December 15th is the kickoff for the first of the holiday events NCSoft has planned for its MMORPGs. Players can expect traditional events with fresh content as well.

City of Heroes leads off with its Winter Event 2008. City of Villains is also included because naughty players like gifts too. A festival atmosphere has already taken over Paragon City and the Rogue Isles, and will linger December 15th until January 4th, 2009. You can look forward to lots of goodies this year although you may still have to take your lumps of coal.

The Lineage II Saving Santa Event is next up running December 16th to December 30th. Players will face the nefarious Thomas D. Turkey to save Santa and Christmas.

Guild Wars‘ Wintersday 2008 event begins December 19th. The Eye of the North will be decked out for the Wintersday for the first time, and that’s only the beginning of new content planned for this event. Players will receive a special gift for attending the Wintersday Finale January 5th.

Get the full scoop on these winter holiday events after the break.
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Vanguard: Saga of Heroes players are getting into the holiday mood with The Festival of Gloriann. During this year’s event players will have several new features to the Vanguard MMO to celebrate. Sony is adding new race/class combos as well as enchanting. Fishing is also on the SOE gift list along with sailing in galleons and other surprises players aren’t allowed to unwrap yet.

Get ready for Atnas Claws to visit Telos, pass out those gifts and prepare for good things in your stocking this holiday during The Festival of Gloriann on Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.

Sony Online Entertainment has tricks and treats for everyone as it celebrates Halloween on all its MMOs and the Legends of Norrath: Oathbreaker TCG. EverQuest and EverQuest II will be celebrating their traditional holiday events. The Matrix Online and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes are into the act as well.

The inaugural Galactic Moon Festival runs until November 7 on Star Wars Galaxies. Set a course for Naboo or Tatooine to get in on the thrills and chills. Full details on each event follow the break.
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Sony Online Entertainment is spilling more details on Fan Faire 2008. For the second year running, SOE president John Smedley will kick off the event with the Community Address. There will be a simultaneous streaming video broadcast online as well as a live audio broadcast in EverQuest, EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies through Station Voice by Vivox.

WHEN
Friday, August 15th at 6:00pm PST.

WHERE
To view the live webcast, please go to:
http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=50659

To listen to audio broadcast in-game, please go to:
www.station.sony.com/stationvoice

According to the SOE press release, SOE will be featuring all its MMOs including a lineup including the hit titles EverQuest, EverQuest II, EverQuest Online Adventures, PlanetSide, Star Wars Galaxies and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes as well as upcoming titles Free Realms, The Agency and more. SOE’s Fan Faire runs from August 15-17th in Las Vegas. For further details on events check out the official Fan Faire 2008 website. Although online registration is officially closed, on-site registration is now open at the Hilton Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Lighthouse, the Community Relations Manager on the City of Heroes forums,, has confirmed that the Rikti are invading in waves through Thursday June 19th. Sites in Paragon City and Rogue Isle are taking a beating. Fortunately Vanguard has intelligence on the Rikti and can predict where and when the next assault will come.

When Zones within the cities are under attack, a world-wide alert will be issued by Vanguard. This alert will show up in your Chat window on the Event channel, warning you in which zone attack is imminent. If you haven’t already, be sure to add the Event channel to one of your chat tabs.
• While the invasion is occurring, players do not receive debt while outdoors in an invaded zone.
• Those in that zone that do not wish to be at risk of Rikti attack are asked to take shelter immediately. They can do so by leaving the zone, or moving inside buildings or under cover (overpasses, parking garages, etc.).
• The combative inhabitants in a zone will move off the streets and to safer locations when a Rikti Invasion takes place.
• Rikti bombs appear to be unstable and not 100% reliable. Some do not explode on impact and only embed themselves in the ground. These bombs have been noted to detonate after a time, so take caution when you see these. They can be disarmed or delayed by inflicting damage upon them.

Players of City of Heroes and City of Villains can test their mettle against the Rikti several more times this year including August 1st through August 7th, September 26th through October 2nd and November 14th through November 20th.

via PlayNC City of Heroes

Sony has announced that SOE’s 37th podcast is up and available for download. This episode features Julie “Ellyra” Burness and Nick “Glip the Gnome” Parkinson from the Vanguard team and promises to give gamers 10 reasons to come to Fan Faire 2008. You’ll finally get to hear the interview with Cat Neri, and learn how to pronounce all those EQII server names correctly.

