The week in Massively features

Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria launches!
Today the expansion finally goes live! The official patch notes are up on the forums, and the servers went live at midnight with all the new content! We've collected up all of our best pieces of news and information on Turbine's latest ... check it out!

EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey Launches!
Massively has been following the expansion's lifecycle since it was announced at this year's SOE Fan Faire, and today we've put together the best of all our content touching on this brand-new chapter in the EQ2 saga. Read on for all the details!

Massively checks in on The Agency with Lead Designer Hal Milton
Join us as we talk over the current state of The Agency's development with the animated and always-interesting lead designer Hal Milton. Hal shares with us a bit of insight into what they're currently working on, give us a few fun facts to chew on, and makes us actually look forward to next year's summer con season.

Behind the Curtain: Why we play World of Warcraft
There's never a bad time to take a look behind you and examine your past. This is as true for MMOs as it is for anything else in life. With Wrath of the Lich King now up and running, we at Massively were wondering about some of the reason people have stuck with the game thus far.

The Digital Continuum: Why must MMOs die?
Sitting on my desk are copies of Earth and Beyond and Auto Assault. In fact, I've even got a CE box for Auto Assault (that thing cost me 80 bucks). Unfortunately, these games are just dust collectors now. I keep them to remind me of the possibility of sunset and how much it can suck. Even if you didn't play Tabula Rasa, there were thousands of people who did, and that's all that really matters.

Know Your LotRO Lore: The Watcher in the Water
With Mines of Moria releasing today, we thought we'd focus this week's Know Your LotRO Lore on one of the key monsters you'll encounter on your trip into the mines: The Watcher in the Water. This is the tentacled creature that lives in the dark pool of water, just outside of Hollin's Gate (aka Durin's Door).

Low-level guide to Mines of Moria: What's in it for me?
We've assembled a little guide for those of you out there who could really care less about the hardcore 12-man raids or end-game content offered in Mines of Moria. What's in it for you?

Veteran's guide to Mines of Moria: What's in it for me?
We've created this guide to the changes in Moria according to what a veteran player would seek. The low-level guide has been done, and now it's your turn, oh Master of Middle-earth.

Massively's ArenaNet interview: The past, present and future of Guild Wars PvP
Since the game's launch in April of 2005, ArenaNet's Guild Wars has set the bar a bit higher for future MMOs in relation to gameplay, their unique business model and skill balance. Their constant attention to detail when balancing literally hundreds of game skills between PvP and PvE has been an ongoing progression for everyone on the ArenaNet team.

Massively's exclusive pre-launch Moria interview with Jeffrey Steefel
It was a pleasure, then, to chat with Mr. Steefel just last night, the night before the release of LotRO's first expansion. Mines of Moria is now live, and from the sounds of things the servers and players are having a great time of it.

A special message from "The Ask Massively Guy"
I don't normally write much outside of the scope of my weekly column, but I wanted to share an experience I had during the Wrath of the Lich King launch that I think sums up the MMORPG experience for a lot of us.

Behind the Curtain: This too shall pass
We mark the passing of another MMO. I was going to add an adjective to that sentence, maybe 'great', 'fine' or even just 'good'. I couldn't decide, as I didn't play Tabula Rasa beyond the Open Beta. That's clearly not my fault though, obviously it's something to do with the developers not making exactly the game I wanted, needed or deserved at the time. Cry, whine, QQ, etc.

The Star Wars Galaxies devs on how Hoth was made
The folks at SOE Austin were kind enough to send over a document detailing just that, written up by the game's former Lead Designer Thomas "Blixtev" Blair and its current Lead Designer, Jesse Benjamin.

EVE Evolved: Beating the learning curve of EVE Online
t's no secret that EVE Online has one of the steepest learning curves in the MMO industry. The open sandbox-style world and unfamiliar sci-fi context leave most new players feeling overwhelmed and unsure what to do. Additionally, while the real-time skill training system is appreciated by player with little free time, it doesn't encourage players to log in and play the game.

Making/Money: EVE Economic Review Reviewed
Each quarter, the economist over at EVE Online, Dr. Eyjolfur Gudmondsson (there are supposed to be accent marks in there but I can't figure out how to make them appear), writes up a review of the in-game economy

Massively Speaking Podcast Episode 32
Massively Speaking Episode 32 works through a heaping helping of Wrath-related discussion, as more World of Warcraft conversation is had in the span of 50 minutes than really should be possible.

Meet the Team: Krystalle Voecks
I like LotRO's graphics and lore, I like the gritty feel of WAR, I like the dialogue trees and look of AoC, I like the ability to create in Second Life.... I could go on, but I really feel almost all of them have something to recommend them; it comes down to what scratches your personal itch best at the time.