We mentioned the EVE Online podcast The Drone Bay last week, which broke radio silence after some months with an exclusive on the upcoming Fanfest PvP tournament. We thought it might have been a one-off release in connection with the player gathering, but it seems The Drone Bay has returned now, with all three hosts back on the podcast.

For those who haven't listened to The Drone Bay, it's hosted by players from different walks of life in EVE. Crovan is known to many players for his PvP-centric mercenary gameplay, plus he's really good at this whole 'public speaking thing', good enough to commentate during last year's live broadcast of the EVE Alliance PvP Tournament. Then there's CrazyKinux, who's into more industry-related pursuits in EVE and has a broad knowledge of the game. The trio is rounded out by Alsedrech, who's not quite a noob anymore, but whose focus will still be helping newer players with learning the ropes of the game. The show has a good mix of commentary on happenings in New Eden and tips for new players looking to get into EVE Online.

A few of us at Massively are huge fans of the podcast and we're hoping there'll be plenty more of The Drone Bay in the future. Like our own podcast Massively Speaking,The Drone Bay is part of the VirginWorlds collective. If you're curious about checking this one out, head on over to The Drone Bay site.

Massively Speaking Episode 54 is a very special episode where Shawn is once again joined by Funcom's Glen "Famine" Swan and Craig Morrison as they discuss the upcoming Patch 1.05 and first anniversary for Age of Conan.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

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Massively Speaking Episode 52 returns this week with Shawn and Contributing Editor Kyle Horner to answer your questions about Champions Online's recent NDA lift for press. Kyle gathered questions from a recent The Daily Grind post and answers a handful on the podcast.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

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The Final Fantasy XI community team members are going on a virtual tour, stopping by each of the major podcasts to answer some questions and get in-depth with what they do on the long running fantasy MMO.

Pet Food Alpha, Limit Break Radio, and He Says She Says will each be playing host to various members of the community team, with Pet Food Alpha leading the way on the first show. PFA will be covering topics on global support, as well as the premier and community websites with special guest Robert Peeler. He Says She Says will be all about the many in-game seasonal events with special guest Matt Hilton, and Limit Break Radio will be covering the topic of live events with both Matt Hilton and Robert Peeler.

Pet Food Alpha has already posted the first show, with the He Says She Says show coming only two days away from now on May 6th. Lastly, Limit Break Radio will be posting their podcast on May 13th, next Wednesday.

Massively Speaking Episode 51 is just full of Jo(h)ns this week as Contributing Editor Jon Shute and special guest John Nicholson from Limited Edition join Shawn to discuss all things MMO. Topics include Free Realms' launch, WoW on the iPhone, tons of MMO anniversaries and more!

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

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Massively Speaking Episode 50 returns this week with Michael Zenke taking on the esteemed co-hosting position. Michael returns just for this week to chat with Shawn about all of the week's MMO news including WAR's patch 1.21, CoH's vast player-created content, Shadowbane's closing, the Free Realms beta and more!

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

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Always an interesting listen, the most recent Sony Online Entertainment podcast, #59 offers a bunch of new information on their hot upcoming title, Free Realms. A large part of it is a great interview with the Free Realms Community Manager, Jason "Pex" Ryan, who talks a lot about the different systems at work, and ways that their game sets itself apart from other games. There are tons of great tidbits, including a "Top 10 list on Why you should Play Free Realms", talking about the closed beta, and more background on the game.

Aside from that, you'll hear about who shouldn't be drinking coffee, what class Alan "Brenlo" Crosby normally doesn't like playing, Fan Faire talk, more about EverQuest II, Twitter and email silliness - and even more. Be sure to download it and check it out! It will certainly make your daily commute fly by.

