Last week we saw the id/Bethesda merger under parent company ZeniMax Media and there was much rejoicing, but what if Electronic Arts merged its two online game developers into one giant super developer wouldn’t that raise some eyebrows and be general cause for mass excitement?

Well that actually happened as the publishing giant reorganized a bit putting RPG mavens Bioware and long time MMO developers Mythic in the same division. While the two studios will remain mostly autonomous for the time being, they now both have a single reporting line up the chain to the big bosses and money men. That single leader? Bioware’s Dr. Ray Muzyka.

Dr. Muzyka’s ascencion to the head of the organization basically also points to the exit of Mythic’s longtime leader Mark Jacobs. According to Jacob’s blog the MMO pioneer is taking a sabatical for awhile and he leaves with a classy ‘I’m not going to dish on anything, I’m just going to thank folks and peacefully step aside’ sort of announcement – a classy response that we don’t get to see so often these days.

Regarding the future path of the now combined studio’s efforts, Dr. Muzyka indicated in an official response over on IGN that:

Anything’s possible. We can’t say it wouldn’t happen. There’s no active plans, currently to do that, but the teams at Mythic and BioWare I know from talking to all of them, they’re really excited about working together, so I think that fuels a lot of cool things.

Warhammer: Age of Reckoning is still holding strong in the WoW dominated MMO market while Bioware’s first effort – the much anticipated Star Wars: The Old Republic is still a ways off. Mythic has a lot of experience that could help the minds at Bioware pull off their vision of Star Wars and maybe even put a dent in the Warcraft numbers but only time will tell if this pairing will be all it seems.

I don’t know how many of you are Warhammer Online players. Personally, I still play it here and there. I’ve been very interested in their Call to Arms live expansion so far, and it look like what is yet to come is even bigger than what we’ve seen so far.

Two of the upcoming releases that really catch my eye are the Land of the Dead, and the Necropolis. Luckily for me, the folks over at G4, specifically X-Play, had a really cool feature with Jeff Hickman and Paul Barnett from Mythic Entertainment. Not only is there a ton of cool information in these clips, but there is also some brand new footage of both the Land of the Dead and the Necropolis.

Check out the Land of the Dead in this Clip, and then hit the jump to see the preview of the Necropolis. Then, tell us what you think of them both in the comments!

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“Come on, dood. You know FF7 is teh greatest RPG evar!!!! Noob!”

If you’ve have been gaming for a while (long enough to self-appoint yourself the title of “gamer”), then you’ve undoubtedly involved yourself, involuntary or not, in heated debates over what you consider the “top-ten” or “greatest” video games of all time. Whether you want to admit it or not, you’ve also probably spent a great deal of energy standing your ground on the subject.

If these debates prove anything, it’s that gamers are passionate when it comes to defending their ideology of what transcends greatness.

Following up on a recent taping of X-play, Adam Sessler and Mythic Entertainment’s Paul Barnett (Warhammer Online) vent out against being repeatedly asked “What is your favorite game of all time”? While both parties make excellent points regarding how these so-called “bestest game evar!” arguments consistently devolve into mere mudslinging, I get the impression that Paul is irritated the most by this.

So it begs the question, are top-ten lists of all time truly backed by passion? Or is it just blind nostalgia?

Perhaps one may find enlightenment from “The Sess” by watching the video after the break.

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In a press release today, Mythic Entertainment has announced an eighth expansion to their venerable MMO franchise, Ultima Online. The expansion, scheduled for release via digital distribution this summer, will be titled Stygian Abyss.

As with most MMO expansions, Stygian Abyss will bring a raft of new content for UO players. Most of this content will be based around the introduction of a playable Gargoyle race. The Gargoyle race will have a number of skills, including Throwing, Imbuing, Mysticism.

Stygian Abyss will also bring a number of new areas to the game. Obviously, there will be a Gargoyle homeland, but there will also be a new dungeon with the same name as the expansion: The Stygian Abyss. According to the press release, Stygian Abyss will be the largest dungeon area that has yet been introduced in UO, and will contain some new bosses including the Medusa and the Primeval Lich. There will also be a brand new Player vs. Player zone where players can turn their weapons on one another.

UO has been a stalwart member of the MMO genre for years, and with the release of Stygian Abyss, it doesn’t show any signs of going anywhere. If you’d like more information on Stygian Abyss, you can find it at their official website.

You’ll find some screenshots and the full text of today’s press release after the break.

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