As the release of Neverwinter Nights 2 approaches with the introduction of a new era for the Neverwinter Nights community, NWN 2 Warcry is proud to announce the FIRST in a series of contests for the Summer of 2006. Called "The Perfect Character Contest", this is story-based and is a great chance to let the writer in you shine! If you have ever had a 'dream character' in mind, this is your opportunity to put words to your dreams. Not a writer? Stay tuned for our second contest to let the artist in you shout out.

• Entries must be between 800-1000 words. Describe your character, his or her backstory, motivations, or chronicle an adventure highlighting your character.
  
• A PG rating should be considered. Some violence is acceptable but gratuitous sexual content will result in the entry being withdrawn.
  
• Characters resembling well-known figures (Elminster, Drizzt, etc) will automatically be disqualified.
  
• One entry per person. Entrants must submit a valid email address, legal name, date of birth, and a mailing address. Ages 18 and over only.
  
• Entries should be submitted between Monday, June 12, 2006 and Monday, June 19, 2006 to nwn2news@warcry.com Entries should be submitted in one of the following formats: TXT, RTF, DOC

Go here for more information.

As an added bonus for Christie buffs, The Adventure Company has been attempting to sign David Suchet, the renowned actor who has portrayed Poirot in a number of television productions, to provide his voice for the game. However, negotiations are still ongoing, so there is no definitive word on whether they'll be able to secure his services. Adventure Gamers will bring you more on this development and the rest of the game's production as new information becomes available.

PARIS, France, 6th of June 2006 - GOA, the France Telecom-owned publisher of online games, is extremely proud to announce that it has secured exclusive publishing and online operational rights for the massively anticipated MMORPG, Warhammer® Online: Age of ReckoningTM from Mythic Entertainment.

Launching for the PC simultaneously in the US and Europe during fall 2007, Warhammer® Online: Age of ReckoningTM is based on Games Workshop's popular Warhammer® fantasy world and features next generation Realm vs. RealmTM (RvR) game play that integrates Player vs. Player (PvP) and Player vs. Environment (PvE) combat into a seamless, cutting edge, massively multiplayer online experience.

"We are thrilled to be partners with Mythic again and build on the five-year relationship and experience that we've been enjoying with their team," commented Ghislaine Le Rhun, Senior Vice President of GOA.

"Warhammer® Online: Age of ReckoningTM has tremendous potential and we intend to treat the game with all the care it deserves. Mythic's expertise in building deep PvP features - which guarantee long-term fun - will make WAR a unique game. Add to this the amazingly rich Warhammer universe, epic adventures, humour, and a very intuitive user experience, and you end up with a future blockbuster. We look forward to showing the game to European players."

"The initial partnership between Mythic and GOA resulted in Dark Age of Camelot® being the number one MMORPG in Europe for many years." said Mark Jacobs, CEO and President of Mythic Entertainment, "With WAR our goal is nothing less than to take Europe by storm and regain that leadership position in the European market."

Already gathering a staggering amount of 'word of mouth' momentum, WAR was especially well received at this year's E3, with wide press coverage and very positive feedback across the globe.

Warhammer® Online: Age of ReckoningTM launches on PC in fall 2007. To learn more about WAR, visit the dedicated European website at www.war-europe.com.

"Requiem" by Sykin and Beachhead:
http://mxoboards.station.sony.com/matrix/board/message?board.id=generalsyntax&message.id=16780

"EPN" by Beachhead:
http://mxoboards.station.sony.com/matrix/board/message?board.id=generalsyntax&message.id=16600

This Week in the Matrix podcast #8:
http://mxoboards.station.sony.com/matrix/board/message?board.id=general&message.id=121586

Before we launch the Auto Assault Public Test Server (PTS), we'd like to answer some questions about exactly what it is, how you will be able to participate in the PTS, and more about the specifics of what you can do and should expect. The server is not quite ready for players yet, but it's very, very close.

What is the purpose of the Auto Assault Public Test Server (PTS)?

The purpose of the PTS is to test game content before it goes to the live servers. Players on the PTS get the first shot at the new updates. We will get at least a week to hunt for bugs on the build before we promote it out to the live servers.

Prima Games and NCsoft have chosen to provide the update for the City of Heroes and City of Villains strategy guides digitally free of charge to the community. By working with Jack Emmert, Cryptic Studios and NCsoft, Prima has created a high quality guide update that will be useful to all CoH and CoV gamers, from novice to expert.

Click here to download the guide now!

