As you might know RPGWatch is a site made by volunteers who invest their time and money into bringing you as much RPG information as possible and provide a place to discuss RPGs (and whatever else you like to discuss).

Our ads income are minimal and the operating costs for RPGWatch are not getting any less so we decided to open up a donations page where we ask you our visitors for a voluntary contribution. The link to this page can be found at the top of every page (a bit below the ads banner). On that page we give some more background information and the option to donate if you like. Alternatively you can also click this link to reach that page.

Update by Arhu: If the link at the top doesn't show up for you, try shift-reloading the site. One of the style sheets has changed.

The first actual screenshots of Interplay's Fallout Online codenamed "Project V13" have been published by the Fallout fansite Duck and Cover.

We've stopped covering MMOs but I'm sure some are still interested in Project V13 / Fallout Online and the various associated shennigans.  Duck and Cover has four new pieces of concept art.

This weekend RPGWatch turned 3. On October 17th 2006 the site went live and marked the start of a new adventure, bringing us to where we are now.

We are doing very well for a niche site as we are. We have a few million page views a month a continuously rising number of visitors and the feedback we are getting is increasing as well.

In the last week or so the team discussed the future of RPGWatch and decided that we want to keep our focus on RPG's and drop the support for online games. As a result we have ended our activities related to MMOWatch and, although the site is still active it will not be updated anymore. We will have to see if we will remove the link to the site all together or just leave it as it is now.

Another thing we discussed is the fact that we need more staff. It would help if we get some assistance in posting news and in creating articles for RPGWatch to make the site even better. An official announcement will follow, but if you feel you can contribute just message us by clicking on the 'Submit news' link at the top of the page.

We have other plans for the site but it is too soon to talk about them as we don't know if and when they can be realized. As you might know we are all volunteers and most of us have a full-time job besides keeping RPGWatch running, so the realization of the new features might take a while, but we hope that some of them will be realized before we turn four.

We want to thank all of you for visiting us so frequently and for your involvement on our forums. Without you our efforts would be meaningless and RPGWatch would be nothing. We hope we can continue to attract your attention and that (in the not too far future) we can enhance the site to make it an even better experience for you.

Runes of Magic recently hit the 2 million mark of registred users.

Runes of Magic hits million mark again
Now more than 2 million registrations

Frogster announces today that the online role play game, Runes of Magic has now recorded over 2 million registrations in Europe and the USA. Doing so the Berlin publisher reaches a further milestone in the marketing of its multi-award-winning MMORPG, just six months on from the release of the first chapter ‘Rise of the Demon Lord’’ in its German and English language versions. The second chapter ‘The Elven Prophecy’, launched recently in September, also saw the launch of additional French and Spanish language versions. The Russian language version is already in the starting blocks and preparations are on-going for further localised versions.

‘Runes of Magic has become a mega-seller in the few months since we launched. The 2 million registrations milestone we have now hit is yet further proof of the quality of our game and our communication strategy’, commented Rolf Klöppel, Director of Marketing & PR for Frogster Online Gaming.

The MMORPG.com staff have been busy and deliver another review, this time with Blizzard's vice president Frank Pearce and World of Warcraft Production Director J. Allen Brack.

In talking about Cataclysm, Brack explained a lot of the reasons behind the choices they made. The Goblins are there to give the Horde a small race, complimentary to the Gnomes, while the Worgen are seen as the sinister side of the Alliance being compared to the Undead of the Horde. Both classes offer something new to players who want to create a new character. The other area we did not talk as much about is giving the new class break down to the different races. There are charts out there, and if you play WoW you have likely already decided which class you will play.

This led to Brack explaining the changes in the level twenty through sixty zones of the game. There are many areas that the Blizzard team felt needed improvement in these zones so Cataclysm was a great story method for them to restructure the old world. Players will get a new, more streamlined experience with Cataclysm similar to the quest design in Lich King. Blizzard VP Frank Pearce also explained in his interview that he is not one to re-roll new characters through old content. Cataclysm gives him a reason to do that. As far as the facts about Cataclysm many have been revealed. When Blizzard does talk, especially about WoW, they are pretty clear about what they are doing. The real cause behind the interviews was why are they making those choices.

