CCP Hammer has posted a new dev blog on the official EVE Online website detailing the Planetary Interaction features which will debut with the launch of EVE Online's newest expansion, Tyrannis, later this summer.

CCP Hammer kicks things off with a bit of backstory, explaining that CCP has wanted to do Planetary Interaction for some time, and teasing us with the progression of EVE from interacting with planets as players will come Tyrannis, down to the boots-on-the-ground experience of DUST 514, and inside stations with the release of Incarna.  The goal is for EVE Online to be the "ultimate sci-fi simulator." But as Hammer admits, he is getting a bit ahead of himself.

So what is Planetary Interaction, exactly? Hammer explains below:

A little about what Planetary Interaction is; PI is a feature in which industrial minded pilots can now take advantage of the resources on planets which had previously been laying dormant. To do that one simply opens the planet browser, finds a suitable planet via a scanning interface then plunks down various things we have internally been calling PINs (planetary interaction node), links those PINs together and then configures routes for all of the stuff moving between the PINs. PIN is just a working title and we've got our highly trained sci-fi experts on the task of renaming everything so you should expect the name to change by the time they reach Tranquility. Our ultimate goal being to create a nice additional revenue stream for people that's wrapped up in a sexy UI with lots of sci-fi feeling content that eventually ties in seamlessly with DUST 514.

Find out tons more about Planetary Interaction here.

A number of the Planetary Interaction features are now available on Singularity, with some screenshots available here.

[Thanks cosy for the tip!]

It's been quite awhile since Jumpgate: Evolution's delay announcement last year, and until today we didn't know much more about the game than we did then.

In the interest of providing eager fans with some sort of update, NetDevil has broken the silence in a post to the official Jumpgate: Evolution forums, outlining some of the things the developers are working on or thinking about.

So what are the folks at NetDevil working on? Read below to find out:

-"Battlespace" returning to more of its simulator roots from Classic, really a place to practice not advance. I know this will make some of you happy in that advancing will only happen in "real" space not instant action type playing. I still hope to have some achievements/leader board materials form here but not likely to have any equipment or pilot advancing type effects.

-Lots of work on missions. With the new design team map layouts, mission stories, the types of things you do in missions, etc is all MUCH more interesting and varied than ever before. The kinds of things we can now do is very advanced.

-Better faction definition. The stories in the game really tell all about your faction and why you are at war with the others. The story is also darker than before with many of the missions you fly feeling more gray than the typical black and white always doing the good thing type story.

-PvP. Lots and lots of work on systems for PvP, new maps, new game play, new forms of advancement, player built battle stations, capturing sectors, etc. The scope and feel of the massive space battles you will be taking part in against other players will be, IMHO, what really sets us apart.

-AI functionality. Tons of work on making the AI both the right difficulty (it was way to easy before) and also varied in behavior.

View the original announcement here.

What do you think about the changes NetDevil are working on? Let us know in the comments below!

This latest Producer's Note for Star Wars Galaxies discusses the recently released Galactic Civil War update, as well as the future of Star Wars Galaxies, including the upcoming Game Update 16.

Game Update 16 will continue the trend of GCW focused development, this time bringing a number of additions to the often overlooked space component of SWG. With the introduction of Region Defender in GU16, guilds and cities will be able to hold their ground in "148 theaters of operation, spanning 10 planets and 8 space zones." Other space additions include new commands to flag yourself for PvP in space, a boost to space weapons, and new repeatable high-end content for players to enjoy.

Find out what else is coming to Star Wars Galaxies in Game Update 16 and beyond by reading the full Producer's Note here.

[Thanks Christopher8 for the tip!]

Mythic Entertainment is interested in taking some significant steps in order to sort out Warhammer Online's economy issues, and they are looking for player feedback on how to do just that in this latest In Development post made on the official WAR forums.

The main issue of WAR's economy appears to be an imbalance of basic supply and demand: players simply don't have much to do with their gold.

To be more specific, the development team is seeking thoughts from the community on how to improve the viability and value of the game's item rewards:

So how do we look at ways to change our current economy to balance both supply and demand? To accomplish this we need to look at solutions that will tweak the way items are rewarded. Not just how useful they are to the individual, but also as potential trade goods in the economy. We have a good idea on how to do this, but we want to throw the issue out there and get some feedback proactively, before we settle on a design.

What we’d like are some thoughts on how to change our world drops, PQ loot, and the like to make them more viable and valuable to the economy which will hopefully balance supply and demand. Examples would be: making items BOE versus BOP, making items useful to multiple classes, etc.

Read In Development: The Future of WAR's Economy.

[Thanks Christopher8 for the tip!]

Similar to the recently announced "Engineering Reports" for Star Trek Online, Cryptic Studios has posted an "On Deck" list on the Public Test Server forum of Champions Online, giving players an idea of what the developers are currently working on.

Some highlights from the On Deck list include a review of the Supernatural, Melee, and Collective Will powers, as well as a general review of perks.

Read the full "On Deck" list here.

[Thanks Christopher8 for the tip!]

