Landscapes have been a staple component of almost every MMO in recent memory. With the exception of some sci-fi titles, most MMOs take place on the land of some imagined island or continent. Some use stylised fantasy landscapes that run smoothly on even low-end computers while others have managed almost photo-realistic visuals at the cost of performance. But have you ever thought about what's going on behind the scenes in your favourite MMO? Most of us don't think about how the computer is actually drawing the terrain we run around on. We don't give much thought to the different ways each MMO renders the water in lakes, rivers and oceans. And just how does your computer render so many trees and plants without grinding to a halt? As part of my masters degree in computer science, I got to grips with a number of these techniques and found it a fascinating thing to learn about. Now when I play a new game or see MMO screenshots, I can't help but think about what the computer is doing in the background and how particular visual effects could have been achieved.

In this technical article, I talk about some of the components of an MMO landscape scene and a few of the techniques used in creating the graphics behind them.

As time winds down before the reset coming in Cataclysm, many World of Warcraft players are working their way through all the raid content, including Ulduar. For those who have never wandered into this particular dungeon, we have this great World of Warcraft screenshot from Deadend on the Exodar server. This is the bullet train that takes adventurers to face the insane tinkerer, Mimiron. Deadend writes in to give us his thoughts on this shiny transport: Best train ever.

From big to small, we want your MMO screenshots and stories! If you'd like to send something in, it's really easy. All you have to do is email your screenshot to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post it out here for everyone to enjoy and give you the credit.

Back in the day, there were two ways to play most MMOs -- you could form a group with other players, or you could stay inside the cities and wait. Those days are long gone, of course, and it's a rare game that doesn't allow a player to do quite a bit without the support framework of a group. But there's a point to be made about what's been lost in the process, and We Fly Spitfires has an interesting take on how we now have to be pushed and prodded into grouping. There was a time when people were expected to group to complete tasks, but players are increasingly opposed to the idea as more and more becomes possible to solo and we grow less and less patient for finding a group.

Unsurprisingly, Game by Night brings up the obvious counterpoint: that evolving game design has relegated forced grouping to the past. There are more MMO players now than there were back then, and the majority of them started on games such as World of Warcraft or City of Heroes where grouping was only occasionally necessary, and even then only for specific tasks. By removing the requirement, player expectations become different, and there's no longer a sense from most of the playerbase that soloing should be possible for a majority of tasks. It's a debate that's been had over and over through the years, but as the solo play model becomes more and more expansive, it no doubt will be revisted time and again -- and attitudes toward it will shift as the playerbase does.

So, yesterday I was browsing our site, and I was happy to see that our community interview with David Allen had gone up, as I didn't get the chance to read it. We had lots of great questions sent in, and I think the ones that Shawn chose were really some hard, direct questions, that I felt someone really had to ask.

Reading David's answers left me thinking, however. David is a person who I certainly admire, as he was the brain behind Istaria, and he really presented some very innovative gameplay mechanics in that game. Alganon, however, is not innovative nor is it cutting edge. It is, quite frankly, another World of Warcraft. Something that, in my opinion, this genre does not need another of.

David's rationale as to why Alganon looks and plays like Warcraft is the part of the interview where I was left in thought. While I understand he wanted to make a game that players could easily adapt to... did it have to resonate of Warcraft so strongly? Furthermore, are we, as a genre, stuck in a rut?

Editor's Note: (As always, if you wish to comment on this edition of Anti-Aliased, please do so on page two of the column. Thank you!)

You ever have one of those days when you're out working hard for The Man, and you get smacked down? Well, normally in MMOs, one would think you'd avoid this, but apparently Arthas had a bad-side-of-the-bed morning and decided to take it out on Jayden Beresford as she writes in: For the people who don't play this game a fairly large part of World of Warcraft lore was the attack on the people's of Azeroth by the Scourge. Many brave lives were lost in this fight, the warriors of the magnificent Horde and the pesky Alliance defeated by the legions of undead under the command of Arthas, the Lich king. My poor Troll warrior met her fate this way, her body forgotten on the battlefields until claimed and resurrected by the Scourge and turned into one of their own, a death knight who's purpose is to fight against the races she once defended. With only her master's voice in her head my reborn Deathknight supervises ranks of undead archers seeking to bring an end to life. Pity her Master saw fit to play a joke on her and assign a pony from Darkmoon Faire as her trusted war steed.

One Shots is in need of more screenshots, so if you've got some time while out adventuring, why not gather some up for us and send them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com? Add your name, the game it's from, and a description -- guild and server welcome too -- and you're set!

No one was expecting the current 900-pound-gorilla of the MMO market to throw its hat in the ring regarding microtransactions, but the fact that it's in the mix has forced a large number of people to take a look at the philosophies and patterns of the business model. Killed in a Smiling Accident recently put down some thoughts regarding the differences, explaining that World of Warcraft's model is, in their opinion, inferior to the one found in the equally-significant microtransaction model of Dungeons and Dragons Online. The former has a store consisting of fluff items with no equivalent in the game, while the latter largely puts forth offerings that can be obtained in the normal game if you want to take the time.

