the digital delights. Well okay, we forgot the main reason. Dungeon Runners is the most raucous MMOG ever that is filled with hilarious jokes, witty banter, and pop culture references that will bust any gut with a hearty guffaw.

The retail version also comes packed with a barf o'rama bounty inside by including a six month membership to the game that gives players loads of chunky perks over the free-to-play counterparts. The difference is worth every penny. More, more, more! Members earn more experience; plunder more gold; horde more items; are luckier at finding rare items; and the annoying adverts will disappear and put more foam peanuts on the developer's dinner tables.

As tumultuous as the delay has been for the Warhammer Online fan community, an even bigger headache has loomed in the minds of many. One of the biggest details to come from the announcement of the Collector's Edition and its myriad of goodies was that those who put in a pre-order for the CE would get early access to the Open Beta and a head start on the rest of the Warhammer fanatics when it finally comes time for release sometime this fall.

That's all well and good, but who could have anticipated the sheer number of discrepancies and problems that have arisen from these simple perks? Different retailers are handling the distribution of codes differently, there are gaping holes in the system that allow for exploitation, players are reporting on bunk codes, orcs and dwarves living together, mass hysteria! Having navigated this minefield ourselves in the quest for that delicious artbook, we thought we'd give you a bit of a rundown on the situation.

A friendly heads-up for you MMO completionists among us. If you're one of the of the few who balked on the fantastic Tabula Rasa deal that GoGamer had going last month, consider this your chance at redemption. Amazon is currently offering the regular edition of Tabula Rasa for $9.99 as it's gaming Deal of the Day, with the Collector's Edition (which features a surprisingly beefy chunk of swag goodies) going for the low, low sum of $19.99. We have quite the affection for Tabula Rasa around the Massively offices, in spite of its flaws. Even if you ignore our positive opinions of the game wholesale, it'd be really difficult not to get at least $9.99-worth of enjoyment out of the title.

And for you Tabula Rasa regulars, this should be icing on the cake. As reader double9s pointed out to us, you can get double the mileage out of this deal by giving your new copy to a friend and then having her sign up using the recruit-a-rookie program. She gets a free game, you get another month for $10, and the Destination Games crew gets another warm body filling their servers, everybody wins!

[Thanks to everybody who sent this in!]

It seems like I've written that before... In fact, just over a year ago when I was a very new blogger on Second Life Insider I wrote "Is the future of the internet on course?" But it's close. I am not claiming in this piece at all that Second Life is perfect. I'm not going to pretend there aren't major changes I'd make in it, as well as major changes in the pipeline that we report on. I'm more thinking from a developmental point of view.

Let me tell you a quick story. You'll probably recognise parts of it. About 25 years ago there was this geeky thing called the internet. No-one but the really hard-core used it. About 10 years later it started to become more commonly available. There was a mixed reaction. Some people leapt in. Some dithered. Have a look at www.nissan.com if you don't believe me - it's not a car-manufacturer. Take the example of bookstores - most traditional bookstores didn't do much, but a few people tried, and a few new people got into the mix. Many of the new ones, and many of the traditional ones fell by the wayside. This totally radical new company started to establish itself. Who hasn't heard of, and almost certainly used Amazon (either in the US or in their own country or both.

Let's assume the next major evolution of the internet is a 3D virtual environment - like Second Life. Someone will become the Amazon, the Google of the 3D internet. We keep hearing that there is a competitor to Second Life coming along - but they keep failing to actually manifest. The odds suggest that the longer this carries on, the more likely it is that Second Life will be the basis of the 3D internet. It's not a guarantee of course - anyone remember Netscape?

So, what do you think? Is 3D internet the next big thing? Is Second Life the Amazon and Google of 3D internet, or is it the Netscape? If it is the Netscape, who is the Firefox? The Internet Explorer? The Safari?

On January 25-26, Orange Island (previously covered here, here, and here) will host a series of lectures, discussions, and workshops on tech and development oriented topics. Lectures and discussions will take place from 10am - 3pm on Friday January 25, and workshops and classes will be held from 10am - 3pm on Saturday, January 26.

Among the notable figures to attend will be Amazon's Jeff Barr, who will discuss Amazon's Web Services and its application within virtual worlds; John Plevyak, Ph.D of MDC Metaversatility, who will examine the future of virtual worlds and scalability; and members of the Electric Sheep Company's game development team, who will talk about the challenges of designing games for corporate clients.

For more information, check out the Orange Island blog and calendar here. Space for some sessions may be limited, so contact Jade Lily in-world for availability.

[Thanks, Jade!]

Sean Voss, owner and curator of Landmark Island, the Second Life tour guide destination, will be giving away 3 copies of his book 'Second Life In-World Travel Guide' at his launch party on January 12th at 6 PM SLT. From the press release:

'This book offers more then 100 of the best locations in Second Life in the areas of Shopping, Entertainment, Education, Real Life in Second Life, and many more. Quickly climbing various sales charts, the initial issue of this title was available exclusively on Amazon.com. The first shipment sold out before all pre-orders were filled.' Great news, Sean! Additionally, all visitors will recieve a complimentary prize pack including an in world, signed, preview copy of the Second Life: In World Travel Guide just for visiting! This will be a great event, with music by DJ
DoubleDown Tandino. I'll be getting a copy of the book soon, so a review is on its way, but don't wait for me -- order your own copy today.

[Thanks, Delaynie!]