The intrepid reporters over at FFXIVCore have dug up some early leaked details on Final Fantasy XIV from upcoming issues of Japanese magazines Famitsu and Dengeki.

Image Credit: FFXIVCore

While initially reported as rumors, cellphone captured pictures featuring scans from the magazines have surfaced lending some credence to the rumored information.

The leaked information consists of various details on Job abilities and the game's battle system, as well as some miscellaneous details, including information on the upcoming beta and alpha tests.

A few highlights can be found below:

• Everything done in battle in FFXIV increases TP, including casting
• Defense can happen both automatically and at the will of the user
• The PC version will be able to run on PCs from a few years ago, but the alpha version will only run on high-end PCs
• Can be run on 512MB of VRAM and above
• Alpha test starts soon
• Square wants to make it possible to play with your friends from FFXI
• Character customization won’t be fully available in beta (can’t change facial features)
• There’s a mode for restoring HP while moving
• The plan is the make the maximum number of members in a party between 6 and 8, and there will also be alliances
• The important things in battle are distance, range, and direction There will be magic you can use while moving
• There are screenshots in the magazine of the alpha version, and it looks like there have been a lot of small changes
• “Aggro/hate” has a different name in 14 (Translates to something like how much the enemy views you as a threat)
• Enemies will not be set in one area in order for people to pull them to camps; places that enemies will appear will be scattered around

View the full story here.

Cryptic Studios has announced a new playtest for Champions Online's upcoming free expansion "Revelation." The short three hour test kicks off tomorrow at 4PM PST and will conclude at 7PM PST.

View the original announcement here.

Blizzard Blue poster Eyonix offers up a preview of the upcoming Mastery System that is set to debut with the launch of World of Warcraft's third expansion, Cataclysm, later this year.

Eyonix on the Mastery System:

Last week, we gave you an early look at the changes we’re making to the stat system in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and explained how these changes will ultimately provide players with more interesting gear choices and make stats easier to understand. Today we’d like to go into more detail about a brand-new feature that’s an integral part of this overhaul: the Mastery system, a set of new game mechanics designed to allow players to become better at what makes their chosen talent tree cool or unique. With this system, we want to accomplish three things: give players more freedom in how they allocate talent points, simplify some of the “kitchen sinky” talents that try to do too much at once, and add a new stat to high-level gear that makes you better at your chosen role.

Here’s how the system works: As you spend points in a given talent tree, you’ll receive three different passive bonuses specific to that tree. The first bonus will increase your damage, healing, or survivability, depending on the intended role of the tree. The second bonus will be related to a stat commonly found on gear desirable to you, such as Haste or Crit. The third bonus will be the most interesting, as it will provide an effect completely unique to that tree -- meaning there will be 30 different bonuses of this nature in the game. This third bonus is the one that will benefit from the Mastery rating found on high-level (level 80 to 85) gear.

One of our primary goals with Mastery is to give players more flexibility to choose fun or utility-oriented talents rather than make them feel obligated to pick up “mandatory” but uninteresting talents, such as passive damage or healing. (For examples of the kinds of powerful but boring talents we’re talking about, take a look at the talent tier just above the 51-point talent in many of the existing trees.) In a sense, Mastery makes it so every talent in (just for example) a rogue tree essentially has an invisible additional bullet point that says “…and increases your damage by X%.” This way, if you choose a talent like Master of Deception (which reduces your chance to be detected while stealthed) or Fleet Footed (which affects movement), you won’t feel like you’re giving up damage in exchange for utility.

Read the full preview here.

MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller explores Ala Playa's Land of Chaos Online in this latest preview coming out of GDC 2010.

This week at GDC we got a chance to look at Land of Chaos Online. Coming to the U.S. market through the European portal Ala Playa, Land of Chaos Online offers a unique online experience that is different from the normal MMO approach. With heavy PvP combat players can log into different battle grounds and fight it out with each other as well as some nasty boss monsters that spawn during the battles.

Gameplay for Land of Chaos is extremely fast paced. The game is designed to play in a third person mode. Movement and interface are similar to the normal MMO design that we are used to. The combat is where things change. The combat tracking works much more like a third person shooter. So having the third person view while moving and exploring allows the player a good point of view. The combat remains in third person and targeting for attacks acts more like a first person shooter for quick action.

Read the full preview here.

MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood sat down with Gamigo's Patrick Streppel to talk about Black Prophecy at this year's Game Developers Conference.

Black Prophecy is a new sci-fi MMO coming from Reakktor Media and now being brought to the Western Market by the good people at Gamigo. Here at the 2010 Game Developer’s Conference I had the opportunity to sit down with Gamigo’s Patrick Streppel to talk about the upcoming game.

For those who might not know, Black Prophecy is an action-oriented space based sci-fi F2P MMORPG, with players flying and battling ships in various sectors of space, in both PvE and PvP and in instances and a larger persistent world.

Read the full preview here.

True Games Interactive has sent over these three exclusive screenshots for their free-to-play mythology themed MMORPG Mytheon.

Check out the screenshots here.

