Beckett Massive Online Gamer

Beckett Massive Online Gamer Readers Choose the Best MMOs of 2009

Beckett Media LLC has announced the results of its 2009 Reader’s Choice Awards, which were voted on by readers of Massive Online Gamer and visitors to the magazine’s web site, www.massiveonlinegamer.com. Tens of thousands of votes were logged, and the winners in some categories came down to fewer than 100 votes, including the competition for the coveted title of “Best MMO of 2009,” which was decided by just 68 votes. Blizzard’s World of Warcraft eked out a narrow win over Turbine’s Dungeons & Dragons Online and was narrowly followed by KingsIsle Entertainment’s Wizard101 and NCSoft’s Aion.

Frogster Interactive has announced the addition of siege wars, a new type of mass-PvP warfare, for Runes of Magic. Siege wars will place guilds in pitched battles in the attempt to seize castles from each other. The open beta for testing the siege wars begins today, March 11, a month before the anticipated release of Runes of Magic's Chapter III expansion, titled The Elder Kingdoms. From the official press release:

If you play Fallen Earth and own an iPhone, you're in for some exciting times. Not only are we currently learning more details about the iPhone application that is in development (and on display at GDC as we speak), but we've also heard that there has been a Macintosh-compatible MMO platform released for the game, with a beta client available for interested candidates.

We first heard the announcement about the iPhone app back in November and since then have been eagerly awaiting any information we could get our hands on. What we’ve learned so far is that this is not your everyday application.

Following a series of closed beta tests for its mass-combat online RPG Aika Online, Gala-Net Inc. is preparing to open up its servers to thousands of players next week. The company issued a press release yesterday announcing that its open beta would start on Tuesday, March 16 and offer nearly full functionality to all aspects of the game, including all classes and levels and, most importantly, the massive PvP battles and wars being touted as the main feature of the game. Read the complete press release and see the trailer video after the jump:

That's right, it’s that time of year again! From March 11 through to March 22, EverQuest II players will be able to enjoy the festivities of Brewday in celebration of Brell Serilis. While you may think that the holiday is only aimed towards dwarves, everyone is welcome! This year, there have been a lot of additions to Brewday, so if you're expecting the “same old thing,” you're in for a treat.

NBC has agreed to a deal with European browser-based MMO maker Bigpoint to produce an online game based on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica TV series. Players will be able to choose between human and cylon characters in the battle for preserving or destroying the human race. The game will be playable on PC or smartphones and will require no download. Bigpoint, which is partially owned by NBC, plans to preview the title at this week's GDC in San Francisco, with a launch of the game coming this fall on SyFy.com.

There are a lot of different ways to enhance and better your gear in Aion, and I wanted to go over them briefly for players so that you could see what those differences were. After all, when you're constantly looking over your shoulder trying to make sure that you're not about to be killed, it's always best to be at the top of your game, whether you're doing some PvE questing, or PvPing in the Abyss.

World of Warcraft community manager Eyonix has posted a preview of the talent tree mastery system being introduced in the game's third expansion, Cataclysm, scheduled for release later this year. WoW's talent tree, which allows players to customize their characters' abilities to suit their own play style and chosen role, is such a key feature that any major enhancement (especially an expansion that changes the level cap) would automatically affect it. But in the past, changes to the talent tree mostly meant adding new talents or getting rid of or replacing old ones. This time around, Blizzard is introducing passive bonuses that are granted to you as you continue to spend points in a particular tree.

Three months ago, Blizzard commemorated the fifth anniversary of the release of World of Warcraft with a special web site that invited fans to send in images of themselves holding either a Horde or Alliance symbol, which would be incorporated into a giant mosaic image. The mosaic's been revealed, piece by piece, as the images have come in and, now, with 20,000 images in house, Blizzard finally unveiled the entire mosaic:

December saw the release of Underfoot, the 16th EverQuest expansion (wow!) and now Sony Online Entertainment is preparing to roll out another zone to add to the expansive area of the game. Not only that, but if you log in before March 31, you can claim an exclusive Gnomework Mercenary Skin (there's a different type for both healers and tanks) so that your mercenary can wander Norrath in style. Here’s the official description from SOE: