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Well-known European games publisher Codemasters has announced that they plan to move some MMO development in-house. The company currently acts as publisher for a number of Western massively multiplayer games, such as Lord of the Rings Online and Jumpgate Evolution. It also acts as an EU partner for the Korean games and RF OnlineArchlord. Today vice president of Codemasters Online Gaming David Solari has informed GamesIndustry.biz that in-house development was 'always a part of the plan.'

In a lengthy interview with the site, Solari notes that entering the PC MMO marketplace is a daunting task - but they feel they're prepared. The numerous games they've licensed will give them an edge, and has given them a great sense of where the industry is going. His concluding statement is especially interesting, given recent comments by Bobby Kotick in the growing tit-for-tat war between EA and Activision/Blizzard. "I don't think you can compete with Warcraft. In two or three year's there will be something else that will be able to compete with Warcraft but nobody will be able to tell you what that is now. Chucking money at something isn't the answer."

We're sure you've heard the exciting news and most recent information on Lord of the Rings Online: Book 13 Doom of the Last King, which was released last month. You've probably also heard about the recently reduced pricing for the game, which was announced for the first anniversary of the game's launch. But we have some even better news for you.

This upcoming weekend, from May 8th through the 12th, you'll get to experience everything Middle Earth has to offer for free in a special Welcome Back Weekend. You can fire up your old characters that you may have forgotten about or create some new characters to test the most current changes. During this time, the anniversary celebrations will continue, so you can participate in those as well!

If you missed out on the lifetime subscription the first time, and you live across the pond, then do we have a contest for you! Eurogamer MMO got their hands on some tasty Lord of the Rings Online special editions, one of them being the Exclusive Collector's Edition, which you can't get in stores anymore.

This hefty, and beautiful, edition of Lord of the Rings Online comes with more features than you can shake Gandalf's stick at, but most importantly, it comes with a lifetime membership to LotRO. It use to retail for a whopping 150 pounds when it was in stores (which it isn't anymore) and it can be yours by entering the contest!

Speaking of shaking Gandalf's stick, Gandalf just so happens to be the topic of this contest. Simply answer who played Gandalf in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, and submit it to Eurogamer. The first person who's drawn at random with the correct answer will get the Exclusive Collector's Edition. 10 others will be winning LotRO Gold Editions, which aren't anything to scoff at either!

Plus, with Book 13 just recently hitting servers, now's a great time to pick up LotRO for yourself. So what are you waiting for? Get going! Just remember though, this is open to Europe only. Sorry North Americans, but we already had a contest for you.

Over at the Lord of the Rings Online European forums, the developers gave players a chance to ask any questions they had about the new Forochel region that will be introduced with Book 13. All sorts of things were asked over a number of days, and the question time is now over. We've had a read through the thread, and compiled the answers that the developers gave in bullet-point format, so check after the break to see what the players managed to find out -- short answer, a lot!

Say your cruising around an asteroid belt in the upcoming sci-fi MMO, Jumpgate Evolution. Since you buddy is due to hop online any minute so the two of you can shoot the light fantastic, you'd rather not engage in any heavy combat until your wing man pops on. What to do?

Well, according to Hermann Peterscheck, JGE's producer, there's a lot more to do then just shooting womprats (or whatever the equivalent will be in the JGE universe). The big three activities for the game are combat, resource gathering and crafting, but there will be many other things to do. Players can speculate in the market, get paid to help cargo haulers on dangerous runs, engage in PvP to earn top spot on the various ladders and rankings, or collect the many different medals, titles, ships and powerful equipment. NetDevil is also looking to include mini-games that break up the core game.

Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, Codemasters has made it known that there are two MMO titles for consoles that they are in talks to publish. Codemasters has done well as the European distributor of Lord of the Rings Online, and they will be publishing the anticipated Jumpgate Evolution later in the year. These and other MMO ventures have led them to explore new possibilities in the home console market.

David Solari, vice-president and general manager of Codemasters Online Gaming, said, "the time is right for some good console MMO games", but also admitted, "it's a little more challenging because of the restrictions of a console -- certain games aren't going to work". Right now they're working on making sure that they pick the right games to bring over. They hope to enter the market within the coming year, putting their titles up against other MMOs that are moving into console territory, like The Agency and Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.

