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The Warhammer Online NDA has been lifted, and a veritable tidal wave of WAR-related information has struck the internet. The open beta test is imminent, but countless pre-order customers are already in the closed beta. The game's launch is only a month away! So this is a great time to ask for your predictions: is Warhammer Online the long-awaited World of Warcraft killer?

Some folks hoped it would be Age of Conan, but while that game is doing all right, it hasn't lived up for the hype for everyone. Are all your hopes placed in WAR now, or will it take BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Online or Cryptic's Star Trek Online to move the genre into the next era? Hell, maybe WoW will never be dethroned by one game.

Make your predictions here, but we have a disclaimer: we won't be held responsible for any shame and embarrassment when you're proven way off base in the future!

If you somehow still weren't convinced -- or in denial -- about the reality of a KOTOR MMO, here's some further proof of the matter. It's very compelling evidence but what's most interesting about the job requirements is this bit, "Strong familiarity and experience with gaming consoles, and Windows based PC's." Should we be expecting to hear the eventual announcement of an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 KOTOR MMO? Seems like.

The good side of this news is you could meet the criteria LucasArts has set for a tester and be one of the first people to play the game. The bad news is that a new single-player KOTOR seems unlikely to be in anyone's current future. So if you're not initially sold on a massively multiplayer KOTOR, hopefully BioWare will actually own up to their claim of trying something different and change your mind in the long-run.

There are so many upcoming MMOs to anticipate, we honestly can't say which one we're looking forward to most. Champions Online looks like good fun (with a good sense of humor!), DC Universe Online has us wowed with its array of super powers (that thing where you can freeze someone in a block of ice and throw them around? We're led to understand it never gets old.), Wrath of the Lich King is sure to turn our attention back to Blizzard (we may or may not have the beta client open as we type -- we'd never admit it if we did), Warhammer Online is just around the corner, Star Trek Online calls to the inner geek in all of us, and Knights of the Old Republic Online (or whatever it might be called) is a siren's song to any geeks not falling head over heels for STO. We're in such a state of giddiness over upcoming games, we can't quite determine which one we're most excited about -- and that's where you come in. Which of the many new titles out there are you most looking forward to?

With the less-than-grandiose announcement that Electronic Arts, BioWare and Lucas Arts are working together on a KOTOR MMO, I've found myself pondering the game that until now was nothing but a rumor. Granted, I already thought about the game quite a lot even before it was the now more official affair.

There are no two ways about it. Star Wars as an MMO presents developers with a tough issue: how to deal with the Jedi class. I still think that one of the many mistakes with Star Wars Galaxies was setting it during the original trilogy, where Jedi were almost non-existent. I got the draw of the setting, but for an MMO it really didn't cater to the fervent desire to roll a Obi-wanna be character. Yet I also feel like it's a mistake making Jedi readily available without presenting players with other options that are equally appealing. Neo-futuristic-magical-samurai with energy swords aren't a hard sale for most players choosing which class they want to play. Thankfully, BioWare seems to have chosen itself a wonderfully powerful loop-hole: Knights of the Old Republic.

We've had plenty of speculation -- lots and lots of it -- but now we've got confirmation from Electronic Arts chief executive John Riccitiello that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is indeed getting a massively multiplayer online iteration. Portfolio.com has the story.

The article quotes Riccitiello as saying, "... the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about -- in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare, which is, I think, quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry at the point when we get closer to telling you about it." When directly asked if this was confirmation of Knights of the Old Republic Online, the executive said simply, "yes".

You can commence the freaking out now.

We just saw BioWare show off their new Dragon Age: Origins here at E3, and while that singleplayer game looks great (imagine a Mass Effect game set in the world of Baldur's Gate), we did spring the requisite massively multiplayer question on them for you. At the very end of the Q&A session with developer Dan Tudge after the demo, the PR rep told us there was just "time for one more question," and we threw it out there: "So, how's the Knights of the Old Republic MMO coming?"

There was silence in the room for a moment. Tudge quietly said, "I... have no idea what you're talking about," and then everyone laughed as the PR rep nervously said, "Good answer." Tudge added, "You're asking me that in front of my boss?" And so we revised the question: Dragon Age has a very MMO-style design -- there's a minimap in the upper right, party portraits in the upper left, and a bar with icons for skills across the bottom. Does BioWare really want to make an MMO? "The interface looked like Baldur's Gate to me," said Tudge cooly. "The real question is, how much of the MMOs did Baldur's Gate influence?"

Touché. But we left the press conference with a smile, a special secret that we'll share with you now. As much as Tudge was thrown off by the question, as much as the PR flack was aghast that we asked it, we did leave with this satisfactory piece of information: they didn't, in point of fact, deny.

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	Did you enjoy this? Check out all of our E3 coverage as the week rolls forward!

Hey, today's the first day of E3 and you know what that means boys and girls! Well, maybe you don't know what it means so let us explain: You get three completely nonsensical E3 MMO wishes! Yes you heard us right, we want to know what your three MMO fantasies are and the crazier the better. Although don't let that stop you from slipping us any hidden riddles if you know something. Then again, you could just throw us a tip through our tip line as well.

For our three wishes we'll have to go the obvious route: Bioware MMO is announced, whatever it may be -- we just want it out in the open. Square-Enix announces their next big MMO project that's hopefully set in Ivalice this time around. Finally -- and this is the biggun -- Bungie reveals that their next project is in fact an MMO being created exclusively for the Xbox 360. We know, it's insane! Looking back on our wishes, we just realized that our biggest mistake was making too many must-play MMOs known at once. Now our social lives must suffer the consequences.

