One thoughtful forum-goer has posted the full transcription, minus annoying namechanges, from the recent IRC chat with the developers of Champions Online. It’s a nice chunk of text, so grab a cup of coffee and take a seat before reading it here.

There have been some forumites (how many terms for people who use forums can I use in one post?) crying foul that no truly substantial and new questions were answered during the chat. That said, there were at least two juicy bits relating to knockback damage and trading crafted items. People will always want more, though. Keep in mind as well that often the most vocal don’t necessarily represent the whole.

Following in the footsteps of my colleague, the stress test for the DDO Beta will be held tonight–the 27th of July–from 8PM to 11PM EDT. This isn’t your run of the mill stress test however as Turbine will be opening up a new section of the game for people to play in during it.

From 8PM to 11PM EDT, the length of the test, all Slavarath quests from the Slavarath Plane of Battle pack will be open as well as the Slavarath raid. If you’re in the Beta, tonight is your night. (And, of course, you’ll be helping the developers out by testing out capacity and stress and all that.)

If you’ve been following any of the Comic-Con coverage, then you’ve surely heard about the ‘State of the MMO‘ Panel that was supposed to discuss the future of the genre. Instead of doing that, however, the panel came down to discussing why their prospective games were the future. Now, I can’t speak for everyone, but pimping your own game at a panel you’re supposed to be participating in about the genre itself just seems like bad form.

As Kotaku mentions, one of the only genuinely reflective statements came from Min Kim, representing Nexon, saying the following: “”Access is gonna change…the price point is going to drop to free for a lot of these games…but access is going to change. Traditionally when you get a new PC game you have to worry about whether your hardware can run it. Developers are going to realize that it isn’t about building the flashiest experience, but making sure the game is accessible to the widest audience.” Nexon was as guilty as the rest, though, so don’t let the prior statement fool you. Didn’t you know that Combat Arms is the future of the MMO genre?

If you’ve been wondering just when the FPS MMO Borderlands would be launched, wonder no longer. Gearbox has now officially dated, as of Comic-Con, the game’s release date.  Borderlands release date will be on October 20th for North America and October 23rd for Europe.

Originally, the game was aiming for a more realistic look but the fine people at Gearbox have since switched the art style to something more… well, cartoony. You don’t have to take my word for it; you can view the newest trailer here.

(Ed. Note: The FPS MMO genre isn’t all that clearly defined to this journalist and I’d argue that this counts. Feel free to argue otherwise in the comments, as I’m open to new ideas. – James 7/27/09)