MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood writes this week's column on the importance of accessibility to the future of traditional MMOs.

One of the most interesting things that we have seen while we were here at the 2010 Game Developers Conference was a new iPhone app from the folks at Icarus Studios. I won’t go into the fine details here, that’s for another article, but what I will say is that the app allows players to do basically anything they could do in-game (save for actually move around the world) from anywhere.

This, my friends, is the future of traditional MMOs.

I know that what I’m saying isn’t particularly revolutionary. I also get the fact that these guys aren’t the first to break into the iPhone space, but if there’s one thing I’ve noticed at this conference, it’s that the iPhone side of the industry and the Facebook side of the industry both now have a much bigger presence here.

Read Jon Wood: Accessibility is King.

Gamasutra is reporting on a study that has found that American gamers have spent 3.8 billion dollars on MMOs in 2009. Wow!

Image Credit: Gamasutra

The charts provided in the article break down the spending figures from six different countries, including: the US, Germany, Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The highest spending nation behind the US is Britain at 270 million, which definitely puts things into perspective!

The figures were further broken down into categories of spending. So where did your 3.8 billion go? 47% went to monthly subscriptions, 15% to annual subscriptions, 19% to virtual currency, 8% on direct microtransactions, and 11% on the boxed game or client downloads.

Some other interesting revelations: The Brits spend the most (of their total) on direct microtransactions at 19%, Belgians spent the most on annual subscriptions (20%), and the French really love their virtual currency (31%).

Of course, we still spent more total on all of the above. But it is definitely illuminating information with regards to the tendencies of gamers in different countries.

View the original article here.

[Thanks EricDanie for the tip!]

The next Open Beta event for Craft of Gods is upon us! The event will run from today, March 11th through to Saturday, March 13th.

Highlights of the changes made since the last test are available below:

• Brand new User Interface.
• New spells to try.
• Major issues solved according to users' reports and suggestions.
• Level cap set to 20.

Go here to get started.

[Thanks Senarus for the tip!]

This live-action video continues the Global Agenda "No Elves" campaign as a victim aims to identify an Elf.

The elf is apparently guilty of "enchanting" the victim's "sacred meadow."

Watch the video here.

I also must warn you that this year one in five gamers will be accosted by an elf. If you're tired of it, go here.

MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller gets a feel for Aika's PvP offerings in this latest preview coming out of GDC 2010.

Aika is a game coming to the North American audience through Gala-Net. The game offers a PvE experience we have come to know in any MMO. The real story in this game is the five nation PvP system that works similar to Dark Age of Camelot. With fast paced combat and huge fights players can jump into this world and enjoy an MMO that takes its faction PvP seriously.

Read the full GDC 2010 preview here.

Icarus Studios has announced today that a Beta version of the upcoming Mac release of Fallen Earth is now available!

If you're a Mac gamer with hardware that meets the listed requirements (OS X Leopard 10.5, Intel CPU, and dedicated graphics), and an itch for post-apocalyptic MMOG gameplay, you can get started by downloading the beta client here.

View the original announcement here. A FAQ is also available.

[Thanks Einherjar_LC for the tip!]

CCP Hammer has posted a new dev blog on the official EVE Online website detailing the Planetary Interaction features which will debut with the launch of EVE Online's newest expansion, Tyrannis, later this summer.

CCP Hammer kicks things off with a bit of backstory, explaining that CCP has wanted to do Planetary Interaction for some time, and teasing us with the progression of EVE from interacting with planets as players will come Tyrannis, down to the boots-on-the-ground experience of DUST 514, and inside stations with the release of Incarna.  The goal is for EVE Online to be the "ultimate sci-fi simulator." But as Hammer admits, he is getting a bit ahead of himself.

So what is Planetary Interaction, exactly? Hammer explains below:

A little about what Planetary Interaction is; PI is a feature in which industrial minded pilots can now take advantage of the resources on planets which had previously been laying dormant. To do that one simply opens the planet browser, finds a suitable planet via a scanning interface then plunks down various things we have internally been calling PINs (planetary interaction node), links those PINs together and then configures routes for all of the stuff moving between the PINs. PIN is just a working title and we've got our highly trained sci-fi experts on the task of renaming everything so you should expect the name to change by the time they reach Tranquility. Our ultimate goal being to create a nice additional revenue stream for people that's wrapped up in a sexy UI with lots of sci-fi feeling content that eventually ties in seamlessly with DUST 514.

Find out tons more about Planetary Interaction here.

A number of the Planetary Interaction features are now available on Singularity, with some screenshots available here.

[Thanks cosy for the tip!]

It's been quite awhile since Jumpgate: Evolution's delay announcement last year, and until today we didn't know much more about the game than we did then.

