Eurogamer confirmed the delay with publisher Trion Worlds at its eponymous Expo over the weekend.

Last we heard, Trion Worlds was aiming for an autumn 2011 release. Community Manager Lance James wouldn’t be drawn on a new prospective release date or beta plans.

Some of the PC game’s more ambitious features seem to have been scaled back a little in the interim, which may explain the delay – a live demo apparently touted a new player cap of 26, down from the 50 suggested earlier this year.

Developer Petroglyph has a number of strategy and multiplayer titles under its belt, including the Star Wars: Empire at War series, Panzer General, and more recently, MOBAs Mytheon and Rise of Immortals.

Thanks, Kotaku.

This weekend saw a massive eSports blowout as Major League Gaming hosted its League of Legends debut, as well as a huge tourney in the ever-popular Call of Duty: Black Ops league.

We’ll have write ups of results later on, but for now, you can still catch a piece of the action; embedded below you’ll find both Starcraft II streams as well as the tail end of the Halo: Reach championships.

MLG runs on US Eastern time, so things are winding down now. Check the full schedule and settle in with some popcorn.

Starcraft II Red

Starcraft II Blue

Halo: Reach

Thanks Joystiq.

Ukraine’s Na’Vi and China’s eHome were among the 16 hand-picked teams selected to be the first to play DOTA 2, and their weeks of secret preparation ahead of the game’s public debut obviously paid off.

The two teams battle for supremacy in the video below; Na’Vi walked away victorious. If you’re an eSports fan, or just keen on the rapidly accelerating MOBA scene in general, you need to watch this.

The highly anticipated, Valve-developed sequel to the original Warcraft III scenario will go into beta in the next few weeks, and is expected to release before the end of the year.

Thanks, GameRevolution.

Posting on the game’s official blog, Riot said that since League of Legends is the most popular eSport, it’s “only appropriate” that it have the largest pile of cash up for grabs.

“The thriving eSports community surrounding League of Legends continues to grow at an incredible pace, and it’s the enthusiasm of competitors from across the globe that has engendered this special opportunity,” Riot wrote.

“And with League of Legends featured as an official title in such landmark eSports organizations as Major League Gaming, Electronic Sports League, and the World Cyber Games, this substantially increased prize pool is just the first glimpse into what we have planned for the upcoming season.”

Cash prizes will be offered at local, national and international tournaments. Riot has committed to offering livestreams of European and US tournaments as part of the upcoming season, which kicks off in northern autumn.

Thanks, AE Portal and Wyk.

“We don’t think the DOTA community is a toxic one at all,” DOTA 2 project lead Erik Johnson told Gamespy when asked about the MOBA genre’s reputation for unfriendliness to new players.

“A huge number of users spend a huge amount of their time just writing guides to teach new (and experienced) players strategies for heroes, items, and high-level strategy for the game. In any community of this size, you’re going to run into some people that rub you the wrong way but I think that is true for, well, your average grocery store.”

Valve is drawing on its considerable experience with multiplayer communities to help construct a number of social tools and features which should help, like coaching.

“Most new players come into DOTA via their friends, so we think this makes a lot of sense,” Johnson commented, explaining that the sequel will be more accessible than the original.

“There are a lot of rough edges around the original DOTA for people wanting to get into games and play with their friends, but the fundamental mechanics of the game once you’re in a game seem to be pretty compelling for a wide range of people,” he said.

“We want to make it easy for people to get in and play with people of similar skill levels, and get into a game with their friends, but we think the fundamental experience of DOTA is a good one.”

There’s no reason to be frightened of “hardcore” DOTA fans, either, as Johnson believes most MOBA players could be called hardcore.

“Hardcore used to mean a fairly small group within a larger community that were dedicated to a particular product and spent a lot of their time interacting with the community, both inside and outside of the game experience,” he said.

“In the case of DOTA, there are tens of millions of people that play the game, and it seems like most fit that description.”

DOTA 2 will debut with a $1 million tournament at gamescom next week, and is expected to release this year.

The game will include battles featuring over 50 players, a large persistent world, and customization options for army and unit uniqueness. It can be played through the solo campaign or in co-op mode, as well as in Conquer the World multiplayer with battles up to 26 vs 26 , and all players can play the game end to end for free.

“Being able to offer a premium game such as End of Nations for free sets us apart in this industry,” said Dave Luehmann, executive producer and VP of third party development at Trion.

