Perfect World  Entertainment has announced that Legend of Martial Arts Open Beta will begin next December 15^th, for the joy of all fans.

“We’re extremely excited to see such positive feedback for Legend of Martial Arts and receive confirmation that the game’s new direction of development is in line with our community’s feedback. It has been rewarding to see a great reception from players both old and new alike.”

To celebrate it, everyone redeeming a closed beta key or referring friends to play the game, will enter the raffle sweepstakes for a chance to win 1 of 5 ASTRO Gaming A30 headsets (MSRP $129.95) and 1 iBUYPOWER Chimera 2 desktop computer (MSRP $1,299.00), impressive.

In addition, PWE will reward players with in-game items for each friend they bring to the game, through the referral system:

1 Referral Key Redeemed = Celestial Dew for 10,000 years (Health Battery Item)
2 Referral Keys Redeemed = Holy Charm (1-Day Convenience Item)

For more information about the closed beta sweepstakes rules and all about Legend of Martial Arts, visit the official website.

Some weeks ago, we told you of the fantastic Crew Skills System that Star Was: The Old Republic will feature when it launches. Now, Patrick Mallot, a systems designer, examines and the system, giving us information about the design approach, and shares details about another crafting skill: Armstech.

Armstech is the ability to work hard metals, alloys and synthetic materials to craft blasters and other weapons, like riffles or even cannons. The materials needed can be acquired through the Scavenging gathering skill and, with the Crew Skills System, can be gathered by your crew members, even when you’re offline. You will be able to craft three different types of quality, needing several gathered materials and crafted by players parts, for the highest quality levels.

This developer blog, is a very interesting read. If you’re interested, go to the official website and have a look. The only problem, maybe, is the hype generated and a huge sense of impatience growing, every time we read cool things about SWTOR. If you don’t care, and want to know as much as possible about the features Bioware is designing, you can also check the Crew Skills System and dream of the day you and your fellow companions travel the Galaxy, far away beyond the stars.

I remember when Wrath of the Lich King broke so many moons ago. My level 70 Retribution Paladin chomped at the bit, eager to replace his hard-earned Karazhan gear with quest rewards from new lands with names like Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra. There was also the promise of a mysterious new class to play; the Death Knight waited with a starting zone that was unlike anything we’d seen before. It didn’t just breathe life into the game, it violently defibrillated it, injected it with steroids and strapped a jet engine to its back. It was a thrilling time in World of Warcraft.

And that’s a tea party with schoolmarms compared to the fare we’re about to be served.

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I’m not a ‘people person’.  Sure, in the quiet of one-on-one I can be quite social, but drop me into a crowd (especially a crowd of strangers) and I’m suddenly nursing a case of near-total misanthropy and have to be physically restrained from committing acts that the legal system usually garnishes with terms like, ‘extreme prejudice’. Funny that I should be such a fan of games referred to as massively multiplayer, but fate is often squirrelly-gone-nuts like that.

It’s not that I don’t like the friends I’ve made in games, because I do.  But my gaming time is often limited to an hour or so at the tail of a long and busy day. At that point, I’m not at my sunny, social best and, more often than not, I just want a little downtime free of the need to meet anyone else’s expectations (you know, expectations like courtesy or coherent conversation.)  And it’s not just me; more and more lately, I’ve noticed that I’m not alone in my desire to be alone. I’ve often heard friends bemoan the lack of privacy in favorite games. They sigh wistfully about having to play at odd hours just for the chance to complete a particular quest, or farm, without being pelted with greetings, invites and requests for help.

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Welcome to this week’s MMOries of a Gamer, today featuring Guild Wars; the original and different online game Arenanet got to the top. The story of me and this game is quite curious and, thinking about it, taught me something so important in the life of a gamer. Come along with me, after the jump, and read how things can change drastically when you change the way you play.

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Planet Calypso, the oldest planet in Entropia Universe, keeps leading the virtual economy activity in virtual worlds. We told you of the astounding virtual sales into this game and now they come with more business opportunities for the bold virtual goods investors.

Medusa’s Head is the fourth major property offered on Planet Calypso and will be available for virtual viewing from next December 7^th, though the auction will begin on December 13^th. With this move, Planet Calypso offers the opportunity of buying the largest virtual property ever sold and one of the most lucrative, potentially. For information about how to bid, visit the official website.

The area to be auctioned, holds eight different revenue generating areas, three on the main island and five on the surrounding smaller islands. Two unique creatures, which will be of interest to all hunters around, will come included with the property, as well of several species, mining, residential and retail assets and a teleportation system.

Some brave investors made the move in the past, earning a lot of money, but this is serious, we’re talking about real money and a very different way of how to enjoy a game: turning it into a way of earning money. Definitely,  not for every gamer.

Welcome to another chapter of Hyrkanian Insight where we’ll go over more RP (role playing) for yet another week. No, don’t panic, this won’t become endless, as part III will be the last of this series. Or at least the last for now; being a role-player I won’t discard the chance of talking about it more in the future. Raiding, instancing, crafting and almost every other area of game content calls me with equal strength, (except maybe PvP, but that’s mostly because I’m terrible at PvPing and the people I tend to play with prefer the PvE content over PvP, but that’s another story.)

This week I want to talk you about RP Events, which was what I originally had in mind when the Behind the Scenes series started; taking Age of Conan as my base, as usual. Walk with me after the cut and let me guide you through backstage of RP.

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The second expansion of the free to play MMO Aika Online has now arrived and ready for you to go in-game and enjoy it. Following the first  expansion “Ashes of Betrayal”, which raised the level cap from 50 to 60, “The Last Bastion” sets an increased level from 60 to 70. The new expansion adds the new region of Termiz to Lakia, a region once flourishing and vivid which is now covered by swampland,  plagues,  fire and torn by monster armies of the Dark Legion. Over 100 new quests are now available to adventure through as well as new weapon and armor sets to get your hands on.

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Vogster has just revealed the new trailer for its free-to-play MMO Crimecraft and is called Bleedout. This video showcases the style of this action game, where you shoot first and ask after, you know what I mean, easy bullets.

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As we told you some days ago, Nadirim is about to begin the closed beta phase next December 8^th. Some games simply announce the event and then let you play the beta once it’s launched but, Nadirim has prepared a very original way to inspire you and let you become familiar with the storyline of the game.

From now, everyone can go to the official website and play the text-based game “And the tale begins…”, learning all you need to know about the story of Nadirim, before the beta begins. The game tells the prequel of Nadirim, letting you experience the lore story interactively.

If you’re interested, just go to the official game site, and enjoy this text-based game, very similar to the “choose-your-path” old fantasy novels, where you have to decide what you do as you advance into the story.