CEO David Allen talks about  Alganon and the company's philosophy to MMORPG.com.

MMORPG.com: Explain the business philosophy behind Alganon, creating an MMO is a huge undertaking and you are seeing some great success in development.

David Allen: When I proposed this MMOG to my business partner back in January of 2006, I told him we would have to build all of our own tech from scratch if we wanted to do it right, and we would have to minimize overhead and ensure none of the traditional corporate garbage waste ever took place. This allowed us to control our design and development, bring our team together, grow at a proper pace, and maximize every investment penny. As far as I know QOL is the only privately financed MMOG company in North America that's majority owned by the founders, and owns all of its core technology (Client, Server, Tools, Installer, Patcher, Billing). We are very proud of Alganon and the great company that has been built in creating the game.

MMORPG.com promises to bring us 3 new Star Trek Online screens every two weeks and this week marks the star of that series.

In an interview CEO Russell Williams and Associate Producer Janice Von Itter explain what they are doing in the upcoming expansion of Pirates of the Buring Sea.

For quite some time, Flying Lab Software has been refining and improving upon the core of Pirates of the Burning Sea. Then, at PAX, they announced their first major expansion pack - Power and Prestige – which marks a shift in development towards new, themed content. FLS CEO Rusty Williams and Associate Producer Janice Von Itter recently discussed this announcement with MMORPG.com.

Everything in this free update – due out next year – revolves around its title. They want to make players feel more important, more legendary. And what’s more legendary than being a governor of a port?

That’s the core feature of Power and Prestige. Players can submit themselves for the post and then must campaign within the game to secure the votes of other players. Whoever wins the voting is declared the governor for a period of time and put in charge of the port’s economic and defensive decisions.

Five appears the magic number as Msssively also has 5 new screens from Star Trek Online with one of them showcasing a Borg.

Star Trek Online’s executive producer Craig Zinkievich talks about how to get into beta, ground combat, and some of the challenges Cryptic has dealt with in an interview with Ten Ton Hammer.

Ten Ton Hammer: So how is Star Trek Online coming along?

Craig: It’s coming along really well. We’re moving into the home stretch now and looking at what we have, and figuring out where we think the holes are, and plugging those holes. We’re really starting to polish it; taking a step back and realizing we’ve got the core of everything in. Now what do we have to do to get this game out?

Closed beta is right around the corner, and we’re all chomping at the bit for it. PAX was a lot of fun. It was really amazing to finally get people from outside the company and friends and family to play the game and give us feedback. We’re all anxious to get the game out and get feedback in as soon as possible.

Ten Ton Hammer: So when is beta happening then?

Craig: Definitely in 2009.

Ten Ton Hammer has taken a look at the post-apocalyptic MMO Fallen Earth and came up with a positive article with some negative issues being mentioned.

The gameplay is a good mix of part shooter, part RPG. In some ways the game is similar to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadows of Chernobyl with how they've merged shooter with RPG mechanics. You can choose to play in first or third person view and combat can be with ranged or melee weapons. As you level up you can invest gained skill points in a number of areas to improve your character such as your use of rifles, pistols, melee weapons, or upgrade your crafting skills and mutations. You are pretty free to enhance your character any way you want, which leaves a number of possible builds.

Another neat little additive is the ability to go prone or crouch to try and be a sneaky little killer. Jumping is a bit awkward as when you land your character stops for a second before being able to move again. This can be a pain in combat and just plain aggravating while running and jumping an object.

The Incarna project is about being able to exit your pod and enter a space station and at the Eve FanFest an Incarna trailer was released.

Ten Ton Hammer have a few new screens in their Eve Online Dominion Gallery.

Here is the view of the Champions Online team of the last few weeks and what is coming next.

It’s hard to believe that Champions Online has been out for a full month now! We’re hard at work on a ton of upcoming features and content, but we thought we’d take a minute to look back on this past month, as well as give you a peek as to what’s coming up in the future of Champions.

Previously On Champions...

After a bit of a speed bump at launch due to the infamous Launch Day Patch, we bounced back on our feet with continual changes and fixes to powers. Luckily, this also gave us the opportunity to implement the ever-crucial ability to grant free Retcons to players across the board when we make massive changes to powers.

