The week in Massively features

EverQuest II GU46 -- The Void Invasion
In EverQuest II's Game Update 46, you will be tasked with uncovering the mystery of the Void Storms, and freeing the native creatures of Norrath from their baleful influence. Your dedication will not go unrewarded; full sets of appearance armor (and one set of ... non-appearance armor) are yours for your hard work.

Exclusive images of the new Legends of Norrath: Oathbreaker loot cards
Today we have for you a great big spoiler. Every pack of cards has a chance to drop one of the rare loot cards into your account. We've got every single one of those cards from the Oathbreaker set laid out for you in a gallery below.

Exclusive interview with AoC Senior Dialog Writer Aaron Dembski-Bowden
The credit for a bewilderingly vast amount of this material goes to Aaron Dembski-Bowden, a young British writer already known for his work in the tabletop roleplaying field. We tracked him down and managed to secure an interview.

Are female characters really penalized in Age of Conan?
The bombshell comes on page 7, where the reviewer states outright that '... Age of Conan's weapon swing time depends on the duration of the visual swing animation, and female characters swing their weapons about 25% slower than males - so every female melee character does 25% less damage over time!'

MMOGology: There's no place like Azeroth
It seems like World of Warcraft operates as many gamers' home base. They might leave for a while to try out a new MMOG when they inevitably burn out on WoW; but most eventually gravitate back. The return might be in anticipation of an expansion, it might be that the gamer misses his guildies, or maybe it's the old, comfortable game mechanics.

Liveblogging Massively's PlanetSide assault
This post is your go-to locale for information as the battle progresses. We'll keep you updated with our current position in-game, the status of our wartribe, and insider information on how the battle is going. Click on through for the current state of the war, and we hope to see you on the battlefield!

The Digital Continuum: Live event adulation
Whether or not developers haven't really explored this area because they fear player backlash is beyond me. I personally don't see how creating a dynamic world that keeps its players guessing at the next twist or turn isn't worth a little risk. Then again I'm all about dynamic, awe-inspiring, world changing events.

EverQuest II GU46 -- Runnyeye: The Gathering
Take a favorite EverQuest II low level dungeon, clear it of every living thing, add some doors and remove others. Fill the entire zone with heroic mobs level 80 and up. Put in ten boss fights culminating with an epic fight against High Chief Vohan, a x2 epic fight that compares to Nizara's final fight (hint: Vohan has friends).

Exclusive interview with the developers of Legends of Norrath
Join us as we talk about raid play, tournaments, some exciting plans for integrating Legends of Norrath with EverQuest and EverQuest 2, and a few hopeful words about the future of loot mounts for EQ2 players. Also make sure to head over to our exclusive gallery of Oathbreaker loot cards!

EVE Evolved: EVE Online PvP vs Age of Conan PvP
Before I started playing Age of Conan, I had a very strict mindset on how a PvP MMO should and shouldn't work. From my experiences in EVE Online, I was convinced that good open world PvP was not possible with a level system or exotic gear.

A LotRO guide to the new rare crafting trophies
We've assembled a little guide to help you get better acquainted with these rare crafting items, namely the new crafting trophies for LotRO. These trophies were introduced in Book 13 as a way to simplify and condense the more descriptive rare trophies that dropped previously.

MMO MMOnkey: What to do when the Age of Conan servers are down
Your Tempest of Set has been set down and your Dark Templar's gone dark. You've really gotten into this whole Conan thing but the Age of Conan servers are down for maintenance. Now what are you going to do?

Ask Massively: Taking out the yard trash
You mentioned, last week, that games should strive for balance between "accessibility" and "challenge". Since you set yourself up for it, and even promised to write about it in a future column, can I get credit for asking the question "What is 'challenge' in an MMO?"

TurpsterVision: Saturday Night Fever
So that's PlanetSide, a fast paced MMO-FPS with all of the fast paced fun of a shooter with the persistence and progression of a MMO, what a combination.

Under The Hood: Choices and Consequences
Part of the current status quo comes from the fact that, when given anonymity, people turn into real jerks. They gank, they insult, they act like little children. If you let players kill important NPCs or creatures and they never respawn, you're going to end up with a lot of upset people.

Making/Money: MUDflation IG vs. IRL
Mudflation is an immediate devaluation of previously owned items due to the gain or release of newly available items. This is not unlike technological advance in that the release of the latest new toy makes all others somewhat obsolete.

Massively Speaking Podcast Episode 9
WoW Insider superstars Elizabeth Harper and the irrepressible Turpster join Shawn and Michael for wide-ranging show. Getting away from the very focused discussions we've had the last few weeks, the hosts cover the numerous interesting subjects that have come up in the last seven days.

Behind the Curtain: Why bother?
The obvious answer is that we're still having fun. Maybe you've been playing World of Warcraft since release or earlier, you've got an alt of every class, epics to make a GM weep with envy, but you still get that little tingle of excitement every time you log on, that keeps you coming back for more.

Anti-Aliased: It will all be fine in ten minutes
We can't call any of our worlds truly persistent worlds. Sure, they may be there when we log off, and they may continue to "change", but they never truly differ. Now, some of you will argue semantics with me here, and that's fine.

Gamer Interrupted: Battle of the hobbies
This surprised me, being a knitter, because I have found that the knitting community in general is pretty respectful of other people's hobbies. Knitters don't get a lot of respect from other hobbyists, so we are pretty understanding of people in similar situations. In fact, one of my first recommendations for guys with non-gamer significant others is to encourage them to get their own hobby.