MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

Massively Speaking Episode 100: The state of MMOs with Richard Garriott
Massively Speaking Episode 100 marks an epic milestone with an epic episode! Lord British himself joins Shawn and Rubi for some chat on the past, present and future of MMOs. Topics include everything from the early days of Ultima Online to the possible reincarnation of Tabula Rasa and beyond.

Sony Online Entertainment introduces $25 mount
You knew someone was going to try it. Sony Online Entertainment is making their bid for a seat on the Sparklepony bandwagon with the introduction of mounts in EverQuest II. Etheral, Sinister, and Ulteran Prowlers are now available in the Marketplace for 2500 Station Cash each, the equivalent of $25 USD. So are they worth it? Well, that is entirely a matter of opinion, but we can help you decide with a rundown of what's available.

SWTOR players will trek across Hoth
Who would have guessed the planet named after the famous Jedi Master Lord Hoth will be explorable in SWTOR? For those who may have skipped the best Star Wars movie of all time, this is a frozen wasteland made famous at the beginning of the Empire Strikes Back. Although in the Old Republic time period there is not much interest in the planet.

Guild Wars 2 Lead Designer answers more questions about dynamic events
"Loot will never be directly given as a reward for an event. [...] All events reward you with experience, gold, and karma, which you can spend at merchants and vendors in the game to purchase rewards." There you have it: the answer to the question asked over and over since the Guild Wars 2 dynamic event system was announced a little over a week ago. Guild Wars players have always enjoyed loot distribution that's different from the need vs. greed or free loot systems that are standard in so many MMOs.

The Secret World Q&A with Ragnar Tornquist
Funcom Senior Assistant Community Manager Glen "Famine" Swan has dropped a gem of a post on the official forums for the forthcoming MMORPG known as The Secret World. The development team has been collecting questions from the community for some time, and the answers are being rolled out in a series of Q&A-style posts.

Ubisoft announces five new MMOs "in development"
EA recently announced their controversial Online Pass program, a business model that looked pretty appealing to Ubisoft. CEO Yves Guillemot says that they are "looking very carefully at what EA is doing," so we will probably see them adopting a similar program in the future. The Online Pass program requires players to either purchase the games new, or pay EA $10 to unlock online content on used or rented games.

Super Hero Squad Online: No more "nameless sidekicks"
These days, it takes a lot to impress me. Oh sure, I love MMOs. But sometimes I feel I'm in a rut, waiting for something new and different. Something that doesn't just have a "new" sticker, but actually has some new hook that will keep me happily playing -- not grinding -- more than a month. Something that will make me feel good about being a gamer again. Something cute and friendly that actually relieves stress rather than creating more.

New producer interview video zooms in on Need for Speed World
Recently, EA held their super-shiny EA Showcase event across the pond, showing off -- among many other well-known upcoming EA titles -- their auto-racing MMO, Need for Speed World. While we sadly weren't able to make it there to catch all the tire-screeching action in person, EA has put out a video today offering those of us who couldn't make it a brief interview with the game's producer Jean-Charles Gaudechon.

Massively Mobile: iPhone apps for your favorite MMOs
As much as we love our MMOs, keeping track of our characters, maps, ingredients, friends and everything else, can't always be juggled while online. And often we want to keep track of in-game activities and friends while offline. As a result, many iPhone apps have sprung up, official and unofficial, to help you stay in the game.