We also made some sweeping changes to our game’s economy, due to players not earning as many resources as we expected them to earn. By increasing item drops and decreasing the cost of Retcon, this paved the way for those unaffordable character changes to suddenly become within reach. It’ll still take some effort if you want to fully reset your character’s abilities, but you shouldn’t have to rob a bank in order to afford a few changes for your character any more.

Lastly, we addressed one of the major content gaps in the game by adding missions to Monster Island. This is just the start, as we’ll be adding more missions to fill in more of the troublesome gaps as time goes on.

We’ve got a bunch of long-awaited features coming up, so here’s a little preview of what we’re planning...

Mission Tracking Updates

A handful of new options will be available to players, including setting primary mission waypoints for a group, increasing mission sharing distances, making over 100 more missions shareable amongst a group, and granting “Assist Bonuses” to heroes who help their friends complete a mission they don’t have. Expect these updates to come over the next two weeks or so.

More Missions

UNTIL missions that send you to take down signature villains, bounty hunter missions that reward you for delivering bounties on specific enemy groups, and more missions in Millennium City (level 18) and Rime Woods in Canada (levels 11-13) will fill in more gaps and give you more paths for leveling up. These will be trickling out throughout October, with the first ones up on the Public Test Server within the next week or two.

Power House 2.0

A new room will be added to the Power House for you to test out your powers against actual enemies, giving you a better sense of a power’s usefulness before you take it out into the real world. Powers Trainers will also suggest powers that you may want to add to your builds based on any types you may be missing (such as Block upgrades or Healing powers). Additionally, we’ll be making the area around the Power Trainers a duel-free zone, so that you can purchase new upgrades without any distracting fights around you. You’ll find the new and improved Power House on the Public Test Shard within the next two weeks.

This is just a small taste of the plans we’ve got for the immediate future. We’ve got even more things planned for the second half of October, including the huge Blood Moon event/update coming October 27th. We’ll be revealing more details about additional features coming as the month goes on, so keep checking back for the latest information. Happy October!

ZAM is the next in line to showcase 5 unique screenshots from Star Trek Online.

Two days ago a trailer featuring the three classes in Mytheon was released.

New Trailer Showcases Warcaster, Elementalist and Eidolon in the heat of battle

GOA, Orange’s games unit, and True Games Interactive, an international multi-player online game publisher, in conjunction with renowned game developer, Petroglyph, today released the official trailer highlighting the three unique character classes in its upcoming online multiplayer action-RPG game, Mytheon. The companies recently revealed key features of each of the distinct classes and this trailer now highlights all three in action. In the trailer, players will the see the powerful Warcaster in action as he summons companions to fight alongside him in a battle against deadly foes. The Elementalist brandishes his abilities to channel the forces of nature to quickly bring down enemies, as the Eidolon demonstrates his prowess at conjuring companions, buffs, and debuffs to heal allies and weaken opponents. Mytheon fans can view the new trailer and much more on the game’s official website: http://www.mytheon.goa.com

Mytheon offers a unique game play experience that combines elements of action, role-playing and strategy, with an emphasis on collectability. Players will challenge legendary mythological gods by wielding potent and unique “Power Stones” that transform into spells, structures and companions. Players can loot, forge, buy, sell and trade these stones among a thriving online community, then cast the stones during epic battles that play out in a visually stunning 3D mythological world.

Gala Networks Europe sent out the news that Dragonica will get guild battles

gPotato Europe will introduce fifty player Emporia Tournaments into Dragonica as part of the Tales of the Damned expansion this October

25 v 25 side-scrolling guild battles heading to European versions of Dragonica

Dublin, Ireland, 30th of September - Dragonica is the free arcade-style 3D side-scrolling MMORPG developed by Barunson Interactive and published by Gala Networks Europe. This October will see the introduction of the "Tales of the Damned" expansion for European versions of Dragonica, and we are proud to announce information on the eagerly anticipated Emporia Tournament system, available to players who download the game from http://dragonica.gpotato.eu.

