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While talking to Mythic's Jeff Hickman at PAX08, he mentioned a rather large update coming for the open beta hitting around September 7th (the date of the Open Beta). Some of the content in the upcoming patch includes player vaults, guild vaults, auction house, tons of fun new emotes, and a lot of general effects cleanup. There's even a new Public Quest and standard quest tracker for the user interface. It sounds like Mythic is making a really big push for the launch of the game. So even if you're in the beta now, expect some pleasant surprises once you hit the Open Beta or Live game in just a couple of weeks.

We've got tons more information coming from our time spent with the Warhammer Online guys at PAX08. Keep your eyes peeled for further updates.

The backstory of EVE Online is one of the game's major strengths. Not all players immerse themselves in the setting, which is a shame as the backstory -- built up over years -- is rich. No epic science fiction tale is without a grand struggle, and the story of EVE is one of the corrupting interplay of high technology and the power it brings, generation upon generation.

EVE's backstory is a departure from the established notions of 'good vs. evil'; even its villains can become heroes in the gritty setting of New Eden. As the empires created by EVE's pilots rise and fall with relentless alliance warfare in 0.0 space, as they lend their strength to causes in the factional warfare of the Empyrean Age, they take the concepts established in the backstory and run with them -- in some respects, making the game into what they want it to be. The Birth of New Eden is a visual tour of the backstory of EVE, from humanity's first steps beyond the EVE Gate into the unknown, to the sweeping conflict of The Empyrean Age.

Fish or cut bait? Boxers or briefs? Order or Destruction? It's those difficult choices that make life complicated. When it comes to MMOs, getting the balance of appeal right between player factions is one tricky task. According to Napox, as detailed over on thegreenskin.com, the population balance on Warhammer Online is now evening out, after an initial surge of favor for Destruction. This data comes from a career poll on warhammeralliance.com.

Napox's meticulously researched spreadsheets give a current estimate of 47% Order, 53% Destruction; the bad guys are still in front, but at least more people are signing up to play for the white-hats. Goblin Shaman is by far the most popular class, while the Elf White Lion is the least.

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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!

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!

The Massively offices have been abuzz lately over Warhammer Online -- as I'm sure our coverage of it shows! With the recent preview weekend, many people are chomping at the bit to get back into the game. Today's One Shots comes to us courtesy of Oz, who played through quite a bit of RVR. Oz writes: This was taken outside Nordland where during preview weekend many braves have fallen. Waaaagh!

Were you in the preview weekend? Did you get screenshots? Did you want to share? If so, send them to us here at oneshots AT massively.com along with a quick description. We'd love to see them.

If you participated in the recent Warhammer Online preview weekend, you likely experienced a number of issues. AI pathing, pet behavior, client crashes and much more were all problems weekend warriors experienced. How do we know for sure? Because the folks at Mythic Entertainment (specifically Mark Jacobs) are owning up to every issue. In a post to the Warhammer Alliance boards, Jacobs lays out every problem players have been complaining about with notes about why it might be happening and what they intend to do about it.

Some of the issues honestly don't sound like they're going to be addressed before launch, but the biggest problem (pathing) sounds like it's going to get squared away. Says Jacobs of the technical problems, "while some of you might be tempted to go all Samurai on us for a couple of the bugs, overall things went very, very well. As long-time readers of my notes now, I won't do a Nick Winters and we are anything but pathological liars so we'll always own up when we make a mistake and we made a couple here. So, let's talk amongst ourselves..." Apparently based on a dare from a forum-goer, Jacobs' address is full of Saturday Night Live references. Check out the post for more from that wild and crazy guy.

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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!

The August newsletter for Warhammer Online is likely to be the last one released before the game launches on September 18th. The folks at Mythic have made it a great one, so buckle up for another big helping of WAR goodness.

• With the game coming out so soon there's a lot of 'business' to discuss. There's a reminder that Open Beta begins September 7th, and that characters played in the Open won't transfer to live service. The NDA has lifted, of course, and there are a few notes about what that means. They also reveal that there will be pre-paid game time cards available at launch, in 30 and 60-day increments.
• The Road to WAR is officially underway, and the newsletter discusses a bit about what they want to do with this unique marketing campaign.
• They link to that fantastic CG trailer, offering everyone another look at the forces of Order and Destruction in action.
  