In the interest of providing eager fans with some sort of update, NetDevil has broken the silence in a post to the official Jumpgate: Evolution forums, outlining some of the things the developers are working on or thinking about.

So what are the folks at NetDevil working on? Read below to find out:

-"Battlespace" returning to more of its simulator roots from Classic, really a place to practice not advance. I know this will make some of you happy in that advancing will only happen in "real" space not instant action type playing. I still hope to have some achievements/leader board materials form here but not likely to have any equipment or pilot advancing type effects.

-Lots of work on missions. With the new design team map layouts, mission stories, the types of things you do in missions, etc is all MUCH more interesting and varied than ever before. The kinds of things we can now do is very advanced.

-Better faction definition. The stories in the game really tell all about your faction and why you are at war with the others. The story is also darker than before with many of the missions you fly feeling more gray than the typical black and white always doing the good thing type story.

-PvP. Lots and lots of work on systems for PvP, new maps, new game play, new forms of advancement, player built battle stations, capturing sectors, etc. The scope and feel of the massive space battles you will be taking part in against other players will be, IMHO, what really sets us apart.

-AI functionality. Tons of work on making the AI both the right difficulty (it was way to easy before) and also varied in behavior.

View the original announcement here.

What do you think about the changes NetDevil are working on? Let us know in the comments below!

This latest Producer's Note for Star Wars Galaxies discusses the recently released Galactic Civil War update, as well as the future of Star Wars Galaxies, including the upcoming Game Update 16.

Game Update 16 will continue the trend of GCW focused development, this time bringing a number of additions to the often overlooked space component of SWG. With the introduction of Region Defender in GU16, guilds and cities will be able to hold their ground in "148 theaters of operation, spanning 10 planets and 8 space zones." Other space additions include new commands to flag yourself for PvP in space, a boost to space weapons, and new repeatable high-end content for players to enjoy.

Find out what else is coming to Star Wars Galaxies in Game Update 16 and beyond by reading the full Producer's Note here.

[Thanks Christopher8 for the tip!]

Mythic Entertainment is interested in taking some significant steps in order to sort out Warhammer Online's economy issues, and they are looking for player feedback on how to do just that in this latest In Development post made on the official WAR forums.

The main issue of WAR's economy appears to be an imbalance of basic supply and demand: players simply don't have much to do with their gold.

To be more specific, the development team is seeking thoughts from the community on how to improve the viability and value of the game's item rewards:

So how do we look at ways to change our current economy to balance both supply and demand? To accomplish this we need to look at solutions that will tweak the way items are rewarded. Not just how useful they are to the individual, but also as potential trade goods in the economy. We have a good idea on how to do this, but we want to throw the issue out there and get some feedback proactively, before we settle on a design.

What we’d like are some thoughts on how to change our world drops, PQ loot, and the like to make them more viable and valuable to the economy which will hopefully balance supply and demand. Examples would be: making items BOE versus BOP, making items useful to multiple classes, etc.

Read In Development: The Future of WAR's Economy.

[Thanks Christopher8 for the tip!]

Similar to the recently announced "Engineering Reports" for Star Trek Online, Cryptic Studios has posted an "On Deck" list on the Public Test Server forum of Champions Online, giving players an idea of what the developers are currently working on.

Some highlights from the On Deck list include a review of the Supernatural, Melee, and Collective Will powers, as well as a general review of perks.

Read the full "On Deck" list here.

[Thanks Christopher8 for the tip!]

The intrepid reporters over at FFXIVCore have dug up some early leaked details on Final Fantasy XIV from upcoming issues of Japanese magazines Famitsu and Dengeki.

Image Credit: FFXIVCore

While initially reported as rumors, cellphone captured pictures featuring scans from the magazines have surfaced lending some credence to the rumored information.

The leaked information consists of various details on Job abilities and the game's battle system, as well as some miscellaneous details, including information on the upcoming beta and alpha tests.

A few highlights can be found below:

• Everything done in battle in FFXIV increases TP, including casting
• Defense can happen both automatically and at the will of the user
• The PC version will be able to run on PCs from a few years ago, but the alpha version will only run on high-end PCs
• Can be run on 512MB of VRAM and above
• Alpha test starts soon
• Square wants to make it possible to play with your friends from FFXI
• Character customization won’t be fully available in beta (can’t change facial features)
• There’s a mode for restoring HP while moving
• The plan is the make the maximum number of members in a party between 6 and 8, and there will also be alliances
• The important things in battle are distance, range, and direction There will be magic you can use while moving
• There are screenshots in the magazine of the alpha version, and it looks like there have been a lot of small changes
• “Aggro/hate” has a different name in 14 (Translates to something like how much the enemy views you as a threat)
• Enemies will not be set in one area in order for people to pull them to camps; places that enemies will appear will be scattered around

View the full story here.

