What words are music to players' ears? "Biggest content update in its history." And RuneScape fans are getting just that! Jagex announced today that a massive content update bringing the all-new combat system, dubbed The Evolution of Combat, is on its way to the free-to-play fantasy game. The game-altering new system is promised to be more immersive and more involving.

Lead Designer Mark Ogilvie noted that a combat revamp was the community's most requested update and he emphasized the value of community feedback. To garner more feedback, Jagex is offering RuneScape members the opportunity to test the update starting June 26th. This limited-access beta will then run through September, giving beta participants the chance to help "shape the future of one of the most important elements of the game."

For the opportunity to participate in this exclusive combat system beta, players need to be an existing member of RuneScape or sign up for membership on the official site by June 1st.

[Source: Press release]

Reaching the nine-year mark is quite an accomplishment in the MMO world, and Conquer Online plans to celebrate this milestone in style with a number of special events, bonuses, and gifts both in-game and out. From now through May 31st, players can enjoy a variety of festivities and goodies:

• Ongoing special events like Crazy Lotto, Naughty Bunny, and Crazy Invasion.
• Special discounts on offers in the shopping mall, including a four-hour event on +3 stones from May 26th to 27th.
• A chance to prove which server is truly best in the cross-server Capture the Flag battle.
• A Nurture Pack with useful healing and XP items to welcome newcomers.
• VIP gifts.
• Special upgrades to certain event rewards.

Oh, but that's not all!

• The pièce de résistance: Three lucky current Conquer Online players will win a free trip to China to take in the sights of Beijing and visit the TQ headquarters.

To enter the drawing, players must credit at least one $15.99 or one $29.99 TQ Point Card during the period between May 15th and June 30th (the more you credit, the more chances you have), have at least one level 50+ character, and be at least 18 years of age. For full details, check out the contest rules.

[Source: Press release]

Have you been watching TERA via livestreams and wistfully wishing you could jump in and join but you haven't wanted to plunk down the cash at launch? Well as long as you don't mind not having a box to display on your shelf, your waiting has actually paid off! Amazon is kicking off a 12-day digital "MAYhem" sale today and offering select MMO titles at a significant discount on specific days. Those deals are as follows:

• TERA: May 19th and May 26th, both the standard and collector's editions will be 50% off, priced at $24.99 and $29.99 respectively.
• Final Fantasy XIV: May 17th to 20th and 26th.
• Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate Collection Abyssea Edition: May 17th to 20th and 26th.
• Need for Speed: May 18th to 20th all three starter packs will be on sale, the bronze for $7.49, the silver for $11.24, and the gold for $14.99.
• RIFT Ashes of History Edition: May 24th only the game will be $11.99.

Mark your calendar if you don't want to miss these offers.

[Update: We've added in the TERA sale on May 26th as well.]

[Source: Amazon press release]

You've experienced it, right? That magic moment on any trip of significant length when you've been living and breathing the locale long enough that the place starts to feel more familiar and you settle in, that time when you feel less like a tourist and more like a local. After the last few weeks traveling with you all, I have hit that moment in City of Heroes. While I still may not be able to tell one inspiration from another by sight, I can find my way around the 'hood and know the skyline when zipping about -- well, at least in Atlas Park. Oh, and I found a Mexican restaurant! It's almost like a second home now.

It was upon reaching this comfort zone that City of Heroes got better for me; this past week has been more fun than the previous ones during this Choose My Adventure road trip. (And yes, I'd even call the torture of the expansive character creation fun. Exhausting, but fun!) What transpired this week? Buckle up and step on the gas to see.

Travel back two years to when Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment was filing for bankruptcy and (unsuccessfully) attempting to sever ties with Gary Whiting, Chairman and CEO of the company. Stargate fans watched as their hopes for an MMO were dashed.

Fast forward to present day, when Stargate Worlds appears back in the news. Unfortunately for fans, it has nothing to do with offering a sliver of hope that the game itself might also revive; instead, more lawsuits are being filed against Whiting and other Cheyenne employees.