Both Ten Ton Hammer and MMORPG.com are sporting exclusive screenshots of a Quantar ship. The Quantar are one of the many playable factions in NetDevil's upcoming space combat MMO, Jumpgate Evolution. These mystics construct their ships according to spiritual principles and believe that the pilot and ship evolve to become a single being. The Quantar are very gifted pilots, which might be due to being raised among asteroids.

Ten Ton Hammer has two shots of this goldfish looking starship, while MMORPG has one.

Codemasters' Connect08, held last Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, was an interesting event in a number of ways. We Europeans rarely feel much love from Stateside publishers -- we're shuttled off on to our own servers, we have to wait longer for patches and news, and we're even not sure we're even being listened to half the time. That's why it was great to see not only an event for European players (I met people who'd travelled from Italy, Holland and Germany to be there) but also a major news announcement on my home turf.

Of course, Codemasters aren't the only ones doing this -- NCsoft have a blockbuster event next weekend, and have held others in the past, plus Blizzard occasionally run the odd knees-up in that Gallic pays du vin to the south. Here's hoping we'll see more of the same.

Connect08: The coverage you don't want to miss

	Lord of the Rings Online Volume II, Mines of Moria, was announced; we investigated the teaser site, got you more information (including pixplz) and topped it off with a Q&A and interview with producer Jeffrey Steefel.
	Jumpgate Evolution We previewed this upcoming title from NetDevil and quizzed president Scott Brown on the game. More on its way in coming months!
	Dungeons & Dragons Online All your burning Monk desires are sated with the player Q&A and preview, which also talks about the crafting changes. Tonsure-tastic!

For more LotRO coverage don't miss our player Q&A report, teasers and rundown of the teaser site -- and keep your eyes glued to Massively, as we'll bring you all the MoM news we can over the coming months!

Steve Hartmeyer dropped another dev diary into the laps of MMO Gamer, this time he talks about how mining will play out in their upcoming sci-fi MMO. Apparently it was a "major pastime" for a large portion of players in Jumpgate Classic, and basically formed the game's economy.

That's all well and good, and I understand the need to cater to loyal players and all types of game styles, but Jumpgate Evolution (for me) better be more about the space combat (the "fun" stuff) then sitting around mining (what I consider insanely "boring" stuff).

JGE's mining is getting a whole new face lift in terms of the process and the graphical presentation. Thankfully, they intend to make it fun by turning it into a treasure-hunting activity that can be done as casually or intensively as the player wants. Whew. NetDevil will be able to provide a clearer picture in a few weeks since the whole mining experience is just now entering the implementation phase and hasn't been put through the rigors of testing yet.

So if the thought of working in a coal mine (pardon the song pun) spins your wheels, check out the diary for all the details (and there are plenty).

Here at Connect08 we've just spent an informative hour participating in a roundtable about all things Lord of the Rings Online. Executive producer Jeffrey Steefel was on hand to answer audience questions covering a wide range of subjects, from technical issues to crafting and kinships. So without further ado, let's get stuck in!

Initially Jeffrey showed a demo of some Book 13 content and a quick run-through of existing high-level content that many audience members hadn't seen -- several players were impressed with Jeffrey's deft hand at death-touching and cavalier attitude to barriers ("Since I can't go through this door, because I haven't done the quests, I'll just delete it"). The floor was then opened to the audience.

Mr. Steefel began with a brief discussion of Book 13 and Book 14, which will be coming soon as live content updates. He went on to discuss the general environment of Moria, which he described as an incredible underground world. There, you'll face the Balrog of Morgoth, go face-to-face with epic encounters, and even take on a PvMP challenge similar to the Ettenmoors. Full details are available below the cut!

Steve Hartmeyer (programmer for Jumpgate Evolution) has written another dev diary for MMO Gamer, this time about what goes into designing the ships for their upcoming space combat MMO.

According to Steve many of JGE's ship evolved from those in Jumpgate Classic. The process, which usually takes several days, is a very art-intensive exercise that starts with the creation of a style. From there a concept for the ship asset is created, a model is built and then put into a form that the render engine can use. Finally, stats (which won't be considered final until the game releases) that defines the ship are chosen.

It's a very detailed entry, so those of you looking to get into the industry as a modeler will definitely want to give it a read.