Massively^™

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.

Do you even know? Many digital photo frames sold at Best Buy, Target, Costco and Sam's Club have a particularly insidious trojan embedded in them - one designed to thieve your account information for a variety of online games.

One of the primo geek gifts of 2007, variations of these devices were bundled with darn near everything gadgety during the holidays. Some percentage of these contain a professionally written and very stealthy little gremlin that Computer Associates has dubbed Mocmex that is apparently capable of robustly concealing itself from many detection engines. This isn't an amateur-night special, by all reports. This is professional nastiness, with multiple variants.

Hot on the heels of the announcement that Nexon's MapleStory would be invading 7-11s, the company has passed on word that retailers are now being invited into the game world. In a twist that sounds almost too hilarious to be true, Nexon is going to be sending Maple players to virtual versions of the mega-retailers on themed quests that will promote both the retailers and the availability of Nexon Game Cards in these stores. The special quests will prompt users to complete various tasks and visit any of these chains to earn their own virtual Nexon Game Card, which will provide Maple Points, the in-game currency of MapleStory.

"We're now able to provide a new and unique avenue for major businesses to reach consumers," said John H. Chi, CEO and president of Nexon America. "Nexon creates the exclusive, branded content, retailers receive a powerful, direct line of communication and our players get a new, rewarding gameplay experience. High visibility through new content and interactive rewards makes it a win for everyone!"

While this may seem something like a joke, this is definitely news worth taking seriously. Best Buy and Target don't just hand around their brands to anybody; it's a testament to Maplestory's growing cachet here in the US that this partnership is going forward. For more on Nexon's virtual sales practices, Min Kim's keynote at this year's Austin Games Conference might be helpful. Next Generation has a close look at the American approach to Nexon's business model. The technical term? Microtransactions.

In case you haven't noticed lately, we're already over a week into November. And you know what that means -- Black Friday is just around the corner. Whether you're one of the deal-lovers who camps out in front of the store a day beforehand with a stocked tent and provisions, or whether you're merely a casual spectator, drawn in by the chaos and the promise of excellent people watching, it pays to know what kind of situation you're getting into beforehand. We've stumbled upon a list of leaked Black Friday ads, and pulled out all the MMO deals for your convenience. We're just nice like that.

Sadly, the pickings are slim, as they say. The only retailer that's really being sporting to the MMO enthusiast is Best Buy, offering Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, and Lord of the Rings Online for a paltry $10 a piece. That's a savings of $30, $10, and $20 respectively. It's probably also worth mentioning that because these are "leaked" advertisements, it's entirely possible that they were either faked or will be changed before arriving on your doorstep, so tread carefully.

Can't say I'm not a little disappointed that there aren't any more knock-out deals for us this holiday season. Where's the love, retailers?