“At Trion, we strive to innovate online gaming while emphasizing the delivery of the best core gameplay experience available. Our decision to release End of Nations as a AAA free–to-play title is guided by these principles.”

End of Nations will be made available in a standard and limited Collector’s Edition form at retail, as well as through a digital-only Collector’s Edition online.

Players can also choose to pay an optional monthly subscription fee to receive “extra value and convenience.”

Check out the gamescom trailer for it below.

End of Nations is slated for a fall release.

The free-to-play WWII MMO is about to celebrate its first birthday, and the firm, obviously, couldn’t be more pleased.

“We didn’t expect World of Tanks would become this popular,” said CEO Victor Kislyi. “The game’s success has given us [the] confidence we needed to continue our expansion into the world of online wargames.”

During its first year online, the gate set many a peak concurrent user record and eventually set a Guiness World Record for having 91,311 simultaneous player connections.

The game went live in the US and Europe earlier this year.

Thanks, Massively.

DOTA at a glance

Originated with the Warcraft III custom scenario, Defense of the Ancients, officially bundled with expansion The Frozen Throne.

Members of the development team went on to join League of Legends creator Riot Games and DOTA 2 developer Valve.

Currently led by League of Legends, one of the fastest-growing eSports in the world.

Get League of Legends for free. Ditto Heroes of Newerth, which is also very popular.

If you’ve yet to jump into the world of DOTA-style RTS, here are three reasons why it’s worth it. At the moment, League of Legends – the most popular commercial version – has over 15 million registered players, with 1.4 million logging in on a daily basis. Both Blizzard and Valve are working on their own versions of the game, with Valve having hired one of the original mod’s maintainers, and Blizzard planning on bringing all its main universes together into one glorious fangasm.

Finally, and most importantly, it’s a fun twist on RTS action that you owe it to yourself to at least try – and with the most popular versions being free to play, there’s no reason not to.

The original DOTA was a Warcraft III scenario called Defense of the Ancients, and while every version has its own characters, maps and tweaks on the formula, few deviate much from the premise. In short, players are split into two teams, in opposing corners of the map, with the rest of the space carved into lanes that directly link the two bases and more open forest areas to set traps and beat up neutral monsters as time permits.

The goal is obvious – to get to the enemy base and smash it. Each player controls a unique hero unit, which can be anything from a spell-slinging mage to a hammer wielding bruiser, with the goal being to storm over to the enemy base and smash it into tiny pieces. Heroes level up over the course of the round, unlocking new abilities, as well as earning gold to spend on new gear at their base’s store. They’re further backed up by a steady stream of AI creeps or minions that are constantly dispatched down the lanes to fight anything they bump into.

The result is a battle that no individual hero can win, with a focus on teamwork, and balancing the need to keep attacking, defending, and keeping ahead of the power curve. With so many games, it’s no surprise that there’s currently a squabble over what this subgenre should be called. Most fans just say ‘DOTAs’, but that has an obvious problem. Riot Games is pushing MOBA as a replacement, which technically stands for ‘Multiplayer Online Battle Arena’, but really means “Please stop talking about our competitor’s game”. The trouble with this is that it’s not very specific. Funcom’s Bloodline Champions for instance would seem to qualify, but is firmly arcade style PvP arena combat, and has little to do with the DOTA style.

The first standalone DOTA game was Gas Powered Games’ Demigod, although its struggles at launch meant that it never really found its feet, and it’s not worth paying to check it out when all the modern contenders are far more successful, free-to-play games. The two biggest are Riot Games’ League of Legends and S2′s Heroes of Newerth, with Petroglyph’s Rise of Immortals currently in open beta, and Valve’s official DOTA 2 due later this year. Blizzard’s offering is going to be a Starcraft II map rather than a standalone game. It’s currently in playtesting and expected to land at the same time as Heart of the Swarm.

Purists may scream at the suggestion, but you can’t go wrong by picking League of Legends as your first DOTA experience. It’s one of the most fun in terms of characters to play, with an excellent – albeit spectacularly patronising – tutorial to show you the ropes, and good enough bots to get comfortable with the game, even if you are likely to get crushed the first time you go up against actual human opponents in the field.

You can’t go wrong by picking League of Legends as your first DOTA experience.