Every year it's customary to roll out predictions on what will and won't show up at the current year's E3 event. With Massively heading in the direction of the LA Convention Center already, we thought it might be fun to offer up some likely (and highly unlikely) predictions of what might get talked about next week. In reality, this is sort of a "future of the MMO industry list" as everything on here is more-or-less a current or upcoming trend. The only question is whether any given item will get discussed next week.

Each of those nice images is a link, which will take you into our E3 Predictions Gallery. Don't know who Carbine or Red 5 are? Not sure about Copernicus? If you don't understand one of our bingo squares, be sure to dig down and find out what all the fuss is about. We'll be bringing you all the MMO dirt you can stand next week, so hopefully this will tide you over until then. Enjoy!

Lucasfilm has registered a number of new trademarks, including Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Old Republic, Star Wars Legends, and Star Wars Sagas. This news is interesting as is, but it gets really juicy when you read the type of patent and its description: "Entertainment services provided on-line by means of global and local area networks, namely, providing interactive computer game software, interactive video game software and interactive computer games and interactive video games, all on-line by means of global and local area networks ... "

That sounds awfully MMO-like, doesn't it? It's not even remotely conclusive though. It could be another kind of multiplayer, or it could even be some kind of web-based community service connected to a single-player game; the patent description suggests that it's also for news and "fan club services."

That said, it could be the fabled, BioWare Austin-developed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic MMO. We suppose it all depends on just how badly you want to believe!

[Via Kotaku]

It was only a name change! Remember when Mythic Entertainment, the force behind Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online sold out and got slapped in the face with the EA brand? Many gamers associate a stigma to EA and were disheartened by the name retrofitting that took place in 2006. In an interesting twist, Mark Jacobs announced yesterday that EA Mythic has reclaimed the Mythic Entertainment name. As to why, according to Jacobs it's as simple as EA wanting to reinvent itself. EA's recently acquired studios Bioware and Pandemic retained their identities.

In an MMORPG.com interview conducted by Jon Wood, Jacobs explains the new rationality being employed by John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts. EA wants studios functioning as their own city states with more creative freedoms and maneuverability, an example Riccitiello uses in a February 10th Gamasutra article. It's important to note that even with the name change Mythic Entertainment is still a part of Electronic Arts. (Duh!) Mark Jacobs also confirmed that the company will be revealing a new logo soon.

Two more Warhammer Online announcements are planned for later today. What will they be? It could be about the Collector's Edition pre-orders, a release date, or worse another delay. We will keep you posted.

BioWare's founders, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, have been cagey about the in-development BioWare MMO for months now. Unwilling to do more than talk around the edges of the project, what they have said about it at events like GDC is highly intriguing. In a chat with the folks at the MTV Multiplayer blog, the doctors offer yet more teasing hints about the game, while simultaneously praising the recently launched Age of Conan from Funcom.

They view Conan's success as an indicator there is still room in an already-crowded marketplace. They also note that they take very seriously the concerns of solo-oriented and console-only gamers. In essence, Zeschuk says, they've been looking at other games and considering their own path regarding the interactions between players. ""Instead of forcing players to do things; allow them options and choices," said Muzyka. "They can tailor their experience. This is what we're trying to do with our game, as well. This is why we tend to not make linear games. The consumer expects that."" The good doctors also don't rule out the possibility their own title will make its debut on a console ... though they don't say it will either.

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	Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Age of Conan destination page, including all of our interviews, hands-ons, galleries and original features!

Total Video Games has a new scoop about BioWare's mysterious MMO project. The site reports that Electronic Arts' CEO told investors that his company is funding an MMO in Austin. Of course, that's a no brainer. Since BioWare is owned by EA now, we assumed that much. But he want on to say that the MMO is slated for a release in "the fiscal 2010/2011." That means it's coming between April 2010 and March 2011. It'll be a long wait; how sad! That's not all, though.

There's also the rumor that will not -- cannot die. An alleged disgruntled ex-LucasArts employee (the "ex" bit because of the recent layoffs) e-mailed gaming blog Kotaku saying that one of the projects "in the pipeline" at LucasArts is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3. That alone is no surprise, since LucasArts and BioWare announced a new collaboration months ago, but ... he also said that KotOR 3 is an MMO.

Oh noes! Not that rumor again! Well, anyway, we're sure our very intelligent readers know to take with a kilogram of salt the paraphrased words of an alleged disgruntled former employee. Right?

Strange Company's documentary series about the making of their feature-length machinima, BloodSpell has come to a close. Over the six episodes of the documentary, they discussed conception, pre-production, animation, editing, going from series to feature, and their experiences making the film.

Today, we're focusing on the fifth episode in the series, on going from series to feature. Through their interviews, they provide helpful tips on taking your series and reformatting it into a feature-length film. Some of the topics they discuss are reshooting scenes and color correction. If you're looking to take your work to the next level, very few have come as far as feature-length in the machinima realm!

If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.

Gamasutra spoke at length with BioWare head honcho Ray Muzyka about living under the EA banner, and his company's vision for its up-and-coming MMO. He assured Gamasutra that the unique identity of BioWare has been preserved despite EA's acquisition, and pointed out studios like DICE and Criterion as other EA acquisition success stories. He noted also that BioWare now has non-mandatory access to all the tools and technologies of the EA family.

Of the Austin studio's mysterious MMO project, he said: "It's going to feel like a BioWare game. It's going to have the best of breed of MMO features, and some new innovations that when we reveal them, hopefully they'll be impactful for people." As we learned a while back, he has a positive opinion about World of Warcraft and Blizzard. "I think they've done a great job," he said. "But the fact that people want to play that kind of game is an opportunity to really deliver that level of polish and quality, and innovate in a few key areas, while they continue to innovate in a few key areas, too."

Still no word on what those innovations are. Keep on guessing!