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Lets go back about ten years or so to the original EverQuest. Now it isn't my intention to pick on any one game, I just happen to be more familiar with it than Ultima Online or Meridian 59. For the sake of immersion let me assume the role of a 1999 copy of EverQuest that you happen to be playing on your gaming machine back in the last year of the last century.

You just died in EverQuest. How dare you die! Since you had the nerve to be defeated in combat, you'll now be required to run from your binding point -- which could potentially be very far away -- to your dead body, which contains all of your equipment and bags that just happen to hold all of your inventory. If you fail to do this, then you lose all of these items. Oh but you've already lost some experience and possibly de-leveled if you happened to have recently leveled up.

Hey! Why are you logging out? So what if you think you'd rather play Half-Life right now, this is the game you're paying for monthly. Don't you think you'd better get the most out of it? Hah! See? I knew you were only bluffing. All right, now get to running, noob.

The development team for Vanguard: Sage of Heroes has released a brand new Producer's Letter offering up a state of the game. Despite the long history of problems and pitfalls plaguing the game, the team seems optimistic about their near-future projects. They've opened up a new win-back program, allowing canceled and closed accounts to come back and check on the game's progress. They're working on a brand new Game Update, GU6, which will offer up another large swath of content.

They're also making plans to finally introduce the free trial Vanguard players have long asked for. The Isle of Dawn will be a brand new starting zone for new players, a new hub city for existing players, and the central element of the trial. Finally, the already-impressive graphical presentation in the game is going to receive some modifications. You may recall that back in Update 4 some customization options were removed to make way for helmets and future improvements. Those improvements are apparently now on the way, and they plan to stagger the new character models as they come to the players. According to the letter, "Vanguard is a game about heroes. It's right there in the title even – Saga of Heroes. We're making it so players' character models look more heroic than they have in the past. This means that characters will have more definition and will just be able to look not only cooler but tougher in general."

Head over to the site to see the future of this innovative, if marred, game.

On this 232nd day marking Independence in the United States, we wanted to feature some of the patriotic videos created in MMOs. They range from quick videos showing off fireworks in platforms such as Second Life, Everquest, and World of Warcraft, to artistic videos set to Bruce Springsteen, all the way to silly safety tips from the Red vs. Blue boys. As you're planning your real life festivities this year, considering taking some time to pop into your favorite game to get in on some of the action. Happy 4th of July!

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.

Check out more videos after the jump!

Yesterday's announcement of an online Trading Card Game based on the SOE title Star Wars Galaxies came as quite a surprise. Fans were full of questions in the official forum thread announcing the game, and Galaxies' newly-minted Senior Producer Dotanuki was on-hand part of the evening to clarify information for players.

Just to reiterate a bit, Champions of the Force will offer some 20 loot cards redeemable in-game, with the possibility of new cards being found via in-game adventuring. Players will be able to choose a light- or dark-side slant to their decks, and the game will feature events similar to sister title Legends of Norrath's raids called heroic encounters. Adds the producer:

• Loot cards are only going to be available in booster packs, not through direct sales.
• Pricing on the cards has still not been determined.
• The game is being developed by the SOE-Denver studio; the Austin team has not been sidetracked or taken off of SWG proper products to work on the game.
• There will be an in-game client and a standalone client for the game, just as Legends of Norrath currently offers.
• Booster packs for the game will be only lootable from NPCs in-game during special promotional periods, a departure from the LoN paradigm.
• All SWG subscribers will be granted cards for free, and there is no subscription fee required to play the game. Subscribers will received five free booster packs a month.

About two weeks ago we asked you to pass on some questions we could give to the EverQuest 2 team. Our own team of bloggers and columnists pitched in a few questions as well, and we brought the best of those to the attention of EQ2's Senior Producer Bruce Ferguson. He answered several of our questions in-depth, though some of his answers may not be exactly what you were hoping to hear.

Read on below the cut to see your questions answered! Mr. Ferguson chats about the purpose of the Living Legacy program, future plans for developing PvP in the game, and even tackles that burning question about solo vs. group play. Also, about the possibility of flying mounts in Norrath ...

As part of the Living Legacy promotion that is taking place in EverQuest II right now, SOE has announced a brand new campaign that is kicking off today. Called "Fight with Legends", this initiative is aimed at bringing even more people to EQII by getting players to recruit their friends, and rewarding them for it.

For each account invitee that converts to a paying subscriber within 30 days of their trial conclusion, the inviting player will receive 1 month of EQII game time (added to the end of their current subscription). The number of friends you can do this with is limited to 20, which would mean a whopping 20 months of free game time; but even 1 month is a pretty nice bonus, so if you've got some bored friends, perhaps it's time to introduce them to Norrath.

The official SOE boards are abuzz with two small pieces of big news. Last weekend was an extra XP opportunity for players of EverQuest 2, but a lot of people missed out. "Why didn't you offer that over the holiday weekend?", it was asked. Players asked, and the devs answered, so this weekend is going to be a bonux extra XP weekend for the adventurers of Norrath. Make sure to jump in-game and check it out.

Also from the boards: the official Sony Online Entertainment Block Party is slated to occur during Comic-Con. This will be the company's third annual meet-and-greet, and if the last few years have been any indication it will be hot as heck and fun as hell. There's a shuttle that goes directly from Comic-Con to SOE's HQ, so players have no excuses if they're in the area and want to attend. The Block Party will be on from 4-8pm on Saturday the 26th of July. Full details are available in the post. Have fun, and don't forget to tell em' Massively says hi!