The motto of this podcast is, “Save the Hamster, Save the Fan Faire!” You can access the podcast here.

via TenTonHammer

John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment, is the next big name in the games industry to be interviewed as MMO Week continues over on Games Industry.biz.

Smedley talks in depth about SOE’s strategy in the MMO market. The most important lesson SOE has learned along the way is to listen to its customers. He cites the reaction of the Star Wars Galaxy community over changes to the game a few years back.

I think we were a little too arrogant as a company. We thought we knew what was best as a company, and we should have listened more. That’s really the biggest lesson we’ve learned as a company in the last eight years. Listening to our customers is everything.

The lessons we’ve learned from our community have just been extraordinary. For years now we’ve been running something called the Influencer Summit, where we pull 100 people, and 50 of those people will be our worst critics.

So one of the things we’re trying to do is listen better as a company, and over the past few years I think we’ve done that – I’m really proud of the strides we’ve taken in that direction. Listening is a very important skill.

This interview will give you information on SOE’s portfolio of MMOs including EverQuest and EverQuest2, the troubled Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. The article also covers new titles in development such as The Agency for the PS3 and another title for the Indian market based on the Ramayan 3392 AD comic.

via GamesIndustry.biz

Journalist and MMO commentator Michael Zenke has written an article explaining his theory on why Microsoft has a black thumb when it comes to MMOs. Microsoft has a bad track record with the genre. Marvel Universe Online is the latest title to make the list of its failed games; which include Asheron’s Call 2, Mythica, True Fantasy Online and Vanguard.

Zenke chalks many of the casualties up to poor planning and lack of foresight. He also cites preoccupation with Xbox Live as an obstacle to cashing in on porting MMOs to its console.

Of course Microsoft’s failure has made it that much better for Sony. SOE has very successfully capitalized on the MMO market including porting them to the PS2 and PS3 consoles.

Zenke presents a very simplified theory, but I happen to think it’s a sound one. Take a look at all the evidence and judge for yourself.

via Gamasutra

SOE and Vivox Inc. have signed a deal that seems destined to change the way that gamers communicate online. Gamers will be able to access a suite of voice communication tools that will give them voice mail and the ability to synthesize their voices into their avatars’ voices; and still be able to receive outside calls in SOE MMOs.

Need standard chat for groups and raids? Check. Don’t want to tie up your own bandwidth? Roger that. Want your voice to sound completely different? Done. Late for your raid but want to take part in the group setup by cell phone? Can do. Dream of having in-game voicemail? There ya go. Playing a non-SOE game but want to use this service, free of charge? Aye.

For everything these companies are promising, it’s hard to believe that these services will remain free for very long. Call me skeptical, but I can imagine the free ride will last just long enough to get players totally hooked.

Check out the complete details in the press release listed after the break.
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Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and if you are single, in a gaming relationship or just boycotting this overrated Hallmark Holiday, SOE has something that is sure appease you whatever your situation may be. SOE is hosting a barrage of Valentine related events via three of their popular online games EverQuest II,Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and Planetside.

EverQuest II will be romancing players throughout the annual week long “Erollisi Day” celebration honoring the goddess of love, Erollisi Marr. Players will be able to present each other with virtual Erollisi roses, enjoy heart shaped cookies and sip love potions. Also during this holiday, players may discover love notes or message candies when they kill mobs throughout the online world of Norrath. While in EverQuest Online Adventures, the adventurers of Norrath will be celebrating Valentine’s Day by seeking out a GM who will provide them with a unique holiday quest available to all.

In Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, the world of Telon has caught the love bug and it is spreading Valentine’s cheer among the citizens with city decorations that give players candies and treats. These aren’t just any treats, eat one of these candies and you will experience temporary Valentines buffs.

Planetside players who log in February 12-14 will receive a special ball-and-chain merit. Also, the dummy NPCs that fill the virtual shooting range now feature names such as “It’s Not You It’s Me” and “Ice Queen” – both phrases which are near and dear to my heart.

Erollisi Day and Valentine’s Day events are scheduled to take place the week of February 12th – 19th. Exact days vary by title. For more information check out the respective game links.

Via: Press Release