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Blizz fans rejoice: the good news doesn’t stop at Diablo 3. At Blizzard’s Worldwide Invitational event in Paris, VP Rob Pardo confirmed that "there is still one unknown project". He has also confirmed that the several job listings referencing an "unannounced next-gen MMO" did not refer to Diablo 3. So, what exactly is it?

Current speculation points to an oft-rumored Starcraft MMO, though it’s equally possible that Blizzard is, for the first time since the original Starcraft hit shelves in 1998, creating a brand-new franchise. Paul Sams, Blizz’s Chief Operating Officer, said in an interview with Gamasutra that "The idea of a new franchise is very intriguing to employees of the company. Are we ever going to release a new one? I would absolutely say we will at some point. I just don’t know when that day will be quite yet." Wether or not he is hinting at a new franchise from Blizzard isn’t known just yet, but that might just be what he’s doing.

As for a release date for Wrath of the Lich King, Starcraft 2, or Diablo 3… Well, come on. This is Blizzard we’re talking about.

[From Shacknews]

If you thought we have it bad with  micro transactions, game cash shops and virtual economies in the western world you surely don’t know about the QQ coin. In China, a company called Tencent has a monopoly on virtual currencies, one so massive and shady that state regulators fear it may start to affect China’s own currency.

It all starts looking innocently enough. Tencent runs websites with all sorts of games where either subscriptions or items are bought with the QQ, Tencent’s virtual currency. Much like Second Life you can take your QQ and convert it back to cash, and this is where thing’s start getting shady.

Read more!The Almighty QQ: The Story Of The Worlds Most Powerful Virtual Economy

We are less than a few weeks away from the premier of the MapleStory anime, the character designs recently got released and frankly, we’re scared. These look like anything but MapleStory characters! With these kind of characters, HoboStory would be a much more fitting name.

This is really shocking because the game’s strongest point was its chibi, cute, cliche’d anime-ish designs, actually it wasn’t its biggest point, it was its only point. Now don’t get me wrong, a series about a bunch of hobos caught in a grindfest world, killing pigs in armor and jumping around sounds awesome, but not like this!

News that MapleStory, the side-scrolling MMORPG, was getting the anime treatment have been known for some time now. But just recently did we learn what spot would it occupy on TV Tokyo’s schedule. The series will begin airing on Sunday, October 7 at 8:30 am (so expect subs somewhere around Tuesday), taking the place of epic shonen, Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann.

But as many Gurren-Lagann fans say, Gurren-Lagann is too epic to end. Ever.

[ANN]

So who knew this game even existed? I didnt, thats for sure! Manga Fighter is a game which features “manga characters” in a free for all third person shooter. Now the manga part is really a vague statement, the game has such western feel to it that a couple of anime-eyed characters really wont cut it. The stages look like something that came out of those first Lego 3D games, which while it worked for Lego, it doesnt so much for Manga Fighter.

Still, it just might be really fun and if you want to give it a try you are in luck since their first closed beta just ended and the next one begins sometime this month. A bear with a rocket launcher is never a bad thing, bad manga style aside.

[MangaFighter]

The Korean open beta for Ragnarok Online 2 started today, the chance for all RO fans to see their beloved game in glorious free 3D. If you are among those who wanted to try well we´ve got bad news because sadly its only for Korean citizens, you need a social security number to play.

Still, if you are a Korean citizen or wish to try and risk being caught by the Korean police you can use the number of any Korean friends you might have. Oh but there´s also that whole thing about the entire game being in Korean, but I´m confident our reaedership is more than accustomed to playing games they dont understand.

[RO2]

Tim Buckley, author of Ctrl+Alt+Del, is working on a list of features his ideal MMOG would have, being a man who’s played more MMOs than most of us would care to admit his opinions are quite interesting. Most I’ve seen implemented in a game already but never all. Two of my favorite bits:

Character Creation: Character creation is the first thing a gamer sees when he fires up an MMO, and the process defines their character for the entirety of the game. And not just what racial benefits and class they choose, but their appearance in-game. And I, for one, am sick and tired of developers acting like character customization is an afterthought. Something that takes a back seat. Three or four hairstyles and a couple of face options to choose from may be fine for a single player RPG, but when you’re going to be sharing a world with thousands of other people, you need more than that to differentiate yourself.

