Square Enix today announced a truly ultimate collection for Final Fantasy XI Online. The Abyssea Ultimate Collection contains FFXI, all four expansions as well as all add-on scenarios and battles to date. Below you can find the full list of included content.

Final Fantasy XI

Expansions

Rise of the Zilart
Chains of Promathia
Treasures of Aht Urhgan
Wings of the Goddess

Add-ons

A Crystalline Prophecy – Ode of Life Bestowing,
A Moogle Kupo d’Etat -Evil in Small Doses
A Shantotto Ascension – The Legend Torn, Her Empire Born

Battle Areas

Vision of Abyssea
Scars of Abyssea
Heroes of Abyssea

As an added benefit for new players and as well as those returning to Vana’diel, all purchases of Ultimate Collection Abyssea Edition will include the Destrier Beret, an in–game item loaded with bonuses to help new players get started, while also giving their characters an enviable article of clothing.

Final Fantasy XI Ultimate Collection Abyssea is priced at $19.99 and goes on sale beginning May 16, 2011 through select digital distributors. Please visit http://www.playonline.com/ff11us for more information.

The closed beta for Chapter IV – Lands of Despair closes in only one day, but so far no group has yet defeated Annelia the Puppet Master and her father, Lord Grafu, the two final bosses of the instance. Runes of Magic: Chapter IV reveals two previously unknown races: the Dwarves and the Rhinos. As the chapter unfolds, players will find themselves wrapped up in a story that explains the origin of the fierce rivalry between the two races. The images released today give a taste of what’s in store for players and raise new questions at the same time.

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Game publisher GamesCampus announced official announced today the addition of Starlet Legacy to their MMORPG portal.  Starlet Legacy is currently in closed beta, which you can signup for on the official site, and is an action MMORPG with the goal of saving Princess Scarlet.  Hmm, I remember some Nintendo game with that same premise.  Anyway below we have the official Starlet Legacy trailer.  For those of you interested in more information or want to signup for the closed beta, head over to the official Starlet Legacy page.

Atlantica Online’s Three Kingdoms update is now live.  The massive Three Kingdoms update introduces a new high level mercenary ,General Guan Yu. Guan Yu’s military expertise is said to be so great that he is worshipped as a god. Drawing upon the power of the Green Dragon, his prowess with a spear and its summoned magic is a work of legend, capable of dealing blow after blow to any enemy that crosses him.

Due to the power struggles associated with the Three Kingdoms period in China, several quests are now available in the game that reflect the shifts in power during that timeframe. Players will soon be able to put their strategies to the test in a variety of dungeons and quests, where they will play alongside iconic Chinese historical warlords, leaders, and soldiers like Cao Cao, Liu Bei and more.

Players will be introduces to new quests and dungeons as well as the Expedition Team feature, which allows players to send a team of mercenaries on various tactical missions, while the player journeys through more important battles.

With more than 30 mercenaries in the game, players will be able to maximize the efficiency of their acquired characters by covering more ground and picking up extra items and experiences along the way. Players will also be able to view their dispatched mercenaries as they engage in battle, giving insight into new combat tactics and strategies.

More information about the Three Kingdoms update can be found on the Nexon Atlantica page.

Chapter 2: Return of the God launched today for the popular MMO Legend of Edda.  Return of the God is a major update that contains upgraded third job classes, four open-world maps, three new instanced dungeons and a brand new guild skill system.  The Chapter 2 update also includes more than 280 new equipment items.

“This is the biggest Legend of Edda update since launch and includes agreat deal of enhancements and upgrades for our players,” said Uyen Uyen Ton Nu, head of marketing for GamesCampus. “We know players have been waiting for the new job classes, and we are thrilled to launch them today along with so many new updates and features that are sure to boost their total gaming experience.”

Players at level 40 will now be able to advance to their 3rd Job Classe which include Templar, Champion, Shadow Runner, Scout Bishop and Necromancer. The level cap has also been increased from 40 to 54 with new high-level skills.  The Guild Skill system has also been raised to 5.

Players will enjoy the new camera rotation feature as they now will be able to rotate the camera 360 degrees along with a unique new Friend System update, Mail System, Custom Keymapping and Faction Buffs that can be earned server wide to increase the Experience and item drop rates of an entire faction.

More information about Legend of Edda Chapter 2 update can be views on the official site.

RIFT ASUNDER is the saga of Eaj Cire, A High Elf Guardian Assassin traveling through the world of Telara. His tale is one of Love, Hate, Betrayal, War, and Madness. Join him now as he struggles to reclaim his lost past, fights to understand the chaos of today, and desperately tries to unravel the mystery that is his destiny.