The newest lawsuit filed in Arizona includes 17 plaintiffs who accuse Whiting of misleading investors in various ways to obtain their cash. Some of the allegations leveled at Whiting include "negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, common-law fraud and securities fraud"; he's also accused of issuing loans to himself from the company's funds -- money that may still be in Whiting's possession, according to Cheyenne Mountain's court-appointed receiver, Keith Bierman of Phoenix-based MCA Financial Group.

Lock boxes in Star Trek Online -- love them or leave them, right? Well, now it may be more of an issue of Cryptic's leaving you if your country has an issue with them.

When a discussion on the Jupiter Force forums noted that certain countries may have legal issues with lock boxes in the game, STO developer @borticus chimed in that the "most likely course of action here, if any is taken, is that STO becomes unplayable" in that country. When the conversation turned toward the loss of revenue from losing said countries, @borticus replied that probably less revenue would be lost from losing a country than abandoning lock boxes.

Could lock boxes be making enough of a profit that losing an entire country's playerbase is a worthy trade off? It sounds like it. Anyone hoping that lock boxes were a temporary fad may want to stop holding his breath.

[Update: Borticus has a response for our low-standard website's reporting of something he said in public.]

[Thanks to "Some Guy" for the tip!]

Milk
Bread
Red Shell Potcrab
Life Leaf
Bulldozer...

You all know the old adage "Never go grocery shopping while hungry," right? It is sound advice for avoiding filling your cart with impulse purchases that might decimate your budget (and your waistline). How many of you have also used the shopping list tactic to try to minimize said impulse purchases? Well, you just might want to put that skill into practice when visiting Aion's BlackCloud Marketplace.

When the BlackCloud Marketplace launched last month, the inventory had pretty slim pickings for a game that needed to make all of its profit from the cash shop. Since all content in Aion is free, we knew more things would appear; it was just a matter of what and when. And even while there was still some trepidation about what items would be introduced over time (how many would play into the whole pay-to-win debate?), Daevas looked forward to new offerings and wondered what would be available next.

Wonder no more! Those little Shugos came in last Wednesday and stocked the marketplace shelves with over 100 new items. Some items were expected, some were not, and some were even clamored for by the masses. To help you construct your shopping list before heading to the store, Wing Over Atreia has perused the aisles for you to find what's new, what's interesting, and what's on special.

As one of 3.0's most anticipated features, player housing brought a whole new facet of gaming to Aion. Along with the studios, houses, and estates, housing provided Daevas the opportunity to demonstrate their creativity and decorating flair, and players have been taking full advantage of the system. Now, NCsoft wants to reward players for sprucing up their Atreian homes with a contest titled Decorate Your Space.

Think you have a pretty snazzy pad? Then show off those mad decorating skills! All Daevas over level 20 are eligible; just submit up to three unaltered screenshots of your living space via the contest thread or by email to community_aion_en@ncsoft.com by 12:59 a.m. EDT on May 19th. The top three homes judged best decorated will win special 60-day, two-drawer cabinets with an extra 18 slots of storage space.

For full rules, conditions, and the winner release form, visit the official announcement.

Yes, Virginia, there is a game after character creation.

With such extensive customization available, it is quite likely that I would have spent the duration of Choose My Adventure without ever actually logging in to play City of Heroes. For all of the hours I spent in character creation with all the options (enough to completely blow a fuse in your mind), it was easy to lose sight of the fact that there was actually a game to go play once I finally made my character. Now I see the real appeal of the VIP pass with all of those character slots; it has even me thinking wistfully of all the alts that could be.

Luckily I have you folks directing me, forcing me past the costume creator and into my role as defender of truth and justice. If it hadn't been for you, I would have never embarked on my journey of flight and fricasseed evil doers in Atlas Park. Or participated in an impromptu street band performance. Yup, it is all your fault! And I'm looking forward to what we do next as we continue our City of Heroes adventures together.

But first, let's take a look at what mayhem I caused... er, put an end to this past week.