Cryptic Studios has announced a new playtest for Champions Online's upcoming free expansion "Revelation." The short three hour test kicks off tomorrow at 4PM PST and will conclude at 7PM PST.

View the original announcement here.

Blizzard Blue poster Eyonix offers up a preview of the upcoming Mastery System that is set to debut with the launch of World of Warcraft's third expansion, Cataclysm, later this year.

Eyonix on the Mastery System:

Last week, we gave you an early look at the changes we’re making to the stat system in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and explained how these changes will ultimately provide players with more interesting gear choices and make stats easier to understand. Today we’d like to go into more detail about a brand-new feature that’s an integral part of this overhaul: the Mastery system, a set of new game mechanics designed to allow players to become better at what makes their chosen talent tree cool or unique. With this system, we want to accomplish three things: give players more freedom in how they allocate talent points, simplify some of the “kitchen sinky” talents that try to do too much at once, and add a new stat to high-level gear that makes you better at your chosen role.

Here’s how the system works: As you spend points in a given talent tree, you’ll receive three different passive bonuses specific to that tree. The first bonus will increase your damage, healing, or survivability, depending on the intended role of the tree. The second bonus will be related to a stat commonly found on gear desirable to you, such as Haste or Crit. The third bonus will be the most interesting, as it will provide an effect completely unique to that tree -- meaning there will be 30 different bonuses of this nature in the game. This third bonus is the one that will benefit from the Mastery rating found on high-level (level 80 to 85) gear.

One of our primary goals with Mastery is to give players more flexibility to choose fun or utility-oriented talents rather than make them feel obligated to pick up “mandatory” but uninteresting talents, such as passive damage or healing. (For examples of the kinds of powerful but boring talents we’re talking about, take a look at the talent tier just above the 51-point talent in many of the existing trees.) In a sense, Mastery makes it so every talent in (just for example) a rogue tree essentially has an invisible additional bullet point that says “…and increases your damage by X%.” This way, if you choose a talent like Master of Deception (which reduces your chance to be detected while stealthed) or Fleet Footed (which affects movement), you won’t feel like you’re giving up damage in exchange for utility.

Read the full preview here.

MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller explores Ala Playa's Land of Chaos Online in this latest preview coming out of GDC 2010.

This week at GDC we got a chance to look at Land of Chaos Online. Coming to the U.S. market through the European portal Ala Playa, Land of Chaos Online offers a unique online experience that is different from the normal MMO approach. With heavy PvP combat players can log into different battle grounds and fight it out with each other as well as some nasty boss monsters that spawn during the battles.

Gameplay for Land of Chaos is extremely fast paced. The game is designed to play in a third person mode. Movement and interface are similar to the normal MMO design that we are used to. The combat is where things change. The combat tracking works much more like a third person shooter. So having the third person view while moving and exploring allows the player a good point of view. The combat remains in third person and targeting for attacks acts more like a first person shooter for quick action.

Read the full preview here.

MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood sat down with Gamigo's Patrick Streppel to talk about Black Prophecy at this year's Game Developers Conference.

Black Prophecy is a new sci-fi MMO coming from Reakktor Media and now being brought to the Western Market by the good people at Gamigo. Here at the 2010 Game Developer’s Conference I had the opportunity to sit down with Gamigo’s Patrick Streppel to talk about the upcoming game.

For those who might not know, Black Prophecy is an action-oriented space based sci-fi F2P MMORPG, with players flying and battling ships in various sectors of space, in both PvE and PvP and in instances and a larger persistent world.

Read the full preview here.

True Games Interactive has sent over these three exclusive screenshots for their free-to-play mythology themed MMORPG Mytheon.

Check out the screenshots here.

MMORPG.com has just been given 1500 alpha test keys for Tales of Fantasy - a new MMORPG by IGG in where you capture and train wild beasts, then fight on them and race them in competition! Get your key while supplies last!

GET YOUR ALPHA TEST KEY AT THIS LINK!

MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh took Square Enix's new fantasy MMORPG Fantasy Earth Zero for a test drive in this latest hands on preview focused on the game's combat gameplay.

Ever been dropped into a world not quite knowing what to expect? That happens rather often in media tours, especially early previews of games where the official site is only a teaser site, and the server is only going to come up for the tour. You download, install, patch and hope it gets done before the tour, while doing what research you can on the game. The media tour of Fantasy Earth Zero was little different. It was fast, quick impressions, perhaps a little chaotic and you know what? That’s how they are describing their battles.

Read the full article here.