Before beginning this post, we have a number of important announcements to make:

• It is currently October.
• Sandwiches, when prepared correctly, are delicious.
• Salt is salty.
• There are five items in this list.
• You are currently reading Joystiq.

What's that? You're not sure why we're announcing things you already know? Perhaps you'll be equally flabbergasted by a rumor that LucasArts and Bioware will likely soon reveal the Knights of the Old Republic MMO that EA CEO John Riccitiello already totally confirmed. The rumor originates from a blurb in UK newspaper Daily Star, the author of which claims he's coming stateside to check the title out at LucasArts HQ. If the author is on the level, we certainly expect one of the two developers to "reveal" the title before his article goes to print. Perhaps they can still surprise the eleven people on the planet that don't already know about it.

News

• Spoiler: Angrathar, the Wrath Gate
  Don't click that link if you don't want the story ruined, but s. is about to hit the f. in Northrend. if you know what we mean.
• Ask a Beta Tester: Multi-passenger mounts and Enchanting
  Our beta tester (one of them) answers your questions about what's going on in the Wrath of the Lich King beta.
• New items for old Honor
  Blizzard's about to wipe all Honor and marks off the map, so here's what they're offering to let you buy before everything goes bye-bye.
• Shaman changes in Wrath beta build 8982
  Class tweaks are coming faster than ever near the end of the beta, and our class columnists are keeping you updated on what's going on.
• Boss models updated in Wrath beta
  Finally, Sylvanas looks like the badass Blood Elf Banshee Queen she's supposed to be.

Features

• First Impressions: 5-man healing in the beta
  What it's like to keep a group up in Northrend.
• Skill Mastery: Mind Sear
  A look at an Area of Effect ability coming to Shadow Priests,
• Breakfast Topic: The last week of Brewfest
  The in-game holiday of drunken Dwarves is almost over -- did you get your Brew of the Month membership yet?
• WoW Insider's preview of PopCap Games' Bejeweled addon
  Here's a first look at PopCap's official Bejeweled addon -- one addictive game inside another.
• Will Wrath really be ready by November 13th?
  Blizzard, a company known for polish, is still not done with some of Wrath. Will the game come out unfinished?

The first panel we attended at Austin GDC was entitled "The Psychology of the MMO Gamer," which seemed to hold a mythical amount of promise. Sure enough, once the panel began it was clear that these people had gathered a couple of days before and said, "So hey... what can we talk about?" It was a bit disorganized, but some good stuff came out of it, particularly finding out how a six-year old can grief you with pudding. Read on to find out how you too can learn this devious and delicious skill.

Okay, we reacted with violent disbelief to the recent news that Multiverse, the company behind the heard-but-not-seen MMO based on Firefly, would produce a second MMO using yet another of Joss Whedon's IPs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However, our home row homies at Massively are proving that cooler heads do sometimes prevail, as they recently gleaned a plethora of information about Multiverse's newest project (and their seemingly Ill-fated space cowboy sim) in an interview with the company's co-founder, Corey Bridges.

First and foremost, Bridges promised that some headway had been made on the Firefly title, and regretted putting it on the backburner to focus on their recently acquired vamp-slaying IP -- though he's anxious to resume work on it "as soon as possible." He then goes on to explain one of the more confusing elements of the online Buffy game -- apparently, the title's 2D rendition will launch first, giving players a chance to dip their toes in the waters of the Hellmouth before the more complex 3D version launches. He also hopes to have a public beta for the title into our hands "by the end of the year."

For further details on both titles, check out the entire interview on Massively. We just hope you haven't already burned your brown duster and wooden stake collection in protest.

Although it was dangled in front of us like a tantalizing carrot, it looks like you won't be able to get any cross-gaming action between PS3s and PCs out of Sony's upcoming spy MMO, The Agency. Last year, designer Hal Milton told us the developer weas looking at it, but in a recent interview with Eurogamer it looks like he's closed the door on things for good. You can thank Shadowrun for ruining it all.