Stop the presses! Those of you just itching for information about DC Universe Online can now check out its profile on MySpace. That's right, well before there's an official webpage, you can get access to screenshots, wallpapers, icons, and concept art. There's also a dev blog, with interviews and video diaries to come.

What's even more exciting for fans is the chance to attend the DCUO party at this year's ComicCon by making the profile your top friend, and printing the page out to show DC as proof. The party will be held July 25th at the Sweetwater Saloon in San Diego. Wow, who knew the Internet was such a great connective service?

[Via Big Download]

In celebration of five years of Star Wars Galaxies, SOE and LucasArts have put out a press release announcing the production of Champions of the Force, a trading card game that will be available only to current Galaxies subscribers. The trading card game will only be available online, and will allow players to play decks against one another or even single-player in a story-based solo game. Interestingly, the game will sport "loot" cards which will be redeemable for virtual items within Galaxies proper.

Subscribers will get a bountiful five booster packs a month just for paying their subscription fees, but starter decks and booster packs will be available for purchase from the Station store as well. They're aiming for a release late this summer, so make sure to check out the official site for more details if it sounds like it's up your alley. Also make sure to look at their community site to find the other goodies they've got planned for the five year anniversary.

It seems like just yesterday that the 46th Game Update to EverQuest 2 was released, but with GU 47 already on the testing servers there's no time to look back. For us, anyway - the development team had the rare opportunity to reflect back on previous work in an interview with the folks at Ten Ton Hammer. The team there discussed a few general design ideas behind the recent revamp to Runnyeye, and puts the kibosh on the notion that we're going to see many more of these low-level-dungeons-turned-high-level-encounters.

Interestingly, they do note that Runnyeye is a sort of prototype for the strategic focus they're giving dungeons in the upcoming expansion. Rather than making them all cut from the same "tank and spank" cloth, some encounters in Runnyeye redux require a very clear head and innovative tactics. Said designer Kyle "Kander" Vallee, "I did not do anything super elaborate with ten boss fights and the amount of time I had, so I tried to make some of the fights a little more interesting, give them a little more sense of excitement. I really tried to make sure there was something for everyone and, at the same time, strive to preserve the fun and humor that Steve Kramer had originally started the zone with."

An interesting preview of what we can expect in the next EverQuest 2 expansion.

Started in 1999, Neopets was one of the first kid-friendly online virtual worlds on the web, and is still fantastically popular today. Hoping to bring their success with Neopets into the MMO world, founders Adam Powell and Donna Williams started Meteor Games in 2007 to make a game targeted at a slightly higher age bracket than Neopets. Their still-unnamed MMO, due to be shown at this year's Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), will be a seamless, 3D world with elements drawn from today's top MMOs -- World of Warcraft is specifically mentioned.

Their new game will be a drastic departure from Neopets. Not only will it be a 3D world instead of a collection of minigames, but it won't be free to play. The founders believe they need a subscription in order to produce the highest quality game, but the price will be less than WoW, and there will be an item shop of some sort where new outfits, furniture and other non-unbalancing items may be bought. Meteor Games is also looking into ways to integrate cellphones into their game. Due out in some fashion in 2009, their MMO will enter a market already dominated by Runescape and will be competing directly with SOE's Free Realms, which promises to be free to play and run also on the Playstation 3.

Neopets is famous for its huge amount of content, involvement with players and accessibility. Can Meteor Games grab that same sort of success with a more traditional MMO? CEO Adam Powell explains their strategy in this interview with Gamasutra.

We've been keeping track as the EverQuest Players site wanders through the history of Norrath's most famous locations. From the depths of deep dungeons to the highest tips of fantastically tall trees, we're right there. Today we're walking the arid dunes of the Desert of Ro, a fantastically large area of Norrath situated near the Commonlands and Freeport in the North and Innothule Swamp in the South. Split by the Oasis of Marr, you and a group could adventure in those areas from the very earliest levels to level 30 or so.

The writeup details the history of the region, which at one point was a huge and verdant forest. Now a baking wasteland, wits and a strong swordarm are needed to survive here. Surprisingly, the writeup doesn't detail one of the most legendary of Ro denizens, the famous Fansy the Bard. Sand Giants in the Southern desert still tell tales about this mythical figure, though those tales are most likely NSFW. You've been warned.

We all felt for the Myst community a few months back when Myst Online: URU Live was shutdown. Yet there looks to be some light at the end of the dark tunnel for fans of the unique MMO experience, as Cyan Worlds has acquired the game back from GameTap and plans to re-open its worlds for fans to not only play in, but help develop as well. With a staff that equals less than ten people total, we can understand why the developers are opting for letting the fans help develop new content. Plus, it's a really interesting prospect to have people like the Restoration Engineers creating new content in their own beloved title.

We've seen a few games take on user-created content, with Pirates of the Burning Sea coming to mind. However, the type of content one would expect for Myst Online is entirely unique to any other MMO. This is literally a chance for players to see their own stories and puzzles featured in one of their most beloved franchises. Cyan has said that they're considering a $25 per six month fee purely to maintain in-house servers for the players to run on, which is a very small price to pay for the resurrection of an MMO like this.

[via Kotaku]

A bit over a month since we saw Update 60, The Matrix Online has been patched with Update 61, and there are two main reasons for fans to be excited. The first is a continuation of TMO's storyline, with Chapter 10.3 and new critical missions, and the second is the opening of a new construct called Sati's Playground. At the playground, you will be able to spawn sequences of enemies by using special items, and some new vendors and collectors relating to this construct have also been added.

There has already been one critical mission during the week relating to Chapter 10.3, and there will be another one each Thursday for four more weeks. You can get the full patch notes at TMO's community site.