# Will you be able to complete the clamore quest as an exile? If you're unsure check out what Dymus has to say about this!
# If you happen to be playing on the PvP server and haven't seen the new things going into Update 24 you may want to check out Archonix thread. Check out what's new for LU 24 today!
# Ever wonder why we have stat caps? Blackguard chimes in and gives some insight to this topic.

Peter S. Beagle Wedding Quest

* A new Gnome Community named Pajalsti has been constructed near the community of Genevia.
* Several Gnomes (related to the Peter S Beagle wedding quest) from around Istaria have moved to Genevia Island. Among them are:
o Besoya Shum moved from Dalimond to Pajalsti.
o Lamorak Dree moved from Parsinia to Pajalsti.
o Basiliak Krebs moved from Dalimond to Pajalsti.
o Mabrouk Mar moved from Kirasanct to a new house near Cedar Cove.
o Eliahu Krik moved from Feladan to a house near Istara's Loom.
* Williwaw will now block entry into the Wedding Grounds until players speak with him.
* Fixed the directions to Mabrouk Mar in the quest "Secure a lock of Elioncha's hair and bring it to Oriskaly"

Hello folks!

I am Andreas "Thee Nailros" Bettermann, Community Manager over here at Spellborn HQ. One of my tasks in this position is to keep our ever-growing community up to date about all the latest happenings to ensure everyone knows what's going on in the world of TCoS. To do so, we decided to introduce a new regular feature: the monthly Community Summary. The idea is to give everybody a short (Okay, I will TRY to keep it short...) summary of things going on over here.

Enjoy the read!

That was my sad attempt at "the funny." Please note before reading: These changes need to be tried before you comment, on both sides of the fence. The reason FOR these changes is that we are likely giving Banelord to more classes in this patch, but to do so while Banelord is so powerful would be stupid and bad for the game. Finally, please note that there will be a poll in the near future about the potential "third ML line" options. Before we do that, I'll be posting a list of the options (meaning I'll post the proposed additional line for each class). Here's the proposed changes to Banelord, and we do welcome feedback from those with detailed information from their Pendragon testing.

New Enhancements

Module 2 will be introducing a number of new enhancements (purchased with action points) that will let players further customize and specialize your characters. Almost everyone will be getting some new enhancements to choose from; this is the second in a four part series of articles featuring in-depth descriptions of what these new enhancements are and how they work.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ delivers some of the most exciting game play experiences available in online gaming today. Turbine has received tremendous positive feedback on the launch of DDO. Feedback from new players has included the request for more solo-play content as an option to the already fun and challenging group-focused content throughout the game. Turbine has listened to this feedback and is pleased to announce the upcoming availability of solo-friendly content. An all new solo setting is being introduced to help new DDO players navigate through the early game content, allowing them the time and space to learn about their characters, try strategies and face monsters for the first time on their own. Players will now have the option to play at their own pace as a solo-player in the Harbor.

The stout Dwarves of Middle-earth are known for their steadfast determination, hearty strength, and commitment to all things found in the world's deep places. Living a secretive life in their homes beneath the great mountains, Dwarves are expert miners and workers of stone and metal, capable of crafting with great strength and renown, along with unparalleled beauty and intricacy. Unwavering and proud, the Dwarves fight for the Free Peoples of Middle-earth (although an ages-old mistrust exists between Dwarves and Elves), emerging from their deep dwellings to bring their strength and fierce combat skills to bear in the battle against the Darkness in the East. Dwarves stand several feet shorter than the Men of Middle-earth (on average, approximately 4½ to 5 feet high) and typically live long lives of 250 years or more.

Hello, and welcome to this article about Carpe Diem. Today, I want to explain in more detail about the setting of Carpe Diem, and the two Kingdoms of Gilead and Ithalamar. To do that, of course, I need to tell you a little about the races that exist in the game, and what they can do. If anything I say leaves you wanting to know more, please check out the official site.

So let me tell you a little about the three races - Humans, Fey and Dragonbloods.

It doesn't take a genius to see how this issue could potentially affect gamers. "The gaming community, also the businesses that provide services to the gaming community are at a significant risk," warns Karr. Kurtz voices similar concerns. "Smaller game companies could have a hard time getting fast traffic for their online games. The fan sites, mod communities could be affected."

If your favorite MMO doesn't pony up cash for premium service, you could be out of luck. Or, if the ISP you use runs on a connection owned by a company that has decided to give game servers low priority, your days of lag-free gaming could be at an end, no matter how fast your own connection to the web is. Another scenario has web content providers deferring the charges for high-speed service to you, the web user, turning the Internet into something like cable TV where you have to pay for access to specific sites, much like how you have to pay to get HBO.