Massively Speaking Episode 49 returns this week with more news of the wider MMO world. Shawn is joined by Kyle Horner once again as we discuss everything from Runes of Magic to the City of Heroes Mission Architect. Kyle also gives us a good dose of his impressions of DDO in his weekly column, The Digital Continuum.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

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There are MMO podcasts everywhere you look. VirginWorlds has a great collective pile of podcast love, and our very own Managing Editor, Shawn Schuster, knows a thing or three about them too. We have our very own shiny podcast, Massively Speaking, WoW Insider has one, and of course, there's the insanely popular Joystiq podcast too. You could load your iPod full of gaming podcasts and never run out of something to listen to - but that doesn't mean they're all worth listening to. It takes something special to draw listeners back from week to week. Aside from that whole 'publishing regularly' thing, which we'd all agree is important to keep an audience, you've got to have something more.

This morning, we thought we'd ask you - what do you think are the most important elements in any good MMO podcast? Do you like a news-centric podcast? Or do you like more opinion in yours? Perhaps a bit of both, but with an extra added dose of snark? Do you like lore, or background on particular games? Maybe a quick run-down of new titles on the radar? Any segments you've heard in your favorite podcasts that you think are just awesome ideas? Is it all about the hosts for you? How about guests? What elements make the very best MMO podcasts something you come back to time and time again?

While there are a bunch of great podcasts out there covering lots of different MMO games, we're always glad to see a new, promising show join the group. One such show that we've recently latched on to here at the Massively offices is LOTROcast, which is a mid-length, bi-weekly Lord of the Rings Online podcast put out by Moormur. While there are still a few technical bugs that need to be worked out in regards to formatting, for three shows thus far, it's proving to be well worth the listen.

In this most recent episode of LOTROcast, Moormur sits down with Aaron "Rowan" Campbell, Live Producer for Lord of the Rings Online and talks about a variety of different topics like the development of ideas and testing for Book 7; some of the upcoming dev love in terms of new content players can expect; different things from mounts to mailboxes; and more. He also touches briefly on the roadmap for 2009 and Book 8, and fields a few reader questions. In all, definitely worth a listen if you love the lands of Middle-earth. Also, be sure to check out our latest LotRO developer tour if you're looking for more Book 7 goodness!

It's funny the things that can suck you right back in, just when you thought you were out.

I've been feeling pretty burned out with World of Warcraft over the last couple of weeks, and I wasn't enjoying the feeling at all. There was a brief interlude where the Argent Tournament piqued my curiosity, so I grabbed the PTR downloader to give that a try. That lasted all of about an hour, when I realised just how long it would take me to download the files. I'm not sure if I should blame BT for my frequently crappy connection speed, or Blizzard because they can't seem to create a decent downloader. It doesn't matter really, as I can QQ about both equally.

Then it hit me – burn out didn't need to be a bad thing. In a shocking turn of events, I decided to actually listen to our readers' advice, and spend some time with other MMO, and maybe try a change of pace.

Massively Speaking Episode 45 returns this week as a one-on-one interview with Glen "Famine" Swan, Funcom's Community Manager for Anarchy Online and Age of Conan. Shawn and Glen chat about the newest content patch introduced recently for AoC, as well as community management in general.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

Get the podcast:
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Read below the cut for the full show notes.

Massively Speaking Episode 44 is our first Michael-less show where Shawn and Kyle Horner discuss the week in MMO news. There are discussions of GW2, Jumpgate Evolution's June launch date, Star Trek Online's starship customization, our impressions of Darkfall and much more!

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

Get the podcast:
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Read below the cut for the full show notes.

Massively Speaking Episode 43 is just Shawn and Michael this episode as we discuss the week in MMO news and Michael's special announcement regarding the podcast. There's also talk of WAR's newest events, Fallen Earth's beta, our tour of Atlantica Online and much more. Plus, we thought we'd have a bit of fun at the end of this one with some Q&A based on our popular morning feature: The Daily Grind.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

Get the podcast:
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Read below the cut for the full show notes.

Massively Speaking Episode 42 has a lot of information all about WAR! Appropriate, since joining us this week is Massively.com's newest blogger, Brooke Pilley. A writer on the Greenskin blog, Brooke brings a bevy of Warhammer Online knowledge to the podcasting booth and, along with Shawn and Michael, offers up a great deal of insight into the recent expansion announcement. That and a whole lot more await you in this episode!

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes.
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[VW] Listen at VirginWorlds.com
Listen here on the page:



Read below the cut for the full show notes.