It doesn’t hurt that its free-to-play mechanics are about the least objectionable around. Almost everything in the game that gives you direct gameplay advantages can bought with Influence Points earned by actually playing the game, and in many cases can’t be bought with real-world cash at all. The only things you do have to purchase directly are extra, purely cosmetic skins for your favourite heroes, and boosts that award bonus XP and Influence Points after matches. Handy, but not essential.

The most likely things you’ll end up buying are Champions – the hero units you take into battle. Every week, League of Legends makes ten of its eighty or so characters available for free-play, but exactly which ones depend on the luck of the draw. If you particularly want one of the others, like the flying gnome Corki, or your current favourite falls out of the rotation, you either need to work up a ton of IP by playing as other characters, or drop some cash to acquire them.

Prices for this vary, but in true everybody-but-Valve style, you can’t simply buy as many Riot Points as you need to cover it. Instead, you’re looking at £9 for enough DLC funbucks to pick up one of the standard heroes, which likely won’t even leave you enough change for an alternate skin. A better option if you find yourself getting into the game is biting the bullet and buying a full bundle, like the Champions Pack (20 heroes for roughly £18) or Gamers Choice Pack (another 20, plus a skin, for £25), before looking into individual hero purchases.

S2′s Heroes of Newerth stands alongside
League of Legends as a current leader
in the DOTA-clone space.

What you don’t need to worry about is losing progress, regardless of whether you pay up. Heroes level up during matches, but are reset every time one starts. The global progression is a level higher, with your Summoner character stepping up the ranks, unlocking extra spells, climbing talent trees and acquiring runes to boost heroes’ in-game stats – all of which can be swapped out and respecced for free as often as you like. Most of the game’s variety comes from finding interesting ways that the many heroes can interact – especially as new characters show up on the roster to mix things up.

League of Legends was the first DOTA… sorry… “MOBA” game to hit it big, but won’t be the last. We’ve seen little of Valve’s offering yet, but only a fool would bet against it. The style is proven, guaranteeing many more flavours in the future – and that’s no bad thing. It’s a rare mod that can take a whole industry by storm, and with DOTA, strategy has its own Counter-Strike and Team Fortress 2 wrapped up into one shiny free-to-play ball. Find out why the world went crazy for it today.

Valve’s DOTA 2 will debut at gamescom next week with a $1 million tournament. The competition will be streamed live on the game’s website.

By coincidence, putting these delights in a feature box produced a natty two-column look. This was not the intention, but I’m running with it.

• XSEED’s US release of CyberConnect2′s near un-spell-able DS game Solatorobo: Red The Hunter will come with a soundtrack CD when it releases in September.
• Check out the latest League of Legends champion spotlight – and extensive patch notes. Thanks, Anjiro.
• The team behind critical web series Extra Credits is having a tussle with The Escapist over the rights. Hope it’s settled smoothly, for both parties.
• Golden flagged this awesome stop motion video recreating classic games – with coins.
• There’s a massive Mega Man sale on the PlayStation Network.
• IGN has video interviews for a handful of Diablo III’s classes.

Today’s unrelated street art.

• Facebook has a director of game partnerships, and he says the social platform needs to improve its offering to developers.
• Move.Me, Sony’s PlayStation Move dev kit, is out now and free for educational purposes.
• Thank goodness we didn’t make a fuss over this Half-life ARG because it turns out it’s a fake.
• Riot’s put out a video preview of the next League of Legends patch.
• A planned double XP weekend for City of Heroes has been postponed. Sorry.
• Guidelines for NeoGeo developers have turned up, and they’re frankly adorable. “No spurting blood”. Yes, sir.
• Replica N7 rifle from Mass Effect! Dear Santa, I have been a very good girl, and…
• Did you think Minecraft’s creepers couldn’t get any nastier? Wrong! So wrong.
• Phantasy Star Online 2 is a thing. Look at this trailer if you want more proof.

Today’s unrelated street art is called Add to Basket – the full thing is pretty cool.

This week, one of the biggest games in the world went free-to-play. Yes, we know it’s only to level 20, but that’s a lot of levels for absolutely no money, and an enormous amount of accessible content.

World of Warcraft is, uncharacteristically, actually behind the times with this one. There’s already enough top quality, absorbing and completely free gaming out there to keep you busy for the rest of your life.

Shooters

It’s been a busy few weeks for free-to-play games, with Valve finally arriving at the obvious conclusion and giving Team Fortress 2 away for the princely sum of zero cashmoney.

