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Springtime brought many events to our favorite MMOs and Massively was there to report on them. From St. Patricks Day to Easter to April Fools, there was no end to seasonal fare. Click the images below to take a tour of the pictures and places of Spring 2008 in MMOs.

Easter
More event coverage after the jump.

We have to admit -- this Lord of the Rings Online screenshot took us a bit by surprise. Sure, everyone's heard about the famous burglar Bilbo Baggins, but I strongly suspect that even dear, old Bilbo wouldn't have been able to pull this particular job off. Today's One Shot comes to us from Shoukichi and portrays a "theft" most foul. You see, the poor Town Crier has been robbed of both his shoulders and feet by someone who was out to spoil the Spring Festival fun! Of course, the crier, being the stand-up guy he is, remains on the spot just carrying on with his duties as needed. But he certainly looks unhappy about his missing appendages!

Do you have a strange, glitchy, off the wall screenshot you snapped? Perhaps you found an easter egg or a pop culture reference in your game that is just fabulously cool. Whatever your reason, gather up all your screens and send them in to us at oneshots@massively.com. This column is all about you, so jump on in and get your screenshots shown! (please no UI if possible!)

Seasonal events are often the most popular in-game events in many of today's MMOs. But each game's designers have to find a way to slip these real world celebrations into the lore and mechanics of their persistent worlds. Let's look at this year's crop of Easter events transmogrified into online fun.

Some designers do little more than blatantly throw in eggs hidden in the bushes such as World of Warcraft's Noblegarden. You can spend the day in the newbie zones and collect eggs that hold minor items. Not very much to this, especially considering the way Blizzard has been revamping other seasonal events like Hallow's End into something drool worthy.

Fortunately, our friends at WoW Insider have created a gallery of the 25 best Easter Eggs of WoW. Not the kind of Easter eggs mentioned above, but the little hidden in jokes placed in the game by the designers from 'Snakes on a Plane' visual gags to Clint Eastwood nods to 'Firefly' shout-outs.

You can begin your tour of these hidden gems by clicking on the first picture below, check out what little Noblegarden does have to offer in the second gallery or continue to read about Easter events in other MMOs after the jump.

Though not many Americans can quite tell you why they are celebrating St. Patrick's Day or wear a bit of green. they do love an excuse to head to an Irish pub and drink a Guinness. And this year is no different with the holiday being observed anywhere from March 15 to March 17 this year.

A few MMOs are getting in on the action as well. EverQuest II is celebrating all week long with their pub-crawl inspired Brew Day Festival which has in turn inspired a video parody. And Pirates of the Caribbean Online has turned the seas green as well as offering shamrock tattoos and green hair to players to customize their avatar.

Even Lord of the Rings Online is slipping in its own St. Paddy's Day celebration with a quest that rewards you with a giant size keg during Spring Festival. Tapping that beast gets you so drunk, your character passes out and wakes up in another part of Middle-earth! Better in-game, than in life, eh?

Finally, if Virtual Worlds are more your style, there are sure to be many player run St. Patrick Day events in Second Life. You may have missed yesterday's float parade, but you can always visit virtual Dublin any time of year.

A brief reminder, dear readers, that Lord of the Rings Online has been updated to Book 12 Patch 1, and that means that "Bullroarer's Challenge - Advanced" is back in the game. Remember to finish the quest for your Inn League Keg before the end of the Spring Festival, so that you too can enjoy being plastered beyond the state of consciousness, and find yourself in an exciting new location upon awakening.

If you need to catch up on the pre-requisites for the advanced challenge, our Spring Festival guide has you covered. The only step not featured is the one that has just been re-added, and it's simply a more strictly timed version of the drunken fence hopping you will have already completed to get that far. Good luck!

Spring has sprung in Lord of the Rings Online, and the Spring Festival is well underway. We've gone and taken a look at everything that is on offer, taking lots of pictures along the way, and we're happy to report back now with our findings. Although it is unfortunate that the teleporting keg is unavailable for the moment, there's still plenty to do! You can click the picture at the top to start at the beginning of our guide, or check out each sub-category; the flower picking/gift boxes quest line, the Inn League quest line, and the festival grounds and dance session

Earlier when we reported on the commencement of Lord of the Rings Online's Spring Festival, we brought attention to the Inn League Keg. You know, the one that has the potential to get you so wasted that you pass out and wake up in a different area of Middle-earth? Well, a note on the forums has announced that the quest that gives the Keg as a reward has been temporarily disabled, so it cannot be obtained for now.

Before you get too upset, note the "temporarily" in the above -- the message states that the Keg will be made available again in an upcoming patch. As a way of saying sorry, the Spring Festival has been extended by one week, so it's not all bad. Check out our previous Keg post to see a video of the drunken antics.

Lord of the Rings Online 1st annual Spring Festival begins today. We're in the game gathering details and shiny screenshots as we speak. But one thing we already know, there's a new Tavern League quest and the reward is quite...amusing.

Completing the new seasonal quest line will grant you a keg you can place in your home. Anyone can draw a drink from it. But beware, there's a catch.

As you drink, your vision becomes blurrier and you'll have trouble walking straight. Pretty standard stuff for MMO drunken fare. But here's the kicker. If you drink too much, you'll pass out and wake up in a totally different part of Middle-earth. Don't believe us? Watch the video after the jump.

At least you wake up with your trousers still on. Those things cost hella DKP.