MMORPG.com has just been given 1500 alpha test keys for Tales of Fantasy - a new MMORPG by IGG in where you capture and train wild beasts, then fight on them and race them in competition! Get your key while supplies last!

GET YOUR ALPHA TEST KEY AT THIS LINK!

MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh took Square Enix's new fantasy MMORPG Fantasy Earth Zero for a test drive in this latest hands on preview focused on the game's combat gameplay.

Ever been dropped into a world not quite knowing what to expect? That happens rather often in media tours, especially early previews of games where the official site is only a teaser site, and the server is only going to come up for the tour. You download, install, patch and hope it gets done before the tour, while doing what research you can on the game. The media tour of Fantasy Earth Zero was little different. It was fast, quick impressions, perhaps a little chaotic and you know what? That’s how they are describing their battles.

Read the full article here.

MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller spoke to Portalarium CEO Fred Schmidt and Chairman Dallas Snell about their partnership with gaming visionary Richard Garriott, as well as their plans for Portalarium in the social networking game space in this latest interview.

Any time Richard Garriott makes an announcement it instantly becomes MMO news. The Lord British who gave us Ultima still remains one of the biggest influences in gaming. This decade, Garriott had some tough times with the game called Tabula Rasa. While it had some very innovative game ideas, it never took off among fans and was closed down. So, moving into the next decade Garriott has started working with a company named Portalarium. He is reunited with some of his old Origins team and has targeted social networks as a platform for new game ideas. Now, Facebook games are nothing new, however, Portalarium is looking to bring depth into social networks where they hope to bridge the gap between hardcore games and social games into one medium.

We spoke with Dallas Snell, Chairman, Fred Schmidt, CEO, and Stephen Nichols about the approach Portalarium will take in bringing games to the world.

Read the full interview here.

Those of you picking up your copy of Final Fantasy XIII for the PS3 today should be excited by the latest revelation to come out of the US PlayStation blog. Every copy of the PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIII will come with an exclusive in-game item for Final Fantasy XIV, as well as the ability "to enter for a potential opportunity to become a beta tester for FINAL FANTASY XIV for PS3."

We're not sure if the beta bonus is really an additional avenue towards getting into the Final Fantasy XIV beta, or simply a link to the beta sign up page.

Let us know when you pick up your copies (mine hasn't arrived yet!)

The original blog post can be viewed here.

MMORPG.com columnist Justin Webb writes this latest article on how the appropriate use of "beats" makes for a good story, and how MMOG developers just don't seem to get that, or care!

You see, I’ve always been interested in scriptwriting and how a movie narrative is constructed. Luckily, there are many many books on the subject, many geared at teaching the basics to budding screenwriters. The most famous is probably Syd Fields’ Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting, which is a superb stylish exploration of the three-act format, but which focuses (to me) a bit too much on the “art” of writing a script. I’m more interested in understanding the nuts ‘n’ bolts of the process, and at looking at screenwriting mechanically from the outside.

My favorite book on the subject is Save The Cat! by Blake Snyder. If you have any interest at all in story design, I urge you to check it out. Despite the attention-catching title, the basic premise of the book is that all movies essentially share the same three-act structure and that they all have the same fifteen story “beats”. (Blake’s “Beat Sheet” can be found here.) This isn’t a unique concept – many screenwriting books have trod this ground before. The book then gives a lot of really good advice about understanding what beats mean in the context of putting a script together.

Read Webb: When Beats Go Wrong.

The LA Times is reporting that Bigpoint Games, which is co-owned by SyFy parent company NBC Universal, is developing a new MMOG based on the "Battlestar Galactica" IP.  Based on the LA Times report, the game is said to be a free-to-play (item mall supported) browser-based MMOG, with a launch date set for August or September.

Image Credit: The LA Times

Read the full story here.

MMORPG.com Staff Writer Bill Murphy gives us a rundown of six absolute must-haves for a zombie-themed MMO in this latest edition of The List.

Back in November of last year, Undead Labs announced their formation and the production of something a lot of folks are probably hungering for (pun intended). A zombie-apocalypse themed MMO is in development at the newly founded studio, exclusively for consoles. My friend Adam and I were sitting around chatting about the potential such a title carries. Thanks to a resurgence of popularity in for the undead, there have been a slew of movies, games and other media all about zombies in recent years. Possibly more so than Edward Cullen and his sparkly vampire cousins, zombies are mainstreaming pretty hard these days.

Read The List: Six Must-haves for a Zombie MMO.

As the trickle of information from this year's Game Developers Conference begins to come in, we've learned that 38 Studios has partnered with Electronic Arts Partners to publish "Project Mercury," which is a singleplayer RPG introduction to the Copernicus universe, which has been co-created by bestselling fantasy author R.A. Salvatore and renowned artist and creator of Spawn Todd McFarlane. Copernicus, of course, is the secretive MMOG that has been in development at 38 Studios for some time now.

Project Mercury is being developed  by Big Huge Games, and will available on the PC, XBOX 360, and PlayStation 3.

View the original press release here.