Team Fortress 2 is hailed as one of the best class-based multiplayer games ever made. It’s loads of fun jumping on with other newbs and blasting away, with the cartoon aesthetic taking the sting out of your inevitable deaths. But spend some time in the training modules, equip yourself with a mic and a troop of compatriots, and you’ll unlock a deeper game where tactical play and teamwork are rewards in and of themselves, regardless of the final score.

The game is supported by microtransactions, but the items available – alternate weapons, the famous hats – don’t unbalance the game; there’s no pay-to-win button. You can score items from drops, and craft them yourself, too. So if you never want to give Valve a cent, that’s your prerogative, although if you let yourself be sucked in, you’ll probably want to. You can grab it on Steam for both PC and Mac.

The alternative for the Steam-less is Battlefield Heroes, which takes itself about as seriously as a rubber hotdog while building the framework laid out by DICE’s franchise. You can see for yourself on its website.

If you like your shooters more serious, it’s worthwhile taking a look at Alliance of Valiant Arms. This modern-day combat title takes a more realistic approach comparable to Valve’s other eternal shooter, Counter-Strike. It’s not surpassingly lovely to look at; AVA doesn’t look like a game someone gave you out of the goodness of their heart, although that’s precisely what it is. It plays the microtransaction game quite well, offering you enough decent options up front to keep you busy trying new things. You can hop on board at IJJI.

Another Valve title, Alien Swarm, breaks the mould by being a top-down shooter – not your usual F2P fare. The smaller number of classes and straightforward presentation make coming to grips with the tactical play easier, although this means your enemies are likely to be as cunning as you. Think Left 4 Dead without the possibility of being snuck up on from behind, and you’re part way there. This one’s another Steam favourite, along with Global Agenda. This third-person effort has a vocal following for good reason. It’s one of the few free-to-play shooters to choose a sci-fi setting, and there’s something so satisfying about taking out an enemy while hovering with a jetpack. There’s real personality there.

APB: Reloaded is the free-to-play attempt to resurrect the Realtime Worlds crime MMO that went utterly pancake the first time around. Response has been mixed so far, and it looks like the new development team is still struggling to iron out some of the problems caused by the sheer ambition of the open-world shooter, but Gamersfirst is throwing a lot of resources at it. Definitely one to watch when it comes out of beta.

Also in the near future, Tribes Ascend, Battlefield Play4Free and Ghost Recon Online all look set to add to an already impressive line-up of free shooters.

You really can shoot things in the face in genuinely good games all day for absolutely nothing.

MMORPGs

I am afraid of joining an MMORPG in case it eats my life, but if it’s going to leave my wallet alone then maybe we can talk. The go-to free-to-play genre has its share of big names in the freemium leagues.

City of Heroes (and its now-included sister title City of Villains) was the first game to really tap the superhero fascination, spawning dozens of action games and a comic book revival. Another recent addition to the freemium family, City of Heroes has optional subscriptions for those with the cash and the desire for status, but also offers microtransactions. These cast a bit of a cloud over things, as you’ll soon see how often NCsoft tries to wheedle some cash out of you. But if you can face the nagging, the game itself has plenty of fans.

Cryptic’s second go, Champions Online, has the distinction of being redundant in two directions. Based on the Marvel role-playing property, it doesn’t do a lot that City of Heroes hadn’t already achieved, and with Marvel Universe Online on the way it has lost its claim to uniqueness. On the other hand, it’s still a big-budget game managed by a dedicated team of experienced professionals, and the subscription requirement has been waived. You’ll need to hand over your credit card to get access to Adventure Packs, but otherwise, the entire game is offered for free.

If success is any measure of quality, both Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online have improved phenomenally since dropping their subscription requirements. The old “good enough to play, not good enough to pay for” criticism doesn’t seem to apply, because the incredible increase in revenue both games have seen suggests both are good enough to pay for – but people like to choose when, and for what, they pay.

Here’s one you probably haven’t considered yet: Free Realms. Now hear me out – family friendly doesn’t always mean “bad”. Free Realms is bursting with content, combining RPG-lite gameplay with virtual world playgrounds. It might not offer the strategic depth of WoW, but, for many of us, not having to use acronyms and spreadsheets when choosing gear is a good thing.

A new contender, Spiral Knights was selected by Valve to be showcased in its initial freemium offering because, basically, it’s pretty damn good. Published by Sega but with some serious indie chops behind it, some of the frankly adorable design hails from the webcomics community. You can slaughter things and eat them, and even play it on your Mac. That’s good enough for me.