Of course, there's the obvious counter brought up in the comments: that it's better to have microtransactions selling something you can't otherwise get in the game. Simply take a look at Champions Online and the controversy over retcon pricing to see how the two can be better left untethered. Getting something unique is a nice bonus for a game you enjoy -- for example, look at the bonus costume packs that City of Heroes sells. However, with items on sale that can be obtained from gameplay, the game can feel a bit more disjointed. There's a case to be made for both sides, and with the free-to-play model gaining speed, it should be interesting to note where the majority of MMO players draw the line.

We like to keep our ear to the blogging (under)ground here at Massively because we often find interesting ideas and perspectives on the MMO industry. For instance, Green Armadillo of Player vs. Developer (PvD) just made a bold yet insightful statement about subscription game item shops being the third Trammel. For those unfamiliar, Trammel changed the way most people played Ultima Online and could be considered a paradigm shift in the industry from "harsh" PvP-enabled MMOs to safer PvE.

It's no secret that the rise of microtransactions and MMO item shops (aka real money trading or RMT) are a big change in direction from traditional subscription based MMOs. However, it now seems we're seeing the line blur between the two. Dungeons & Dragons Online, Champions Online, and most recently World of Warcraft are all subscription-based MMOs with built-in RMT. Are we witnessing the birth of the third Trammel?

As for the second Trammel, PvD calls out WoW's solo quest system. Never in any previous MMO did players enjoy such easy soloability and it seems that every triple-A MMO since WoW has relied heavily upon the solo quest system. We think PvD may be on to something here.

In a move some expected and others didn't, Blizzard decided to remove that last layer insulating its game from the practice of RMT: real money transactions. Previously, players had to purchase the trading card game to get the special extra pets for the game, and that was rather a dicey proposition. You could just pay a high price and get the card directly, or you could take your chances with your money, much like Charlie in his pursuit of a golden ticket. Now, you can just go to the Blizzard store and purchase a Pandaren or a Lil' KT pet for $10USD.

Considering how several people were unhappy with the Champions Online microtransaction store, we can't imagine this is going over too well with everyone. Some feel that these are just pets and -- while pricey -- aren't anything to make a fuss over. Others feel that this is the top of the slippery slope that will eventually see some form of in-game benefits gained through store purchases, much like many item mall games. This morning we thought we'd ask you. Do you think this is a wonderful idea, and you're glad to see Blizzard exploring the territory? Do you think it's a good idea but the price is way too high -- a macrotransaction rather than a microtransaction. Are you leery but trusting for now? Or is this all a load of crap, and subscription games should make everything available if you're willing to grind it?

In a crackdown against online gaming, China has put World of Warcraft under review again today, asking Chinese operator NetEase to stop collecting fees and suspend new account registration as the game is in violation of regulation agreements.

A regulator from the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) said today in an online statement that the game was in "gross violation" of Chinese regulations and they have returned the company's application to operate "The Burning Crusade" (Yep, that's right, they said The Burning Crusade and not Wrath of the Lich King) in China. NetEase has responded that they have not received official word from the governing body of their intent. As of this posting, Battle.net China is still accepting registrations for World of Warcraft.

For the past week I've been delving deep into the dungeons of Runic Games' Torchlight and found the experience to be nothing short of joyous. Granted, like many other people I also wish some kind of co-op shipped with the game (even over LAN) but thankfully the developer's next project will be an MMO built upon the foundation laid down by last week's release.

My joy for this game most definitely bleeds into its MMO incarnation, which has led to far too much thinking on additions I'd like to see made. So this week, I'm going to get them all off my chest in the hopes that I'll stop obsessing over them. Of course, there's never a guarantee with these things.

After a newly-announced launch delay, we now have just under a month before Quest Online's Alganon releases to the public. Now in its beta stage, Alganon has enjoyed mixed reviews since the NDA was lifted two weeks ago. We thought we'd take this opportunity to ask some of the questions floating around about this new fantasy MMO, and how it sets itself apart from existing fantasy MMOs.

Quest Online's president and co-founder, David Allen, was kind enough to answer our questions, which include everything from those of PvP content to his thoughts on being compared to World of Warcraft. Keep reading below for the complete interview.

MMOs are a big business these days. This hasn't always been the case -- Ultima Online might have been the first real game of the genre, but it didn't make everyone want to build a competitor. It was the success of World of Warcraft that really opened up the idea that there was a huge amount of money to be made from the genre, and that in turn has brought almost everyone to the table in a rush to build a game, find a method that works, and try to hook as many subscribers as possible. The only problem is that we might find ourselves with an industry drifting toward what MMOSH refers to, quite fairly, as The Bad Place.

We've all found ourselves buying new games, playing them only until the trial is up, and then never picking them up again. Sometimes we don't even give them the full month. And some developers seem to be adopting this mentality as well -- there are rumors here and there about the future of Champions Online after its first month, and both publishers and players are treating it as if the first month is everything. (Their recent free trial seems to tie into this -- you could argue that where MMOs once got new players by word of mouth, they seem to be in love with constant trial offers to entice players now.) And that's just the tip of the problem, really -- the post goes into further detail about the cycle of hype, release, and abandonment. As it says, gone are the days when we should stick with the game that we had and wait for it to improve -- and that might ultimately be far more harmful than whatever holes in the game lead us to leave so quickly.