And,

Around level 20-ish, certain player classes would begin to learn teleports, similar to Wizards and Druids in the original Everquest. Available to port nearby members of their party to specific locations around the world, with more locations becoming available as they leveled up. In EQ, a lot of Wizards and Druids would run “taxi” services in their free time, and some would teleport travelers for free. Either way, it encouraged social interaction between players, something that automated travel in current games does not.

This last bit reminds me of Ragnarok Online where Acolytes and Priests were the primary source of transport, it made for great fun. What would your ideal MMO contain? Let us know in the comments!

[Ctrl+Alt+Del]

Age of Conan, the new MMO slated for release during the holidays this year, has opened up to closed beta, and for those of you willing to brave the high specs required for the game, and the dangerous world of Hyboria, you may get to be some of the first to set foot in the new world.

The game apparently is using a hybrid system of combat using a real-time slashing system while still giving you the strategic choices that other RPG systems allow. What that entails exactly, who can tell. But from some of what they’re advertising, including castle sieges and huge battles that feel much more “up-close” than other’s, we may finally be able to live out our Lord of the Rings battle fantasies, unless the ACTUAL LotR game does a better job. From the success of 300, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of people itching for gritty spear-to-shield combat though, so expect this to be a pretty big thing later this year. For those wanting to sign up, you can find the beta application here.

A long time in the making, and even longer in the ‘why hasn’t it been done? done list comes this World of Warcraft video very cleverly emulating a Mario plataformer.

The best parts are the powerups and the underwater level, this must have taken a really long time to make, and the editing is top notch!

[Joystiq]

Recently Cubed³ had a chance to interview Square Enix’s Senior Vice President Hiromichi Tanaka, and took the chance to ask him some interesting questions regarding Final Fantasy XI for the Wii and a possible revival of the Chrono franchise.

Regarding Final Fantasy XI for the Wii, Tanaka stated that the reason for the game’s absence from the Wii lies in Nintendo’s stance on online activity. Which while not a surprise, is strange since Phantasy Star Online played on the Gamecube. Nintendo is adamant to let gamers interact online without a friend code.

However, not all hope is lost, Square Enix is in talks with Nintendo to solve this roadblock, which could very well open the doors to other MMO games seeking to join the Wii’s library.

Speaking about the Chrono franchise, Tanaka said that Square Enix hasn’t given up on the franchise, but that a sequel is not currently planned. He also commented on the future of old titles such as Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, saying that bringing them back for the Wii’s virtual console or a remake for a handheld would only be a question of arranging the copyright issues, again not clarifying if this is currently planned or not.

[Cubed³]

I guess its true what they say, if you build it, they will come, and if you tax it, they will group. Some of the most prominent Gold Farming companies in Korea have banded together to form their own trade association. Called the Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association or DADPA, their aim will be to lobby with the government as it tries to regulate online digital asset trading.

Game companies need to catch up and start doing some lobbying of their own, lest these gold farmers turn the scale in their favor.

[Raph Koster's Website]

There’s a new trailer for the upcoming anime based MMO game Bastard!! is up online on the game’s official website. For those who never saw the 6 episode OVA series, Bastard! tells the tale of a once evil wizard’s quest to stop his old partners from destroying the world. The trailer looks awesome and captures the epic feeling of the series but I wonder if the game will be able to capture that same scale as an MMO.

[Bastard!]

Browncoats should rejoice or go Reaver crazy, Fox has at last headed your words and they are reviving Firefly, somewhat.

Fox has entered in a deal with MMO platform maker, Multiverse, to create a MMO based a game based on the Firefly universe. Forgive me if I find this lukewarm in excitement. Firefly did have a very detailed universe ripe for turning into a MMO, but what made the show was the main characters, the crew.

Learn to take a hint Fox, when a series of only 11 episodes draws crowds of thousands years after its been canned. When this fandom produces continuous material, like Done the Impossible, a documentary that entered Amazon’s top 1000 DVD list. When they organize conventions that sell out. Bring the freaking show back.

[Wired]

World of Warcraft has finally gone into TV, Blizzard concocted this somewhat amusing TV ad for WoW. For those not in the know the ad is modified footage from the movie Office Space, which is damn fun, unlike this ad.

[1UP]

Madhouse is working on an anime adaptation of Maple Story, the famous MMORPG. For those not in-the-know, Maplestory is a 2D side-scrolling game from Korean company Nexon. Since it release in 2003 the game has been played by over 50 million users. So far there is no more information, no indication if it will be a 3 episode OVA or a full fledged series.

[ANS]