Other

Massively multiplayer online arena-based real time strategy is a genre someone made up before we ended up calling a whole slew of games DotA clones. Defence of the Ancients itself, a Warcraft III mod joining the hallowed halls of games which launched entirely new kinds of gaming, is probably going to make a free-to-play appearance soon, but in the meantime, there are plenty of quality alternatives to check out.

The current top dog among these is definitely League of Legends. Riot’s offering is drawing serious attention among the eSports crowd as well as a fanatical fanbase. Frequent updating has done much to improve the game since launch, making it worth a second look if you peeked in during its early days.

Competition is fierce enough that you’re probably going to wish for a pay-to-win option, but your micro-funds will mainly go on new champions. These regular new characters offer unique abilities and balancing that keep the game constantly fresh.

On the more Diablo-like end of things, Mytheon offers just three classes but plenty of scope for customisation with its power stones. The game’s ambitious lore sees you battling the Olympian gods, which is rather jolly, and the “just one more loot” compulsion is strong with this one.

Free-to-play gaming has come a long way since the low-quality grind-fest many of us experienced in the Internet’s infancy. We’ve barely scraped the surface to produce this collection of games, and there’s plenty more where that came from. Take the day off work and try a few out – you don’t need the money, obviously, and we think you’ll be stunned by the quality.

• Eurogamer’s got an interesting article on EVE Online’s Incarna expansion and the resulting economic crisis and player revolt.
• A trademark suggests Naruto Shippenden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generation may escape Japan.
• Noted eSports commentator Diggity reckons League of Legends is gaining momentum in the competitive scene.
• See an actor dressed as Travis Touchdown demonstrate No More Heroes’ PlayStation Move controls.
• The latest Final Fantasy XIV producer’s letter suggests the game will move away from grinding.
• PopCap’s got more gorgeous goods up for auction, as part of ongoing charity efforts. There’s some amazing stuff there.
• SOE has launched the promised All Access pass, which grant you subs to all of its games for just $19.99 per month.
• Civilization V has had a thorough patching. The balancing is ongoing.
• In Serious Sam: Double D you can stack four chainsaws on your gun. Boom.
• Elevator Action Deluxe has been rated by the Australian Classifications Board. There’s a game I didn’t expect a re-release of.
• Siliconera asked NIS America what’s happening with its Imageepoch deal, and was told it’s still on.
• The Black Ops mod tools are out at last. Go ye and mod at will.
• Devil Survivor: Overclocked, the 3DS remake, will release in the US ahead of Japan, the first in the franchise to do so.

Today’s unrelated street art.

Replying to Ripten‘s queries, S2 identified a group of English and Croatian hackers as the culprits.

The group, alleged to sell hacks for shooters as well as running scams and posting racist and inflammatory messages shifting the blame for the Heroes of Newerth attacks, discovered an exploit allowing them bring the game’s servers down.

When banned, the group is said to have taken out new accounts with false or stolen credit card details, before giving up and launching a fresh campaign of DDOS attacks.

The attacks are said to be ongoing, although S2′s recent preventative and defensive measures are proving better able to cope with the fallout.

“It is most definitely our responsibility to create systems to prevent these kinds of attacks,” S2 admitted in a statement.

“However, the ferocity and length of these criminal activities is more than we have ever planned for. [Heroes of Newerth] ran smoothly and near flawlessly for a year of retail. We pride ourselves on our high standards of operation and this is very painful for us to endure.”

Players who have had their gaming disrupted have been awarded in-game currency and other bonuses in thanks for their patience during the attacks.

Heroes of Newerth is a DotA clone and the third game from the small, independent S2 Games.

The video posted below, courtesy of Massively, contains gameplay clips as well as the developers chatting a bit about it.

The End of Nations official site is now also live if you’d like a look at it as well.

Expect to hear more on the game next month at E3.

The Season 1 tournament will conclude with the championship, which will be held as part of the massive Dreamhack PC LAN event in Jönköping, Sweden from June 18-21.

In the end, the top eight teams for the multiplayer action-RTS game will compete in the championship for the chance at a share of that $100,000 prize pool. The press release did not say how much the top team will take home.

Riot Games plans to stream live coverage of the championship from Dreamhack. You can check out the trailer below for more info about the tournament.

“What makes it so enticing right now is the fact that it’s easy to get in, very competitive which can be good for those looking for a way to bring the action immediately to them,” Anderson told Big Download.

