Filed under: Culture

Joystiq's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from the last week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute.

	10 things I wish I had known before building an MMO Continuing with our countdown to EverQuest's 10th Anniversary, today marks the first of three special articles containing the retrospective thoughts on MMO development from the team that made it so popular. Today's "10 things I wish I had known before building an MMO" starts off with Steve Klug, Lead Programmer for EverQuest.
	Massively's EVE Online Apocrypha expansion hands-on Massively got word that EVE Online lead game designer Noah Ward, aka CCP Hammerhead, would be in New York City last week. We jumped at the chance to find out more about the Apocrypha expansion, and Ward was kind enough to give us our own hands-on demo while answering our questions about where EVE Online is heading.

While the swiftly approaching dawn of spring might signify the arrival of the MLB season or an annual debaucherous excursion to some tropical Central American destination for some, we see it as a celebration of truncated legwear. The feeling of freedom when our calves are freed from their daily denim and corduroy prisons is a sensation like no other. You are truly wise beyond your years, Pokémon Youngster.

Below are our seven favorite gaming-centric webcomics of this past week -- oddly enough, across the board, their respective titles are decidedly not short. Regardless, you can vote for your favorite after the jump, then use the comments to tell us what comics we've skipped over. You could also use that space to voice your love for knee-length pants, should you feel so inclined.

The Good Son (HyperComboFinish)
Fanboy Baiting 101 (SideScroller)
It's Simple, Just Grind Inner Peace (Of Noobs and Men)
Going Green With Painful Radiation (MLaaEG)
Does the Carpet Match the Drapes (Stolen Pixels)
This is Actually a Real Thing (Penny Arcade)
REeducated Part 5 (Digital Unrest)

Webcomics apparently don't need to have clever monikers to be winningly endorsed by you lot -- though seven panels-worth of Watchmen in-jokes seem to go a long way towards victory. Comic Critics' latest untitled strip veered away from its usual raison d'etre to poke fun at the Watchmen video game. Maybe they should consider further gaming-centric installments -- they won last Saturday's Weekly Webcomic Wrapup by a fairly gargantuan margin.

Second and third place went to Penny Arcade's "Context" and Stolen Pixels' "A Place for Pie," respectively. We'll be wrapping up this week's best webcomics tomorrow, same bat time, same bat ... website. If you want to tell us what you'd like to see on the polls, let us know in the comments after the jump!

Joystiq's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from the last week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute.

Massively's complete coverage of Warhammer Online Patch 1.2 Dwarf Slayers are just about ready to start hitting the live Warhammer Online servers for all their worth. With the orange tide imminent, I've been running around the test server for the past several days, looking to learn all I could about these wonders of Dwarven kind. Including -- but not limited to -- the underlying cogs of their special mechanic, how they handle PvP and PvE, and most importantly where they hide their booze -- here's a hint: it's underneath something.

EVE Evolved: Apocrypha expansion preview As March 10th draws ever closer, EVE Online's Apocrypha expansion is coming more and more into focus. Information on the new game mechanics and content is being released in the form of developer blogs and the official expansion page complete with screenshots and artwork is already up.

Were you completely enraptured by a number of 2008's independent gaming offerings? Perhaps you were infatuated with Q-Games' PixelJunk Eden, or bowled over by the bizarre meiosis exhibited in Coil, or, much like us, you were strangely obsessed with the brilliantly minimalistic You Have to Burn the Rope. If you want to show that appreciation in a worthwhile manner, you might want to cast your vote in the recently opened polls of the Audience Award category for the 2009 Independent Games Festival, which will be held in conjunction with the Game Developers Conference later this month.

Even if your favorite independent titles didn't make the list (or if your gaming habits stuck explicitly to big-budget blockbusters), most of the 15 finalists in the category are accompanied by their download links. Come for the exercise in democracy, stay for the free games!

Though our comic nerd roots dictate that we should probably be sternly protesting Friday's release of the slow-mo-infused film adaptation of Watchmen, we can't help but be a little excited. Sure, it'll probably lose a bit of its trademark melancholy in translation, but the casting of Billy Crudup as the illuminated Dr. Manhattan does add a certain dreaminess factor. We're not too sure about the video game, though. On the literary-ludological adaptability spectrum, Watchmen clocks in somewhere between Jane Eyre and Chicken Noodle Soup for the Grandmother's Soul.

Here's our seven favorite highly adaptable webcomics for this week. Make sure you vote for your favorite after the break!

Untitled (Comic Critics) [Warning: Contains Watchmen in-jokes]
A Place for Pie (Stolen Pixels)
Crocomire (BitF)
Too Much of a Good Thing (SideScroller)
Context (Penny Arcade)
We Don't Need No Stinkin' Patches (MNC)
REeducated Part 4 (Digital Unrest)

A dark, unstoppable force is looming over the typically serene plains of the Weekly Webcomic Wrapup. Refusing to adhere to the standard three-panel format, and undefeated in its every appearance to date, Hiimdaisy's parodical jab at Metal Gear Solid 3 took home the gold yet again this week with its latest installment, "Let's Destroy The Shagohod Part 3." With at least one more strip to come, we anticipate this won't be Hiimdaisy's final week atop the WWW dogpile.

Second and third place went to Penny Arcade's "Please Check One" and Brawl in the Family's "Lullaby," respectively. Unhappy with this week's winners? You should make some suggestions for tomorrow's illustrated round-up in the comments section. It might just be the only way to interrupt the unflappable Hiimdaisy's tyrannical reign.

