Yesterday, Blizzard finally revealed the next expansion for World of Warcraft. Called Mists of Pandaria, the expansion brings new features, a new continent, a new race, a new

class and much much more. MMORPG.com Managing Editor Bill Murphy has a brief write up of the announcement along with some new screens. Check it out and then let us know what

you’re thinking in the comments.

The amount of information shared at BlizzCon about the new World of Warcraft expansion was daunting. There are a ton of new elements coming into the game and loads of new

features. Pandaria brings the Horde and Alliance to the hidden continent and brings the Panderans into play as the new playable race. It also introduces the Monk class to the

game. The Kung Fu Panda jokes aside, Pandaria looks amazing and the Monk run through impressed us with its smooth approach and new punch and kick style combat. Players should

get ready to play to level 90. Overall, the WoW team continues to work hard on filling out the full scope of Azeroth. The only question that remains is whether or not will it be

too much?

Blizzcon 2011 has kicked off in a big way with the announcement of the new World of Warcraft expansion. Here’s what we know:

•Name: Mists of Pandaria
•Race: New playable Pandaren race
•Class: Monk
•Pet battle system
•PvE scenarios
•New talent system
•New continent
•Level cap increase to 90
•Challenge mode dungeons
It sounds like more faction battle will be included in the new expansion. The WoW panel will kick off soon and we’ll keep you posted as information becomes available. 

 

Rift players will want to check their email for notification from Trion Worlds that the data servers have been

compromised.

The database in question contained information including user names, encrypted passwords, dates of birth,

email addresses, billing addresses, and the first and last four digits and expiration dates of customer credit

cards.

There is no evidence, and we have no reason to believe, that full credit card information was accessed or

compromised in any way. We have already taken further action to strengthen our systems, even as we, with

external security experts, continue to research the extent of the unauthorized access.
Players will have to change passwords and reattach any authenticator that they may be using. Unfortunately, at

the time of this writing the Trion/Rift site is down so accomplishing that task is not possible.

We’re just going to let the RuneScape dev team say it in their own words: To pop the cork on the all-year celebration of RuneScape’s 10th anniversary, Jagex Game Studio is hosting a 24-hour challenge for one brave (and well rested) RuneScape moderator, to celebrate the ringing of 2012 with RuneScape players across the globe. 

With each of the 39 strokes of midnight, occurring in the 39 time zones across the world, players will be alerted to the moderator’s in-game location through Facebook, Twitter, and in-game, that they can seek him out and join in these once a year festivities.
 
Using the hashtag “#RS24” on Twitter, players can join in the conversation, keep track of his progress, and connect with fellow players as he celebrates the coming of 2012 with RuneScape players the world round.
Have a happy holiday season, and looking forward to capping RuneScape’s 10th anniversary with global count downs to the New Year! 10…9…8…7…(repeat 39x) 

 

Jagex has been hard at work on 8Realms, a browser-based strategy title. Before summarily dismissing 8Realms out of hand, be sure to read our first look preview of a game that is

said to “sap Internet users’ remaining free time”. Leave us a couple of comments when finished!

As the conversation lulls one moustachioed developer nervously addresses the agenda “just how do we sap Internet users’ remaining free time?” Shocked, the others grumble with

trepidation, before slowly turning their heads towards the shadowy figure at the helm of the meeting: stroking a white cat, and wearing a silver jumpsuit, the CEO of Jagex

clears his throat, palms his shaven head and announces “ladies and gentlemen I give you 8Realms, soon the [Internet browser] world will be ours!”. Cue “Daah-Naah-Naa” music.

  

 

In a fan-translated post on the official ArcheAge forums, it has been revealed that the game will utilized a death penalty in the form of building materials being dropped on death or log out. Basically, the interview states that these materials are carried on a player’s back forcing them to walk, not run making them easy pickings.

To quote the translation directly:

The largest change is that the materials are carried, instead of being stored in inventory, to build the house. By doing so causes the need for sea trading and riding on the boat. The tree cut by the user goes into the inventory, but when refined in order to build a house it becomes a package. This does not go into the inventory and is carried on the back.

When a package is on the back, they cannot run so must travel in walking speed. When they ride on the horse, they can move a bit faster but the horse too will be walking. Boats and carriages do not have speed limit.

The special property of these packages is that when logged out or killed, it drops to the ground. So as it is not in the inventory there is a threat that its ownership may change anytime. 

 

As if the names of these two games aren’t enough to cause feelings of faintness for RPG players everywhere, Bioware and 38Studios have announced a cross promotion between the

two. Demos for both Mass Effect 3 and Kingdoms of Amalur will be released soon and those who play both will receive in-game rewards.

ME3 demo players will unlock the following items in Reckoning:

•N7 Armor: Players can unlock special armor inspired by Commander Shepard’s iconic N7 battle armor including Helm, Cuirass, Gauntlets, Chausses and Greaves.
•Onmiblade Daggers: A holographic blade stemming from Commander Shepard’s Omni-Tool, the Omni-blade allows players to stab enemies in close combat. Once players install and

play the Mass Effect 3 demo, they will unlock the daggers.
Reckoning demo players will unlock the following ME 3 items:
•Reckoner Knight Armor: This armor will maximize damage done in close-quarters combat while a beefed–up power cell feeds energy into weapon systems to increase projectile

velocity.
•The Chakram Launcher: This weapon uses a fabricator to manufacture lightweight, explosive ammunition discs. This weapon is earned after completing the Reckoning demo and

watching the trailer at the end. 

