Rob Lashley continues his series for MMORPG.com that is based around Neverwinter. Called Foundry Focus, Rob shines the spotlight on a specific Foundry quest each week. In this week's article, Rob takes a look at "The Mark of the BtG". Check it out and then tell us about your favorite Foundry quests in the comments.

Bobcatt1313 does a excellent job of using lore from the Neverwinter Saga to create a back-story for his own original tale. This mission can be lengthy if you take the time to read all of the information presented to you during the quest chain. For those of you that prefer to click your way through adventures if you select the orange dialog text you will skip to very end of each NPCs text chain. I would not suggest you do this.

Read more of Rob Lashley's Neverwinter: Foundry Focus - The Mark of the BtG.

It's a ghostly good time

MMORPG.com has teamed up with ROCCAT to bring our community another great gaming hardware sweepstakes event!  From now until June 13 you can enter for a chance to win one of three prize bundles featuring the all new Kone XTD mouse and Isku keyboard!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THIS SWEEPSTAKES NOW!

NCSoft is anxious for players to learn more about the upcoming Lineage II Lindvior content expansion. We have teamed up with the developers to give our readers an exclusive in-house interview with Development Director Gon Namkung. Check it out before heading to the comments with your thoughts and questions. 

As Shilen’s army focused on growing its ranks and bringing back Lindvior, the balance of power among monsters already inhabiting Aden shifted. In the face of the turning tide, even more powerful demons have broken free in the new lands, creating a greater need for mighty warriors who are capable of fighting off the chaos and destruction. 

Read more Lineage II: Getting to Know Lindvior.

Players will now be able to take advantage of integrated F2P titles from Kabam all while watching their favorite Twitch.tv streams. The pair of companies announced the partnership via the Twitch.tv blog.

Read more at the link above.

In the second in a series of articles spotlighting the importance of community in MMOs, we take a look at why we believe it's in developers' best interest to encourage roleplay. See why we think so before letting us know if you agree or not in the comments.

In part one, I explored some of the reasons roleplayers have either become nearly invisible, dwindled in number, or have even quit altogether in the modern MMO. This time, I want to propose some things that work, as well as why investing in social infrastructure in MMORPGs is a good thing. The shifts that have happened to RP aren’t limited to sandbox or themepark, and they’re certainly not the result of one thing over another. The result is that the life of an MMORPG has become quite short for many people, instead of thinking longer-term. MMO “tourism” is a real thing, and with so many games competing for players’ attention, retention is probably more important—and more elusive—than ever. Studios claim “social” is important, but implementation is another story. Developers must invest in the sometimes intangible and sometimes virtually invisible social features that go beyond a friends’ list and achievements.

Read more of Christina Gonzalez's The Social Hub: Promoting RP is Good for Community.

Lord of the Rings Online developers have announced that the latest game update, Treachery of the White Hand, is now live on all servers. In addition, the full patch notes have been posted on the LOTRO site for players to review.

New Region: Wildermore

• Wildermore, north of East Rohan, offers new quests, new warbands, and a whole new series of Endgame activities and rewards. A vector from East Rohan will lead players into the snow covered fields and hills. Learn more about Wilermore by watching our Video Dev Diary.

The Epic Story Continues

• Book 10: Snows of Wildermore continues the Epic story into Wildermore, discovering the source of the sudden change in weather and the new dangers in Wildermore. Along the way players catch up on what the Rangers have been doing since they were last encountered. Read the Developer Notes for more information.

Read up on the patch before logging into Lord of the Rings Online.

ArenaNet began its patented tease for the next Guild Wars 2 game update with last week's revelation of the Secret of Southsun. In our latest Guild Wars 2 column, we speculate about what players might expect to find out. See if you agree before heading to the comments to post your ideas.

Back in The Lost Shores event players visited a new island, Southsun Cove, where they teamed up to push back the Karka threat.  While victorious in preventing the Karka from invading Lion’s Arch, the Island is still inhabited with these strange creatures, there hasn’t been a really good reason for players to return. 

Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2: An Island of Mystery.

What clues could be found in this painting?

Marco Dieckmann has posted a brand new video developer interview on the official KickStarter page for Face of Mankind: Fall of the Dominion. In the video, Dieckmann discusses game mechanics that are unique to FoM: FotD. Check it out!