If you're chomping at the bit for scraps of information regarding BioWare and LucasArts' upcoming long ago and far, far away MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, you'd be wise to turn your attention to the first issue of the game's Dark Horse-produced online comic, "Threat of Peace." With writing from BioWare's Rob Chestney and art from JSA Classified illustrator Alex Sanchez, it's higher caliber work than your usual webcomic fare. Sure, it's a scant three pages long, but with future installments dropping every two weeks, it should prove an invaluable resource for the KotOR-uninitiated who can't tell their Kashyyyks apart from their Coruscants.

Joystiq's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from the last week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute.

Visualizing Free Realms: An interview with Art Director Rosie Rappaport If you've been following the development of SOE's Free Realms lately, you're probably pretty excited about everything it has to offer. If you haven't been following its development, check out our extensive coverage and exclusive interviews with its developers. Ready for even more exclusive interviews? Good, because just last week Massively sat down with Rosie Rappaport, the Art Director for Free Realms, to chat about the game's distinctive art style and the concept process involved.

Massively's pre-launch interview with Runes of Magic With the game set to launch in just about a month from now, we jumped at the chance to have a chat with the folks at Frogster concerning their much-anticipated fantasy MMO. Are they on track with this March launch date? How has beta reaction been so far, and what do they have to say about the growing concern that the game is "nothing more than a cheap WoW clone"?

Enumerating the accomplishments of one Steve Preeg would be a lengthy undertaking, indeed. He's got a magnificent surname, for starters. He's worked on the digital effects team of some of our favorite films, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I, Robot, and Ri¢hie Ri¢h's Christmas Wish. The World of Warcraft guild that he heads up has conquered all but one of of the title's demanding raid bosses (curse you, Sartharion!), which is truly no small task. Oh, and he won the highest available commendation for cinema last night at the 81st Annual Academy Awards. We nearly forgot about that one.

Preeg's small digital effects team took home Oscars in the Visual Effects category for their computer-assisted oldening of Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, beating out fellow cinematic contenders The Dark Knight and Iron Man. We're sure it'll go down as the proudest, happiest moment of Preeg's spectacular life -- that is, until he and his guild finally take that bastard Sartharion down. Best of luck!

Everyone knows that the most important element when attempting to pick off virtual, foreign combatants is immersion. However, in an online age characterized by 1337speak and decidedly un-1337 bigotry, immersion's a tough commodity to come by. We can't remember the last round of Call of Duty: World at War (or any online shooter, for that matter) we played where we didn't want to climb through the expansive internet tubes to choke the life out of one of our half-baked (or, in some cases, totally baked, brah) teammates.

Sketch comedy troupe Whitest Kids U Know recently exposed this infuriating phenomenon (NSFW) to those who've never experienced it firsthand. You can watch their sketch after the break -- we warn you, it may invoke such strong feelings of familiarity that you might just call up the DABEARS in your life, and congenially tell him to die in a fire.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

It's a phenomenon widely known (yet rarely understood) by the Street Fighter veterans amongst us -- most players, after a certain amount of time with the game, will discover that one of its virtual brawlers is their inexorable counterpart. With the vicious nerfing of E. Honda's once nigh-unsurvivable "thousand-hand bitch slap" in Street Fighter IV, we've abandoned our longtime portly companion in search of a new mate. C'mon, people -- our hearts are ripe for the stealing. Any takers? C. Viper? Sagat? Zangi -- hah! Oh, sorry. We can't even suggest that one with a straight face.

While we search for our new lifelong companions, check out the webcomics we've wholeheartedly endorsed below. The drill is known -- we've got the poll after the break, where you can pick your favorite, and a comment section below that where you can tell us of the hidden illustrated gems we've unforgivably overlooked. You could also use that space to mention which one of SFIV's colorful pugilists we should begin courting. (We're considering Rufus, though this might just be due to his all-too-familiar girth.)

Lullaby (BitF)
The Emperor's New Content (Castle Vidcons) [Warning -- Link may contain illustrated wang]
I'm Exaggerating the Exaggeration (Slackerz)
In A Pickle (2P Start)
Sic Semper Testudines (Dipswitch)
Let's Destroy the Shagohod Part 3 (Hiimdaisy's Livejournal)
Please Check One (Penny-Arcade)

We've seen the unforgettably disastrous consequences that result when comedians attempt to make jokes at the expense of members of the gaming industry (smelly virgins! LOLOLOL!), but from what we've heard, Jay Mohr's introduction to the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards show actually possessed some elements of humor. Instead of harping on gamer stereotypes, Mohr's act was refreshingly researched -- take, for instance, his jab at Richard Garriott: "That guy used thirty million to launch himself into space. Maybe he should have used that to launch Tabula Rasa."

While some of his jabs fell flat, Mohr ended up hitting more than he missed. He compared the 100-plus hours he's sunk into Fallout 3 to the amount of time it takes to acquire a pilot's license, saying, "Guys are landing planes on the Hudson. I'm decorating a shack in Megaton." He turned his sights to the D.I.Y. nature of LittleBigPlanet, too, saying, "It's like buying a CD, plugging it in, and then having to go buy all the instruments." Best of all, he refused to pick on Grand Theft Auto IV, quipping, "If you want to watch an awards show about thugs beating up ho's, watch the Grammys." Awww ... (wait for it) ...

We're not sure what powerful forces led you guys to pick the 8-bit love notes featured in 2P Start's "Anti-ValentiNES" as your favorite game-centric webcomic of last week by a staggering margin. The logical portion of our brains (a section that doesn't take up a large amount of cerebral real estate) would assume that you were overwhelmed with nostalgia upon seeing your cherished pixelated acquaintances once again, but we know the truth: you guys are just a bunch of big ol' sweethearts.

Second and third place went to Brawl in the Family's "Hot Dog" and Digital Unrest's "REeducated Part 2," respectively. Were your overly amorous hearts not won over by any of last week's contestants? Jump into the comments and confess your undying love for that certain special strip -- we might just consider it for this weeks' illustrated showdown.