Speaking of Petroglyph’s upcoming MOBA, Rise of the Immortals, Anderson it stands out from the crowd because no other title “allows characters that shoot fire magic, look like something from hell, and can be a mean dancer, all in one game”.

He also commented on Rise of the Immortals’ persistent character growth, social hub, and PvE play, but added that it was “first and foremost a core MOBA game”.

Rise of Immortals will launch as a free-to-play title this year.

Petroglyph are also behind End of Nations, Mytheon, and the Graxia series, as well as several games in the Panzer General series and Star Wars: Empire at War.

Developer Lockpick is giving away 1,000 Ducats, Paradox’s currency, to all new players, which is $10 worth. Having been paid to sign up, you can spend your hard-earned loot on various powerup items for your character, a Dreamlord.

The promotion marks the game’s launch and is expected to end quickly.

The free-to-play game itself is one of the new fangled action strategy things, and features both PvP and PvE play, including raids on bosses. It features persistent characters, empire development, research, clans, and appeal to the higher powers, and makes use of the publisher’s social network, Paradox Connect.

Check out the trailer below.

Relic’s readying itself to send out Closed Beta invitations for its MMORTS Company of Heroes Online.

Invitations will be sent out soon to a select group of community members from North America who have access to the Beta forums.

A limited number of keys will be available for the first phase of testing, so not everyone gets an invite this round; however, Relic will be announcing a partnership to expand the Closed Beta with more keys soon.

Meanwhile, to be considered, head on over to the game’s official website, create an account, and opt in for the mailing list by checking both “Receive News” and “Receive Offers” for a possible Beta key.

Company of Heroes Online will be free-to-play and microtransaction based when it launches in the fall.

Thanks, Blue.

Loads of World of Warcraft stuff is coming out of BlizzCon 09, but you knew that already.

We also told you about the new CCP game Dust 514 this week thanks to GamesCom, but there is other stuff that went on in the world of MMOs as well.

The Avaline service is now available in Second Life, Warhammer Online is having it’s Wild Hunt Event, an Aion has revealed the Cleric class.

More is through the break.

• Brett Close has left 38 Studios. His position of CEO has been taken over by former VP of business development Jennifer MacLean. Hopefully, this won’t affect development of Copernicus.

• The Cleric has been revealed for Aion. Clerics follow the path of healing, using the power of magic to strengthen allies and heal their wounds. They can resurrect their allies. They are formidable opponents in melee when using a mace and a shield. Sounds like a Cleric alright. More about Aion can be found via the official website. There is also a new gameplay trailer over on BigDownload.

• Loads of new screens for DC Universe Online have popped up over on Play.tm. You should go have a look. It’s out for PC and PS3 in 2010.

• The Wild Hunt live event for Warhammer Online takes place from August 31 – September 7 and pits the forces of Order and Destruction against the ultimate quarry in the new instanced dungeon, The Hunter’s Vale. Taking inspiration from the Celtic myth of Herne and the Wild Hunt, players can hunt the mythical white stag to get a special buff and the favor of the Gods. Following the Wild Hunt live event, special weekend-only events are planned with special versions of the Mourkain Temple (September 11-14), Gates of Ekrund (September 18-21) and Temple of Isha (September 25-28) scenarios. More information can be found through the official site.

• CPP revealed its FPS/RTS MMO Dust 514 this week, and if you have not had a look at the PS3 and Xbox 360 game- Shack has some footage posted.

• The Avaline service for Second Life Avaline is now available and allows land-lines or mobiles to call a logged-in user within the game. Avaline subscriptions are paid in Linden Dollars, L$1500 ($5.60) per month or L$1200/month ($4.50) if paid annually. Subscribers are then issued their access number that they can advertise for would-be callers. Sounds like Second Life is drifting more into real life more and more. Thanks, Massively.

• New screens for LEGO Universe are over on Kotaku, and the set shows off the level of character creation. It really looks rather cute if we’re being honest. See if you agree here.

• Global Agenda’s second round of Beta testing began August 21 and runs until tomorrow, August 23. This time around the focus is on the higher level characters, and soon Beta and Alpha testers will be able to go at it during the third test. More over on Massively.

• Free Realms is huge. Millions of players huge. Sony Online is very happy about that. ere are some screens of it on Play.tm.

