Massively^™

Following our Gearing up for Guild Wars 2 article from earlier this month, ArenaNet has released news of their Guild Wars 2 Frequently Asked Questions segment of their website. While hardly any of these questions or answers on this FAQ are new to those of us following along at home, we do get word that there will be no beta in 2008.

Previously, it was mentioned that a 2008 GW2 beta was a possibility, or at least a hope of ArenaNet. This was something that kept players anxiously awaiting any tidbit of news as we reached the beginning, and now the middle of the year. Yet in this FAQ, it is stated, "Guild Wars 2 is a very large and ambitious game, and Guild Wars players rightfully have very high expectations of its quality. We want players to be absolutely blown away by the game the first time they experience it." Regardless of when the beta starts, you can bet we here at Massively will be all over that news.

The Warhammer Herald is the Warhammer Online dev journal. It's always an entertaining read, but the latest post is also chock-full of great information, specifically surrounding the North American beta test.

Reading more like a Q&A/FAQ than a simple letter, the post talks about how to get into the beta, why you haven't gotten in even if you think you should have, people who have won slots in the test who haven't been playing, and more. If you're at all curious about how the process works, give it a read.

[Thanks, Yulian!]

Now that everything seems to be working properly, you might be spending a lot of time playing the dice wars-style minigame at the official website for the upcoming Lord of the Rings Online expansion. If you're like us and largely having a tough time getting the hang of the website's first game -- King Under the Mountain -- then you'll be glad to hear there's a nice little FAQ over on the official LotRO forums. It's still a bit early on, but there are a few pointers in there that anyone looking to up their King Under the Mountain skills should check out. It's also good for answering any burning questions regarding King Under the Mountain.

The FAQ will have updates as more information is revealed on the other two mini-games -- Swing and Toss followed by Eleventy-seven Morsels -- so we'll be checking back from time to time! Now if you'll excuse us, there's a set of dice calling our names and they can't wait any longer.

There's a new FAQ at Ten Ton Hammer that looks at the keeps and sieges of Warhammer Online. It answers a nice chunk of questions that people might have about this aspect of the Realm versus Realm gameplay which was looked at in the February newsletter. The process involved in capturing a keep will be to first breach the exterior walls, then the interior walls, and finally to slay the Keep Lord.

Along the way you'll be able to use a variety of siege weapons, and both the attacking and defending sides will find these siege tools useful. When the Keep Lord is taken out, all remaining guards at the keep will despawn, and the Keep Lord will respawn as an ally to the sieging party, ready for when the other faction tries to re-capture the keep. It's a big, messy circle. Check out the rest of the FAQ for more on how you can attack or defend a keep in WAR.

If you've been waiting with bated breath (much like us) for Funcom to finally release the recommended and required system specs for Age of Conan, then you'll be pleased to hear that the wait is finally over. It's about time too, we were starting to look into the cost of flying to Norway and raiding their offices Barbarian-style. Then when we thought about it, the cost of double-sided great axes and authentic moleskin trousers was just too much when combined with the plane ticket.

It all works out in the end, since you can find the much-awaited required specs after the break.