I’ll admit to having a soft spot for anything science fiction.  Aliens, spaceships, time travel, anything science-y pulls me towards it like a vast black hole.  NetDevil’s reincarnation of Jumpgate, appropriately titled Jumpgate Evolution, had my ear for some time.  Then the title went dark after being delayed from its June 2009 release date.

NetDevil’s Scott Brown created a new thread on the official community forum to let the community know that the game is alive and well.  In fact, his bullet point list details some of the drastic changes that have been made since missing its original release date.

-”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.

Looks like a handful of core systems and mechanics have recieved complete overhauls.  Consider my interests perked, for the second time.

With so many changes in the works it is no wonder why Jumpgate Evoltion is still without a release window.

Gamigo, a leading European publisher of massively multiplayer online games with North American offices in New York City, have announced that they will be the publisher for the sci-fi MMORPG, Black Prophecy. The game’s developers are Reakktor, a small German studio who promises to deliver a unique space combat experience. Black Prophecy incorporates both the first and third person view points along with a innovative battle system and a beautiful universe to explore. The game’s lore was written by award-winning German author Michael Marrak, and introduces a war-torn universe where two supernatural races continuously battle each other for dominance.

In addition to a compelling back story with hundreds of quests, Black Prophecy features the latest graphics technology, real-time combat, exciting PvP combat and open world sectors. Players will discover numerous community features, challenging tactics systems, an award and medal system and a complex crafting system.

The game will be making it’s release at the end of this year. Additionally, Gamigo will be demonstrating the game at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco. More information about the game is available here.

THQ hasn’t even released a final name for the upcoming Warhammer 40k MMOG, but that doesn’t stop the company from talking about it.  And as my most anticipated MMOG, I won’t stop the information from flowing.

Brian Farrell, THQ’s CEO and President, went on record regarding the pricing scheme for the title.  Farrell told IGN that the game is being designed to support the North American/European preferred method of a subscription, and the Asian preference of microtransaction/time-based simultaneously.  And odd choice, given that many top-notch MMOG are subsidizing subscription numbers with microtransactions even in the West.

Farrell cautiously side-stepped the cliche term of being a “WoW-killer.”  A smart move considering that every title that has attempted such a thing so far has failed to topple the behemoth.  Instead, he feels that the built in fanbase from previous games – board and video – and the dark sci-fi world will allow his company’s new creation to be successful alongside World of Warcraft.

“World of Warcraft is a great game, but as you know in entertainment, there’s always the juggernaut and that means there’s opportunities out there for the right MMO, said Farrell. ” What we love about the Warhammer 40K MMO is that it’s different in that it’s a sci-fi, futuristic-based world. We’re not competing directly in the orcs and elves fantasy environment that World of Warcraft is in. We can differentiate ourselves.”

Warhammer 40k will be fully revealed at E3 2010.  I’ll have coverage for you.

After the success of the first open beta test, the development team have announced that Craft of Gods Open Beta 2 will be starting on March 11. The servers will remain open until the estimated end of the second open beta, March 13. The second test will include many new features, including a new user interface, new spells, a level cap of 20, and many major tweaks and fixes. The game client can be downloaded here. You can sign up for a game account here.

“Craft of Gods” is a 3D MMORPG, based on Slavic mythology.
The world characters live in is called Akvilon, it is a huge world with 25 different maps. There are many wonderful places to discover, many enemies to fight and an infinite number of things to do.
In Akvilon, there are forests, deserts, desolate steppes, magical ancient forests, frozen icy plains, where the cold can even freeze your very thoughts. There are hundreds of different monsters and more than 70 unique creatures, including the legendary Serpent, fiery Dragons, and the slimy Kikimora. But there are also the honeyed-tongued Sirens… honeyed? Are you sure?