• Stargate Worlds is safe for now. Seems that Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment has received the funding to continue development and also pay off debtors. “Things are actually very good here right now,” said CME’s creative director Shane Hensley. “We received some funding commitments that will provide financing over time and allow us to move forward with development and start catching up on our past due financial obligations, including some back payroll that we paid last week.” More over on MMORPG.

E3 was a very busy week for all involved whether they were at the show or not. Loads of games were unveiled, peripherals, and tons more stuff happened.

MMOs were there too though, and while the majority didn’t make the front page, loads of stuff pertaining to the genre happened or is going to happen.

Find out exactly what after the jump.

• The developers of Fallen Earth started an E3 diary on the official website. If the game interests you, what you find on the blog will too.

• Frogster sent us a lovely press announcement regarding Chapter II for Runes of Magic. Called The Elven Prophecy, the update will launch in September and include new classes, content, a graphics overhaul, level cap increases, pet-system, and the elven race. More through the link.

• Warhammer Online updated its lore this week with The Origin of the Elves, elaborating on the part the race played in history up to The Sundering. It’s a rather interesting read if you are a fan of the Warhammer Universe.

• Heroes of Telara was on hand at E3 and 1UP got up close and personal with it. Seems every decision you make effects the lives of the inhabitants of the land of Telara. Sounds like an interesting concept. We may have to try this one out.

• World of Warcraft got patched during the week and with the usual fixes came some class changes. Hunters will notice an additional power attack bonus for Hunter’s Mark and a cost cut on Aimed Shot and Chimera Shot. Death Knights and Warlocks were nerf’d, Warriors and Druids broke even and the Rogue Overkill Talent was redesigned. Full thing over on Gaming Today.

• Destructoid were on hand at E3 to check out some MMO titles, and Jade Dynasty was one of ‘em. One of the things the site noticed was the ease with leveling. “Use the meditate feature for when you are playing the game and go off to get a sandwich and your character will gain experience just standing there. Or, when you log off after a nice 6 hour raid session, you can click the Dream feature. You character will gain experience while you go do important things, like eating sandwiches.” Hmmm. You can get in on the beta here.

• NK Interactive’s Rohan: Blood Feud will get a crafting update on June 16. It basically works like most crafting in MMOs. Gather. Extract. Create. More on the official website.

• Free Realms may have over 2 million registered users, but no matter how many people are in a game, things can still get a bit stale. Sony plans to keep this from happening though, and are in the process of implementing the soccer job class and other new jobs, player housing will be coming either this year or next, and racing will be upgraded along with demolition derby sections. More on Kotaku.

• Torchlight will “morph from single-player to mmo” within a year of release, according to a piece on Massively. The game is currently being created by some of the folks who brought you Diablo, Mythos, Mythos II and Fate, so this Diabloesque 2D hack-and-slash has gamers holding high expectations. The town in the game, Torchlight is a town with another world underneath it – which sounds awesome. Plus, it looks rather damn good at the moment. Hit the link for more.

• Reality Gap has announced Monato Esprit that will go live in July and is currently in final beta.The fantasy-RPG MMO had players assume the role of winged Archons whose mission is to rid the Dreamworld of an invasion by nightmares. Players also control the game’s economy by having the exclusive right to sell items in the stores, commanding NPCs to charge tolls, and performing alchemy to create custom magic items. Cool.

• Vanguard’s upcoming patch has been designed for the players by the players. The “Player’s Choice” update, focuses on updates decided by the community, and what did the community choose? While “big squashing” of course. Nothing is more annoying than a game full of bugs that just won’t get fixed.

• Book 8 will arrive to Lord of the Rings Online soon, and one of the new additions is another festival, which are always fun. This time around though, you will be able to bet on certain races using tokens earned in game. For example: In the Shire, you can bet on which Hobbit will win the pie-eating contest. Most of us are just interested in what the horse will be though, and if this time around Turbine has fixed the issue that kept us from getting one last time. Full thing on MMORPG.

• Star Wars: The Old Republic has had the Trooper class detailed in a video. You should go watch. He has a big gun.

• Mortal Online’s beta is going good according to the devs. Shame we didn’t get picked for it yet, but that’s the way things go sometimes. At any rate, more players from the community are being invited each week and the test phases have been getting loads of feedback. Looking forward to this one as well.

That’s that.

Petroglyph is creating an MMORTS in conjunction with Trion, the company’s announced.

“Trion is thrilled to partner with such decorated and extremely talented game vets as the Petroglyph team,” said Trion boss, Lars Buttler.