• They offer up a brand new video, a trailer for the forces of Order talking about brotherhood and the ongoing war they're undertaking.
• There's a brand-new production podcast as well, this one consisting entirely of outtakes. Overall it's a bit weak, but you have to stay to the end for outtakes from Mark Jacobs' appearance on the cast and Josh Drescher's hilarious impression of Paul Barnett. Well worth the wait.
• A German fan trailer shows off the might and majesty of the city of Altdorf, and the dedication of the forces of Order.
• There are preview articles about RvR scenarios (Thunder Valley and Logrin's Forge) and a look deep into the dungeon known as The Lost Vale with an in-world fiction piece.
• There's tons more, including a snippet from the new Warhammer Online novel, Beta reports, player after-action writeups, more class mastery details, pre-order information ... etc.

As always, you can sign up for the newsletter at the official Warhammer Online website. Tell em' we sent you.

The road to Wahammer Online's release has been a lengthy walk for everyone. We've all been through ups and downs, but now that it's almost here we're more than happy to answer whatever questions are floating about your minds. So, in our second installment of Ask a WAR Beta Tester, we offer up some insight into the cut careers, leveling time and other questions of intrigue. All for the sake of satiating your burning desire to know more. Of course, we know that no matter how many answers are given there will be more questions asked. So if you've got something banging around in your brain that we haven't addressed, feel free to post a comment containing your question.

Earlier this week we began our Ask a WAR Beta Tester series, and in response to a question about factional balance this blogger made an observation about the propensity for players to pick humans. There was a bit of disagreement in the comments on that post, and it prompted a few questions of our own. So we wanted to ask you more directly about this phenomenon.

What do you prefer to play in an MMO? Think about the characters you have realistically, not just what you like in the abstract. Do you play humans? "Good guys?" Or do you play non-human "baddies"? Would you prefer a faction at least offer you the option of a human-like character? Does how pretty your character is matter to you?

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.

It looks like the long wait is almost over! Electronic Arts and Mythic Entertainment have announced that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has gone gold. This means, essentially, that the game is ready to be sent to store shelves. Discs are being printed to go into boxes to be delivered into the waiting hands of anxious WAR fanatics. The press release for the announcement reminds us that the title will be launching on September 18th, with a retail price of $49.99. The collector's edition, of course, will see players in the game servers even earlier than that.

Said prolific Mythic CEO Mark Jacobs, "We've done our best to create the next great MMORPG experience, but it's the fans that will bring our world to life ... The Day of Reckoning approaches and it's going to be glorious! It's time to go to WAR." The game is set to launch in North America, Europe, and Oceania on the same day, meaning that all across the world we'll be readying for WAR together. Nothing left to do now but wait for the servers to reopen on the 7th. WAAUGH!

In a turn of events that doesn't really surprise us given its source, IDGA chairperson Jen MacLean has said in the group's recent newsletter that Mythic's choice to not credit all those who worked on Warhammer Online is, "disrespectful of the effort of the game developers who worked on the game, and misleads both consumers and game industry peers," While the choice doesn't particularly sit well with us either, the IDGA is taking the news very gravely. And so they should, seeing as they represent game developers around the world. "Some people claim that providing complete credit information...encourages people to leave their job before a game is complete," continued Chairperson MacLean. "These reasons are simple window dressing for policies that are arbitrary, unfair, and in some cases even vindictive, and they simply don't hold up."

Finally, she made her case against those who would call credits unimportant because nobody reads them by saying, "The number of people who read a game's credits is irrelevant. Even if only one person reads the credits of a game, integrity demands that all work be accurately and honestly represented." Our stance on the issue is the same as it was before. If Jon Doe worked on a game for eight months before leaving a development team for whatever reason, that should not suddenly make his hard work null and void.

The record-setting Games Convention in Leipzig just ended and over 200,000 people are beginning the recovery process as we speak. Not only was this convention a roaring success, it has already been announced for a return to Leipzig next year as well. In addition to this, the awards have been given out for the best games of the show, and Warhammer Online nabbed the Best Online Game award.

According to their press release: "The creators of the online RPG legend Dark Age of Camelot, still so successful today, are back with Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. GOA squares up to the alpha male World of Warcraft with spectacular visuals, innovative play modi, neat control and an enormous, appealing fantasy world." Our congratulations goes out to the folks at EA Mythic as we (im)patiently wait for September 18th to arrive!

Last week we turned to you, the Massively community, for questions about Warhammer Online. We've been in the Beta for a while, and we've got lots of information about the game just stewing in our brains. Hopefully features like Massively Speaking #19 and our State of the Game piece have conveyed some of the ways we're thinking about the game.

But your questions are really what we want to get answered. Today we're going to take a first crack at what was asked last week. We're going to take care of some of the most basic questions, clarifying things like server balance, armor differentiation, and whether the game is any fun at all for non-Warhammer IP fans. We're betting that these answers will prompt even more questions, and that's good! Every time we put up an "Ask a WAR Beta Tester" article, we want you to throw us more questions in the comments. Click on below the cut to read our answers, and to give us even more questions!