Snail Games has announced that it is bringing a new MMO to North Americans. Called ‘Age of Wushu’, the game takes place during 2000 years of Wuxia in China. Developers also have said that the game does not rely on levels and classes.

Players choose from “one of six unique storylines” where every action is said to produce something. Most intriguingly, developers have said, ” even a beggar on a street corner can be a Grand Master”.

Players will also be in control of where and how to hone their skills in Wushu. Players can choose one of eight martial arts schools to train, or invade another school to steal knowledge not offered at their current alma mater. Training can even take place offline by choosing one of 30 offline activities to keep a character progressing in-game as an NPC.

MMORPG.com has partnered with Funcom to bring our readers an inside look at how dungeons are created for The Secret World. Penned by Senior Designer Brent Ellison, it’s a fascinating behind the scenes look for one of the most keenly anticipated games for 2012. Read on!

Dungeons in The Secret World are challenging and intense, an opportunity for players to test their builds, skills and teamwork to the utmost. They serve as very focused content, in sharp contrast to the wide sandboxes of the playfields. In a dungeon, players live and die by the strength of their team and their ability to strategize to meet the odds. 

 

This week’s WoW Factor touches on a oft-discussed topic. Everyone is always looking for that game that will be a “WoW Killer” but what exactly does that mean? We take a look at

the elusive “WoW Killer”. See what we think and then weigh in with your own thoughts in the comments.

Last week’s article caused quite a stir in the comments section and many of you derided the piece as either a roundabout method of talking about SWTOR or just a bit of bait for

the community to start fighting the good fight. While many of your comments and opinions were a bit depressing to me (as this is an editorial, i.e. an opinion piece, and the

content of each article is subject to me and me alone) I am glad with the discussion that sprouted around the last WoW Factor, explicitly in the talk about what constitutes a “

WoW Killer.” So this week I’m going to display my outline and framework for what this mythical being must be to fulfil all of our speculation. 

Everyone loves to take screenshots of their favorite games, and we want you to share them with us and the rest of the MMORPG.com community! To that end, we’re back with our latest Screenshot of the Week feature this week, and we’re looking to give out some cool swag. Some of our SOTWs will be themed to a specific game, and this week is one of ’em! This week, we’ll be focusing on Age of Conan.

Participating in our Screenshot of the Week is pretty simple.

All you need to do is post your favorite Age of Conan screenshot in the comments below (please use sensible dimensions and don’t break the thread!) between now and Thursday, January 19. We’ll select our favorite shot on Friday, January 20. Make sure to tell us what we are looking at, too!

Why should you bother sharing your screenshots with us? The answer is simple: SWAG! Who doesn’t love swag? This week, we’ll be giving away a code granting access to Age of Conan’s “Savage Coast of Turan” adventure pack as well as a code for a mystery bag of in-game items to our lucky winner.

Please only post a single screenshot. Duplicate entries will be disqualified.

  

 

Wizard101 is one of the most consistently developed family-friendly MMOs on the market today. MMORPG.com Industry Relations Manager Garrett Fuller has a preview of some new events and content coming to Wizard101. Check it out and then leave us a comment or two.

In the Family MMO market Wizard 101 remains one of the top games for players. Both children and adults have logged hours into the game and it continues to deliver on prime content, great story lines and more fun for its fans. If you have not played Wizard 101 before it is worth checking out. Even hardcore MMO players will enjoy the gameplay and fun combat system. This past month we got a sneak peek at what is coming up in Wizard 101. Players will see the expansion Zarafria come to its test servers. There is also a new app minigame coming called Grub Guardian for mobile markets that helps you level your in-game pet while away from the game. And finally, Wizard 101 has a few goodies coming for the Holiday season in December.

  

Some say the golden age of single-player RPGs is gone but you wouldn’t know it from the A+ line up of roleplaying games coming in the next year or so. In today’s Outside the Box, MMORPG.com’s Peter Kerr takes a look at Bethesda’s Skyrim. See what Peter has to say about Skyrim and then let us know if you’re anticipating playing it when it comes out next week. Read on!

You know how it is; you are the last remaining Dovahkiin (Dragonborn) who must fight against the massive dragon-god that is trying to destroy the world. Skyrim is set two hundred years after the last game stopped with the world gone to hell with a massive power shift in the ruling powers of the world. Now the Elven nations have taken back a lot of the power the Empire once wielded due to the events of Oblivion.

Civil war rages between the Nord people who live in Skyrim. Unfortunately this is the last part of the prophecy as written down in the game’s namesake Elder Scrolls. They foretell of the return of Alduin, the Nordic god of Destruction and yes you guessed it… he is the aforementioned giant Dragon. The prophecy says that Alduin will use his servants the Jills (read: dragons) to destroy the world. Luckily you as the last of the Dovahkiin have been anointed by the gods to fight off this threat to the world.