"PC guys say, 'PS3 guys have aim assist and the controls nerfed for them'. And PS3 guys say, 'PC guys have a mouse and keyboard - it's all easier for them'. Even if it's not true." Not that we're complaining, because Shadowrun made us a bit mental. But this really needs to happen in a fun way sooner or later. Which title is going to be able to nail it down and make it work? Super Mario Crossover Party Platformer 2: Now With More Fun has our money.

As one can tell by frequenting the World of Warcraft class forums, one of the trickiest parts of MMO development is making sure that your game's classes are perfectly balanced. If your paladins can walk all over your warriors, or your druids can outheal your priests, you're going to hear about it. For this very reason, many MMO developers choose to keep their catalog of classes fairly limited -- however, Mythic Entertainment's design team reportedly decided upon the classes in their upcoming MMO Warhammer Online after plotting out nearly 250 careers for the title.

This report comes from an interview with Mythic's Creative Director, Paul Barnett, on Videogaming247. Barnett explains that the Warhammer team got a little out of hand when developing certain aspects of the title, and that the team decided to cull their expansive career roster to the 20 classes available at launch. A wise choice, considering the countless months it would have taken to make sure that the Treasure Hunter, Gymnast, Dermatologist, Pastry Chef, Assistant Dermatologist, Chimney Sweep, and Librarian classes were all evenly matched.

We're just hours away from Cryptic's world reveal of Star Trek Online during the Star Trek Experience event in Las Vegas, but those wishing to jump the phaser on all the hubbub would be wise to read a recent AP interview with Cryptic Chief Creative Officer Jack Emmert. In said interview, a number of intriguing details about the MMO are revealed -- chief among these include word that players will be able to choose an alien species to play as, or create their own, in an uncharacteristic show of disregard for Star Trek canon.

New players will then captain their own Starfleet or Klingon ship, the size and crew of which will grow as the player progresses. Players will also be able to leave their ships to explore planets in true Trek fashion. Don't expect to see many familiar, pointy-eared faces on your travels, however -- Emmert explained that the game takes place "a few generations" after the last Star Trek film. It seems your best bet of running into Shatner in an MMO is to continue searching World of Warcraft for a shaman with unusual vocalized pauses.

[Via 1UP]

Shane Kim knows (and he know we know) that Microsoft has had some problems in the MMO department, and he even takes the full blame, saying "It's a tough and challenging space that's evolving all the time – a lot of shifting sands. We haven't been able to crack the code." Listen, Kim (can we call you Kim?) we can sympathize. Lord knows we burned through enough cash on our ill-fated lifeguard MMO Endless Deep End. And though we can't help you crack the whole code, we can offer an important first step to MMO success: Release one.

We know, it's a small thing, but you'd be surprised how many miss this important step. Though we're giving him a hard time, we're betting NCsoft wishes they'd had a Shane Kim on staff when Auto Assault was being workshopped. "Everyone please leave the room," he'd say, as he loaded his syringe and slipped on rubber gloves, Auto Assault huddling in the corner. "And for the love of God, whatever you hear, do not come in."

Market research firm Parks Associate has released a study claiming subscription-based MMOs aren't dropping enough loot for its players. According to the group's Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home II study (via Worlds in Motion) only the hardcore gamers were into the subscription model, whereas the casual gamer showed "significant interest" in the free-to-play, microtransaction model.

Another part of the study found that, of the non-MMO players polled, 14% would be interested to play if they could play for free, whereas only 2% of that group was interested in subscription-based MMOs. As we always caution, studies generally aren't worth more than the pixels they're displayed on (unless it's a nice monitor, then they're probably worth less). In a recent polling at Joystiq HQ, games that are "free to play" were also seven times more likely to grab our attention than games that weren't free.

Said Director of Broadband and Gaming Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai: "World of Warcraft, with over 10 million players, exceeded expectations for subscription-based MMORPGs, but it's unlikely any other publishers will achieve the same in the near term using a subscription model." Of course, that's kind of a no-brainer even for WoW's competitors.