Players who are members of any of the active Guilds of Dragonica are in for a treat this October. The Emporia Tournament is a Guild v Guild battleground that gives opposing teams the ability to attack an Emporia, with the aim of taking out their opponents cores, scattered throughout the brand new Emporia maps. Up to fifty players will be able to participate in frantic side-scrolling team-based action.

The Emporia Tournament system will work to a timetable that will be announced on the official European Dragonica website at http://dragonica.gpotato.eu and will offer Guilds a regular series of events that they can spend their Guild experience to enter. Winning teams will get a variety of in-game prizes, as well as develop their Guild's prestige and be in with a chance of gaining large amounts of experience for their Guild. This experience will unlock new Guild skills that Guild members can use during their adventures throughout Dragotaka.

The Emporia Tournament is just one of many new features being introduced by the "Tales of the Damned" expansion to European versions of Dragonica. In addition to this new feature, controller support, pets, an increase in the level cap to 65, many brand new field maps, mission maps, dungeons, bosses and a revised mission scoring system will be introduced. As with all gPotato.eu games, this and future updates are all available completely free of charge, and will be delivered by a patch (or for new players a new and updated client) during October.

Dragonica is available as a free-to-play game, meaning no subscriptions, ever! You can download the game client from http://dragonica.gpotato.eu and register for your free gPotato.eu account to play the game. European users who are travelling outside of Europe, you are now able to play Dragonica with gPotato while abroad by clicking the "Register my IP" button on the Dragonica website before logging into the game.

MMORPG.com looked into Fallen Earth and came up with their first impressions on the game.

Onto the game; congratulations you’re level 40. You can stop playing here….or jump right into the game. This is actually quite a clever move; it allows the player to learn the game for most intent and purposes you’re virtually invulnerable. It gives you the chance to learn the controls and game mechanics without the pressure of dying. Players begin in a compound located in the Hoover Dam, one of the last bastions of humanity. Your first goal is to escape from this compound. The escape sequence doubles as a brief tutorial for the game. This tutorial will introduce essential skills such as interacting with your environment, equipping yourself, the basics of combat. (Both ranged and melee) and vehicle usage. My first ride on the in game ATV should really result in me having my driver’s license suspended. Additionally players will be exposed to their first usage of Advancement Points, more on that in a bit. By the end of the “tutorial”, I was equipped with an axe, two knives, two pistols and a rife. I looked pretty damn suave running around with all that gear in their six weapon slots. Not a bad little combination for battling the denizens of a post apocalyptic world. In spite of all your gear and best efforts, you will die. Don’t feel bad, it’s just part of the story. After the “tutorial” section of Fallen Earth you will be thrust into the true game play.

Writer Neil Pollner talks about the Sith Warrior in the Star Wars: The Old republic developer blog.

Think back to when you first watched Star Wars™: A New Hope™ — to the moment when Darth Vader enters the besieged Republic ship, surveying the carnage, single-mindedly hunting his target, Princess Leia. If you were like me, your eyes bulged and you thought, “I wanna be that guy.”

Now, maybe I was alone in that visceral response. Maybe it reveals something disturbing about me, I don’t know. On subsequent screenings, I seem to recall hearing a chorus of hisses and boos when Vader emerges. So maybe most of the Star Wars™ fan community are Luke lovers, or Solo sycophants . But something tells me there are more of me out there. And all these years, like me, you’ve been waiting for the opportunity to express your inner Vader.

The blasted area, one of the areas in Earthrise is featured in thte latest installment of Earthrise developer journals.

When the reborn humanity explored their new home, they found the ruins of one of the last cities to be occupied, but gave it no more thought than to note that its surroundings were now inhabited by viscous mutants – much like everywhere else on Enterra. Continoma soon set in motion their plan for terraforming the island, but during the extermination of the flora and fauna in the southern parts of the island the Backlash occurred. The exterminators found themselves in the worst possible scenario facing a mutant stampede and were forced to use all the tools at their disposal to trigger total chemical devastation on the region. The destruction had little strategic impact on the Backlash, but the landscape in the region is now composed of scorched black hills and ravines and came to be called The Blasted Area.

Five screens of Star Trek Online can be viewed at Curse.