“We are very excited about bringing the world’s first truly high-end MMORTS to market and we can’t wait to share with gamers the innovative and fun game design Petroglyph is creating on the Trion platform.”

There’s no date on it, or any of detail for that matter, but this should be worth a watch: Petroglyph staffers worked on C&C, Red Alert, Dune 2, and so on.

Press release after the break.

Trion World Network Expands Catalog, Partners with Petroglyph to Develop a Massively Multiplayer Online Real-Time Strategy Title

Petroglyph to Be First 3rd Party Developer to Build a Game on the Trion Platform

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Trion World Network, Inc. (Trion), the publisher and developer of server-based dynamic online games and connected entertainment, is expanding its portfolio with an innovative project, developed by the award winning, independent game development studio, Petroglyph. The companies are creating a massively multiplayer online real-time strategy (MMORTS) game, set to define a new genre and standard for online games. Petroglyph is utilizing Trion’s advanced server architecture, designed to enable massive scalability, dynamic content evolution and cross platform development, to create an epic gaming experience. The game represents the first 3rd-party development on the Trion Platform, and will be published by Trion worldwide.

“Trion is thrilled to partner with such decorated and extremely talented game vets as the Petroglyph team,” said Lars Buttler, co-founder and CEO, Trion. “We are very excited about bringing the world’s first truly high-end MMORTS to market and we can’t wait to share with gamers the innovative and fun game design Petroglyph is creating on the Trion platform.”

Trion and Petroglyph’s collaboration will breathe new life into the RTS genre. Renowned for developing high quality and innovative RTS games that appeal on a global level, Petroglyph is responsible for many critically acclaimed RTS titles including the Star Wars®: Empire At War™ series, collectively selling several million copies. During their time at Westwood Studios, founding members of the Petroglyph team also helped create Dune 2, widely regarded as one of the most influential real-time strategy games, and played significant leadership roles on seminal RTS franchises like Command and Conquer and Red Alert. Trion’s expansive team of game industry veterans, coupled with their cutting edge server architecture, will ensure a true evolution of the RTS genre by adding the MMO paradigm to it.

“Petroglyph is extremely excited to be working with a visionary publisher like Trion World Network,” said Michael Legg, president and co-founder of Petroglyph. “Combining Trion’s platform and industry expertise with our GLYPH game technology and our development pedigree will allow us to unleash a groundbreaking MMORTS gaming experience to the world.”

With two internal development studios in Redwood City and San Diego, CA, and a technology studio in Austin, TX, Trion is creating server-based games that will fundamentally change how dynamic entertainment is made, distributed and consumed. Trion team members have worked on, developed and shipped more than 100 original games.

Silverlode Interactive is offering the client for MMORTS SAGA for free. According to the publisher, if you’ve “been wanting to try out SAGA but haven’t been sure if you’re ready to buy, you can now play for free and try things out.”

There is no expiration date for the free version of the game but “there are some features which are disabled such as the market and guilds.” If you want the full experience then hard cash is required.

Download it here.

By Mike Bowden

Here. Billed as the “world’s first collectible online real-time strategy game”, Saga is readying for a March 4 launch with an open beta which starts today.

The site says, “The exact time isn’t nailed down yet, but we hope to have things up and running as soon as possible.” Old skool. It’s worth looking at if only for the really clever Flash dragon that flies past the navigation at the top. May as well give the game a go while you’re at it.

Press release after the link.

SAGA Enters Open Beta

Silverlode Interactive opened its servers to all players for SAGA- the persistent world MMORTS.

Provo, UT – February 25, 2008

The World’s First Collectible MMORTS entered Open Beta testing on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008. All players who sign up at www.playsaga.com will receive accounts, allowing them to create nations on the Beta servers. For the duration of the Beta test, all game features will be unlocked and available to testers. At release, a full unlocked copy of SAGA will cost $19.95; however, promotions will be available during the open beta period to purchase the full version of SAGA at a reduced price.

During the stress test conducted on Saturday, February 23rd, the servers performed excellently, with no crashes or other server issues. The SAGA servers are expected to support up to 20,000 players per realm with thousands of simultaneous users. Should a greater-than-expected number of players attempt to login to the world at the same time, a login queue will be implemented and additional realms will be brought online.

Go now to www.playsaga.com to check out SAGA Open Beta!

Have a look at the link for screens. Kingdom Under Fire II releases in 2009.