MMO Roundup: Last week on Massively

Massively's complete Comic-Con 2009 coverage
This week marked the annual pilgrimage to Comic-Con International in San Diego for the comics and gaming faithful, and a number of superhero MMO developers were there as well to whip the fanboys (and girls) into a frenzy. When you think about it, comic conventions are as big for superhero games as other events like E3 and PAX. Massively was on the ground at SDCC this year and among the games we took a look at was, not surprisingly, City of Heroes.

New details emerge on SWTOR's healing and space components
While a lot of the questions were deflected in one way or another -- as this is a game that's probably not coming out for a while -- some tiny new pieces of information did surface. For instance, much of the community has been wondering about healing. Will the game go with the "Holy Trinity" or is something else planned? The answer appears to be a little bit of both.

Champions Online open beta dated, preorder bonuses detailed
Champions Online is only five weeks away and with it being so very close, Cryptic has finally announced their preorder bonus plans and partners. If that isn't exciting enough, you'll be happy to know they've also announced August 17th as day one of open beta. Keep in mind that preorders from any of the officially listed retail partners will guarantee access to the beta.

Massively's top four upcoming MMOs that let you fly
The ability to fly has always intrigued us as humans. Even in Leonardo DiVinci's day, the fascination with flight was so overwhelming that he dedicated much of his life to the discovery of getting us off the ground. Modern(ish) technology has helped us realize DiVinci's vision, through the use of enclosed vehicles or other large mechanical contraptions, but we have yet to truly master the art of personal flight.

BEN 10 MMO officially announced
We kind of already knew this one was on the way, thanks to a listing on TurnOut Ventures' product page that was spotted last month, but now it's official: BEN 10 Omniverse will be coming to a browser near you in Q4 this year.

Stargate Worlds facing an August 1st deadline to raise capital
Stargate fans have long since been left wondering what's been going on with Stargate Worlds, but come August 1st -- or sometime soon thereafter -- their wait may finally be over. The rumor stems from a claim made by a recently departed employee who claims MGM has given Firesky until the beginning of next month to acquire funding or face having the licensed pulled.

"Where Am I?" first screenshot contest a success!
Yesterday, we began a new screenshot contest here at Massively where we display a certain in-game image from a certain MMO, and you tell us the specific location and game of the shot. Even though we mentioned how easy this first one was in the post, we never anticipated it would be answered correctly within the first 6 minutes!

Ah yes, more sprinkles of Guild Wars 2 news
Our friend Ravious at Kill Ten Rats is at it again with some pretty impressive detective work on the current state of Guild Wars 2. To be fair, Ravious is simply gathering the info he finds on the various Guild Wars forums from others who are doing the actual detective work, but it still makes our jobs a whole lot easier. Some of this was already known, some of it is new, but it's all interesting.

An early peek at the DC Universe Online storyline
DC Universe Online is a superhero MMO in development at Sony Online Entertainment, but one that we didn't get to see much of at E3 2009. That's not going to be the situation with Comic-Con International which is happening this week in San Diego. The DC Universe Online team will be on hand and will hopefully reveal more about the game.

Jumpgate Evolution hits 250,000 beta sign ups
The upcoming sci-fi title Jumpgate Evolution seems to be highly anticipated by the MMO gaming community, at least if the deluge of unique beta sign-ups is any indication. Jumpgate Evolution's developer NetDevil and publisher Codemasters announced today that they've passed 250,000 beta sign-ups.

Preparing for beta: A video tour of Hi-Rez Studios
Last week, we made the trek down to Hi-Rez Studios in Atlanta, Georgia to get a look at how Global Agenda is shaping up just before the closed beta goes live. As you may remember, we were one of the first MMO news sites to visit the studio in October of last year, and we're happy to see the popularity that the game has enjoyed since then.