…and scream, and scream. The pain is a tangible thing, awesome and all consuming. Images flash across the landscape of my mind, a beautiful elven woman, smiling, holding a baby girl close. She looks into my eyes, such love there. I reach to touch the baby and the image changes, fades….a Mathosian man sitting across from me screaming, such hatred, malice directed at me…..A room, filled with machines the likes of which I have never seen, can’t begin to understand….a faceless man laughing….a beautiful woman smiling at me, stunning really, except for the look in her eyes; which is total emptiness, darkness.

The images fade, darkness settles around me. A darkness not only an absence of light, but an absence of everything. I hear voices, words, I don’t recognize…..Eaj….Erzabeta….Vladislas….Isabella…The Faceless Man….Aedraxis Mathos…Regulos…Alsbeth….Zareph…Rifts…

The words keep coming, the voices a symphony of men, woman, children. Than the voices begin to fade, leaving only two. One male, one female.

“He is remembering to much, to quickly.” The female voice whispers.

“Each new soul, each death will show him more, show him the truth; our truth. Worry not, he shall remember what we want, when we want him to.” The male replies.

“I do worry, as should you; he is vital to our plans.” The female growls.

“Our plans are set, not even he can change them now.”

“I hope so, for both our sakes; for I don’t want to have to explain to our master how we failed him.”

“We shall not fail.”

I awaken on the floor, curled into a ball. The images fading, the words there but meaning nothing. The pain in my skull is abating. I still know nothing about who I am, but I do know one thing, what I am, what I was, what I shall be again. I am an Assassin. A High Elf Guardian. How I know this I know not, I simply do. The skills I have I have not learned over a lifetime of study or practice, they have been thrust upon me in a moment of agony by the Warden that touched me, that stands before me now. I am skilled, a master of dagger, stealth, sword, and movement. How can I know this? Why do I not know who I am?

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After nearly a year in open beta Allods Online finally launched with Patch 2.0.02 Astral Odyssey.  The patch introduces some near areas, fourteen new mount skins, raises the level cap to 47, a weird number if you ask me, and introduces two new gear systems.

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After the jump are the full patch details.

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Blizzard has just released the official trailer for Rise of the Zandalari which will be part of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Patch 4.1.

There is also an interview with World of Warcraft Lead Encounter Designer Scott Mercer by Blizzard Insider posted at Blizzard that answers more questions about the upcoming patch.

The days when great troll empires stretched across ancient Kalimdor are long past. Millennia of war and internal strife have stripped these nations of their power, lands, and glory. As Azeroth recovers from the destruction of the Cataclysm, the world’s divided troll populations face a bleak future. These dark times have spurred the trolls of the Zandalar, the historically wise and scholarly tribe from which all trolls originated, to take drastic action. They have embarked on a bold crusade to save their race by uniting trolls into a single mighty empire. With the Zandalari’s aid, the fallen capitals of the Gurubashi and Amani nations — Zul’Gurub and Zul’Aman — are already rebuilding, replenishing their forces for a bloody campaign to expand their territories.

Yet Vol’jin and his Darkspear trolls are not aligned with the Zandalari. They have sworn to stand with their Horde comrades — and even work with the Alliance — should the trolls ignite a new war on Azeroth. Soon, Vol’jin might be forced to act on his promise, for if the Gurubashi and Amani are left to their own devices, the world will know the legendary strength and savagery of the ancient troll empires once again.

Turbine announced today that it will be taking full operational control over Lord of the Rings Online in Europe starting June 1st, 2011.  Turbine will taking control from Codemasters who currently run and control LoTRO in Europe.  Turbine will be combining the US and EU services into a new LOTRO Global Service.

There is expected to be downtime during the change over, but only “limited service interruption“.  For European players, they will need to migrate their accounts to the new Global Service and Turbine has announced they will not be able to merge their account if they already have an Turbine account.  Players on the North American service do not need to do anything.

For more information about the new LOTRO Global Service and what to do if you are on a EU server, please visit the official LOTRO FAQ page.

I’ve been playing my favorite new game for a few weeks now and I’m having a ton of fun!  I’ve met some new friends, I’ve done a bunch of great quests, and I’ve reached the ripe old age of level 21…  Out of 100.  As I’m questing and adventuring to my heart’s content, I see a new player enter the clearing I’m hunting in and use a whole new weapon that shoots blue glowy orbs at the enemies!  They fall down smoldering and he runs over to loot them – it looks so cool!  I message him and ask him how he does it and what weapon he’s using, he tells me it’s a brand new class that just got added to the game…

…And minutes later I find myself in the character create screen, choosing a hair style and deciding how long my sideburns should be before jumping into the new user tutorial with my brand new blue-orb-shooty character, my level 21 sword-brandishing adventurer from only minutes ago forgotten like yesterday’s pop tarts.

Hi, my name is Ditto, and I’m an alt-a-holic.

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