[Via Eurogamer]

As the Massively crew has been at E3 along with the Joystiq crew, our update this week comes a little late. (Those of you who were at last night's meetup can understand the epicBut for those of you who are curious as to what's going on in the wide world of MMOGs both at E3 and in general, here's a quick and dirty overview of the week's events!

News

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• How to beat game piracy according to David Perry
• Pre-orders now available for The Guild DVD
• Exclusive first look at Star Wars Galaxies TCG loot cards
• Blizzard victorious in WoW Glider case
• Mythic offers FAQs for Warhammer's loss of cities, classes
• E308: Jagex teases sci-fi successor to Runescape, Mechscape
• E308: Disney Interactive Studios shows off Club Penguin on the DS
• E308: Erling Ellingsen talks patch timeframes for Age of Conan
• E308: DC Universe Online already 'released' inside SOE
• KOTOR MMO confirmed by Electronic Arts

Discussion

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• Ask Massively: You make the call
• The Digital Continuum: Diet WAR
• MMOGology: Will mobile MMOGs evolve genre expectations?
• Nitpicking WoW to death
• The tyranny of skill training
• Behind the Curtain: Gone for good?

When Jim Lee stepped onstage at the Sony press conference Tuesday, it was the first reminder in some time of Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming super-hero MMO DC Universe Online. The title, meant to bring the world of Batman and Superman to fans of the massively multiplayer genre, has been under a communications blackout and in development for years. E3 2008 is the first substantial chance the gaming press has had to learn about the title, and our friends at Massively were naturally attracted by the smell of grouping mechanics and instanced content.

To kick things off, they've got a description of the extensive trailer that was the core of the SOE presentation. That wasn't enough for the MMO-addicted writers, so they followed that up with an exhaustive Q&A session. Follow along as DCUO Creative Director Chris Cao and SOE-Austin VP of development John Blakely explore how the game will interact with the PlayStation 3, tie-ins between DC Universe Online and the actual DC comics, and an interesting aside about how the developers are already acting like the game is 'released' inside the company. The Massively crew also has a few choice pieces of concept art from the game, from the mind of comic legends like Jim Lee - take a look below.

Gallery: E308: DC Universe Online concept art

Relatively young game developer Meteor Games, founded by the minds behind the kid-friendly Flash game portal Neopets, recently unveiled their latest project -- a rather ambitious 3D MMO titled Twin Skies. Following the style of their claim to fame, the title will place you in the shoes of an adventurer who uses pets to do his or her pugilistic grunt work, though with various races and classes mentioned on their FAQs page, we imagine your character can hold their own in a ruckus.

Arguably the coolest thing about the title is the integration of various web-based minigames set apart from the actual title. For instance, winning one minigame might unlock a monster for you to use in Twin Skies, while another might reward you with valuable lewts upon your next login. While subscription fees haven't been decided upon, the game will be free to download direct from the Twin Skies site. We'll definitely be looking forward to this title's first appearance at PAX, if only to see if "my Twin Skies pets, let me show you them" really has the same ring to it.

Breaking a new title into the MMO market is difficult, as any game developer whose name isn't synonymous with an overabundance of frosty precipitation will attest -- especially when your title fits into a particular niche already explored by another developer. For instance, NCSoft's City of Heroes cornered the super hero MMO market when it debuted in 2004, creating an intimidating hurdle that other online vigilante simulators have yet to attempt to vault.

The latest issue of Edge magazine features an interview with Jim Lee, creative director for Sony's upcoming DC Universe Online, who reveals the steps Sony is taking to set their title apart from NCSoft's. With their inclusion of a number of recognizable faces from DC's voluminous roster, and their focus on making the title a "kick-ass hybrid between a traditional MMO and a first-person action console game", the apparent differences between the two games are clear. As long as there's a rich, intricate fish-controlling engine, we'll give it a shot.