With each passing week, The Secret World is getting a little less secret. This weekend marks the beginning of a consistent offering from Funcom, paving the way for more significant reveals in the months to come. The Secret World’s newsletter covers this week’s new round of screenshots as well as an exciting gameplay trailer.

The official site has received a solid revamp, providing more information and a better browsing experience overall. In order to receive the newsletter via email, prospective players must complete the initiation test, which determines your place in the game’s three societies, the Illuminati, Dragon, and Templars.

Finishing off the letter is a recap of The Secret World’s presentation at the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. Unfortunately, MMOCrunch was unable to attend the festivities, but a wide assortment of blogs, press sites and fan sites offered their experiences for us to greedily consume.

If it’s on the internet, malicious hackers will find it. They will infect your operating system and delete your family photos, reveling in the wanton destruction that has been wrought by a few deadly keystrokes. They will steal your identity. They will strangle your kitten.

Thankfully, the devs at Trion Worlds have recently been made privy to the rise of account break-ins among the Rift: Planes of Telara player base. In patch 1.02, a ‘Coin Lock’ system has been implemented in an attempt to squash such activities. Initially, Rift will determine which locations you normally access the game from. With this information the game can recognize unusual login locations and subsequently activate the Coin Lock, rendering any meaningful account activity impossible.

From the Rift 1.02 Patch notes:

A Coin Locked icon will appear on the bottom center of your screen if your account is in this state.
While you are Coin Locked, characters on your account cannot:

- Access the Auction House.
- Send Mail (can still receive and view mail or remove items).
- Sell to vendors.Salvage, Runebreak, or destroy items.
- Trade.

You can continue to play and gain coin and items, but cannot get rid of them.

A new rank 6 dungeon called the Vault of Lies will be opening in Rappelz as part of its Epic 7.2: Dimensions update, bringing new menaces and allies in the fight against the insidious Church. Fresh armor sets like the Ergon Cratos and Stormguard Suits have been crafted to help players clear this sprawling dungeon.

Epic 7.2: Dimensions update also introduces the Ice Maiden pet (shown above), a magic attack buffer and mana restorer, which along with the other pets in Rappelz can now be leveled while a player is offline through the Pet Stable System. Learn more about the cool upgrades coming to this free-to-play fantasy MMO such as a new user interface and other at the official Rappelz Dimensions microsite.

Trion released information about one of Rift’s most notable characters today, Alsbeth the Discordant, which includes a full bio as well as a few new screenshots.  Alsbeth is one of the villains players will meet in the world of Rift and is the right hand of Regulos the Destroyer and an immensely destructive force on Telar.   This is definitely someone you don’t want to piss off.

Check out some images below and her full bio after the jump.

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Today we have a new video highlighting the Villain Safehouses of Gotham and Metropolis inside DC Universe Online. Serving as hubs for all factions of evil, these safehouses, which also double as nightclubs, are key venues to purchase and repair weapons and connect with other villains in the city. If you make the right connections you can access special items from sinister vendors, so making a name for yourself and networking as a villain is key.

Along with these infamous nightclubs (The Tap Room, Club 539, Club L’Excellence and Sheeda’s Den), players can also enter The Mailroom for teleportation, player recruitment and of course, to check the mail. So what are you waiting for? Take a ride to the city and enjoy the nightlife alongside your favorite DC supervillains!

Wargaming.net announced today the release date for its highly-anticipated free-to-play action MMO game World of Tanks, which is set to launch on April 12th, 2011 in Europe and North America

World of Tanks last month broke the record for most concurrent users online on a single server and boosts over a million registered gamers for its open beta.

“Our team has been working really hard to create a unique blend of action, strategy, simulation and RPG elements in World of Tanks, and now the moment all fans across the globe have been waiting for is right around the corner”, said Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming.net. “We are delighted to be finally announcing the release date for this ground-breaking title and invite all veteran players and those new to the game to enjoy tense and uncompromising armored warfare on World of Tanks battlegrounds”.

Blood Rites is a new MMORPG from Chinese developer Kongzhong Corporation and today they released new information about their physics and environment engine, as well as some new screenshots.

Blood Rites will use the latest physics engine and virtual environment technology where players will be directly affected by their environments.    Magic will be affected by the weather, monsters affected by the day and night cycles and NPCs will be affected by the environments temperature. Visit a NPC at the right time and they might give you a rare quest to complete that might lead to the discovery of divine gear.  Blood Rites is aiming to give players a more real-world feel though the use of physics and environmental features.

Below are some new Blood Rites screenshots.

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For those of us who prize tactical gameplay over its action-oriented counterpart, World of Tanks has put itself on the map in more ways than one. Initially, the scenario-based skirmishes are ripe with strategy and tactical positioning, providing countless paths to victory (or defeat). Moreover, the unexpected depth of tank, crew member, and technology upgrades combine to bring a second level of customization for players.

Following on their motto, “Strategic Satisfaction”, Wargaming.net has taken World of Tanks to a new level with Clan Wars. Revolving around a global map, players will be able to utilize economic and diplomatic variables to influence the outcome of individual tank battles as well as political bargains. Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming.net, shares his thoughts,

“Clan Wars is not just a new game mode, but rather a separate gameplay layer or meta-game designed to provide years of fun and action for those fond of strategy thinking, politics, alliances and intrigues. We’re very excited to start enrolling people now thus making the launch of the Clan Wars closer.”

This weekend your intrepid Game Monster headed out to PAX East in Boston. This was an amazing and at times completely overwhelming experience and something I was not entirely prepared for. PAX East was huge, much bigger than I imagined for some reason, and the scale was just completely over the top. Fifteen foot tall robots, giant screens projecting all manner of games, incredible hardware and custom mods for everything from xBox 360s to headphones could be seen at every turn, and each booth seemed to be trying to one-up the booth or game before it. It was like an amusement park where each ride was bigger, flashier, and in most cases scarier than the last!

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Even with all this commotion over Forsaken World, Perfect World Entertainment has found time to contribute to its martial arts themed MMORPG, Jade Dynasty. Ushering in a new season, PWE has announced the Spring Content Update for Jade Dynasty, which will go live on Thursday, March 17 (that’s St. Patty’s Day).

The video goes over lore progression, highlighting a legendary call made to Human and Athan alike. The mystic Dragon Seals that guard the Immortals themselves have weakened, and players must storm the gates of Elysium to confront and master the power within.

In terms of gameplay, Jade Dynasty’s Community Manager Joseph goes over the new “Chroma” skills, which allow players to cultivate Affinity-specific abilities that can be tailored to specific situations. Take a look!