GameSpyDaily has learned some juicy details from the Entertainment in the Interactive Age seminar - currently running in Los Angeles - about the Sims Online project. Maxis' Will Wright gave a key note speech detailing how he wants to see a massive online world that will support up to 50,000 houses at once, and that will also support all the characters and tools that have sprung up from around the Sims community.

He also stated that he wants to see the users entertaining others online, and mentioned the possibility of a reward-type scheme for players that go above and beyond - e.g. creating a really popular night club or theme park. A tracking technique will allow matchmaking to occur, so they'll be able to tell who your friends and enemies are!

The realm based teams of Dark Age of Camelot are designed with several goals in mind. First it will provide pla

Client and server expansions - symbols: new features, misc, fixed bugs

• Music that is keyed to events like entering a cave or starting a fight.

Ranged combat - You now gain experience for each successful hit

We have started to send out the beta III CDs. 1200 will be sent out this week, and these people should expect an e-mail quite soon. Next week we will add 3000 new testers at the start of the wee

I had to take down the server today to fix a problem that was caused by players using macros. If you use a macro to buy things or to change the outcome of your play, you will be banned.

Every player agreed to comply with the rules of the game when they signed up. One of those rules follows:

You may not modify or replace any electronic information being exchanged by the Dransik Client or Server.

A MACRO program sends information to the game client to simulate mouse and keyboard events. That is in direct violation with the above rule.

You can see the rest of their concept art gallery here.

Both Sony and Verant have caused several auction sites to close down access to those who wish to profit from time spent playing their game. They believe that the untried EULA gives them this right. We believe that it does not. We wish to have this tested in the US Courts.

You can join the suit, or post a comment about the lawsuit.

Just what does it have? Well I can tell you it has different Atriarch time units, more info on building and how you begin, forensic skills, Eshlar advancing in buiding and the effects, mobile buildings and houses, mention of a new water creature that is mountable, slugs and other city sized creatures, explaination on symbiotes, looting rights and thieving skills and more.

3.15 Will only the extremely lucky or hardcore players get to play Jedi?

We are not “pre-determining” whether a character can become a Jedi or not. Also, being “hardcore” is not a qualifier used in becoming a Jedi. Our system is designed to allow the casual player, as well as the hardcore player, the opportunity to become a Jedi.

Kvarno> Music, how will it be heard, can bards play it?
Paul_Hutson> Yes they can, we have decided to not put background music behind the game - there will be SFX this will allow for bards to play on places etc.
Paul_Hutson> And be appriciated
Kvarno> Ahh wonderful
Kvarno> Can they compose their own music even?
Paul_Hutson> We will allow them to play MP3's Wavs and Midis from other locations, so yes. - But this will probably be after the betas.
Kvarno> Couldn't that interefere with lag?
Paul_Hutson> It could - we have not fully developed those ideas yet.

Serafina (Lead Game Designer) and Firemist (Community Liason), will be attending the ISDA USC Conference. If you will also be attending, be sure to yell, WOO ATRIARCH so we know to go up and say hi *smile*

Valentine's Day approaches, when a young warrior's heart turns from carnage to more romantic pursuits. One of the most popular features of Asheron's Call remains its social aspect -- and as a result, we know Dereth is filled with great romance stories!

In observance of Valentine's Day, we want to hear about your own romantic AC experiences. Made a connection with someone in Dereth that evolved into a full-blown romance off-line? Do you play with your partner, and has it helped or hurt your relationship? Tell us about it, and your tale of true love (or true woe) could appear here on the AC site! Please keep all submissions to 300 words or less, PG-rated, and send them to website@asheronscall.com by February 6, 2001. If we decide to use your story, we'll notify you and may follow-up for additional details.

There WILL be ONE game world!

and we will make important stations very very crowded...

Idea is to have the biggest centres of the galaxy filled with people..

Stations with some 10-20 ports, where you will have to wait in line to get inside or to leave the place.

Lots and lots of ships flying around those babies…

That's the plan!

VJ

You can read the rest of the thread here.

On the other hand, info for the timeline was revealed to some extent. The game will take place in the period of Galactic Civil War, or more precisely, after the destruction of the first Death Star and the battle of Yavin. The developers chose this specific 'Classic Era' because most of the main characters are still alive and well (personally I think they just wanted to avoid characters like Jar Jar). A lot of loyal fans will be pleased with the fact that they can interact with these characters and become important individuals in the Star Wars Universe.

You can see the rest of the preview here.

Flying will be new to many veterans of the genre, but in addition to the aforemen-tioned Pegas