Welcome to episode 07 of Game On: Epic Slant Press Edition! This week we tackle the big topic of sexism in gaming, why white knighting isn't all it's cracked up to be, and how Penny Arcade's podcaster Kickstarter might just break the site. Reminder: Leave a written 5-star iTunes review for your chance to win a copy of Defiance and tune in next week to see if you've won!

Check it out on our Game On Episode 7 page.

The latest series of updates to Star Wars: The Old Republic have been interesting ones from players. In addition, good news about the F2P transition was revealed during an investors' meeting recently. We caught up with Cory Butler to find out more. Read on and then leave your thoughts in the comments.

MMORPG.com: You're coming up on six months since SWTOR went Free-to-Play. How would you say players have reacted to the switch overall? Where does the game stand today?

Cory Butler: The reaction has been incredible.  Every part of the game has benefited from the transition.  Player populations are higher, origin worlds are teeming, PvP is thriving and the overall sentiment of our community reflects all of those things.

Read more of Mike Bitton's Star Wars: The Old Republic - Cathar, Update 2.1 & Free To Play .

The MMORPG.com Live Stream schedule for this week has been posted and it's packed with awesome action from some of the day's hottest games. Be sure to find the stream you're most interested in and then log in at the appointed day and time!

Monday - 5/13

• Noon EDT Neverwinter
• 3 pm EDT Neverwinter with Kelethar
• 9 pm EDT TERA with Eaderbreca

Tuesday - 5/14

• Noon EDT Neverwinter with Brewha
• 3 pm EDT Ragnarok Online 2 with Kelethar
• 7 pm EDT Neverwinter with Chief Sarcan

Wednesday - 5/15

• Noon EDT Neverwinter with Brewha
• 3 pm EDT City of Steam with Kelethar
• 9:30 pm EDT Wayback Wednesday with Grakulen featuring Vanguard

Thursday - 5/16

• Noon EDT Neverwinter with Brewha
• 3pm EDT Defiance with Kelethar
• 9:30pm EDT Neverwinter Foundry Focus with Grakulen

Friday - 5/17

• Noon EDT Neverwinter with Brewha
• 3 pm EDT Neverwinter with Kelethar
• 7 pm EDT Neverwinter with Intrinsc

Saturday - 5/18

• 7 pm EDT Neverwinter with Intrinsc

Sunday - 5/19 

• 12 pm EDT Pirate101 with Sarcan

Blizzard has chosen a classy path to take care of the recent Diablo III auction house upheaval due to an exploit found after the release of the v1.08 patch. Rather than a wholesale rollback of the servers, ergo penalizing all players, the team has opted to remove the 415 players utilizing the exploit and will donate any profits made to charity.

Many people bought and sold items and gold on the Auction House on Tuesday. We're making sure that all legitimate transactions go through. This means that if your account was not involved in the exploit, you will get to keep your items and gold, as well as any money you received from sales on the real-money Auction House. We'll also be donating all proceeds from auctions conducted by the suspended or banned players—including all of THEIR sale proceeds that we intercepted as well as our transaction fee—to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. 

Read the full post on the Diablo III forum.

NCSoft has released its latest earnings report. The report shows that earnings are up largely in part thanks to the release of ArenaNet's Guild Wars 2. While earnings fell in the final quarter of the year, profits were up for the year overall.

NCsoft's managing director, Nah Seong Chan, also hinted during the earnings call that the company was planning to address falling Guild Wars 2 sales with a new expansion pack.

"In terms of box sales and microtransactions are still very strong, and of course we are preparing an expansion pack but in terms of when we will actually launch it, it's something we are still monitoring... We are looking to the performance of the game and then we will decide what will be the best time to do the launch."

Read more at GamesIndustry.biz.

This brand new exclusive Atlantica Online video shows off the new content in the Ascension update released late last week. This video gives tips and strategies on how to take on the new raid dungeon, how to gain the new centaur mercenary, and details of the new class talents. Check it out!

One of the most important pieces of hardware for any gamer is the vaunted video card. In our latest hardware review, we take a look at the Sapphire AMD 7870 HD and give you our verdict. See if you agree before heading to the comments.

Today we're going to take a look at the Radeon HD 7870 OC Edition provided to us by Sapphire to MMORPG.  I'm going to give you a general overview of the card, a few FPS stats from runs I conducted with Tera, Planetside 2, and Mechwarrior, and my final opinion on if this piece of hardware is worth looking at when you are deciding on a new video card for your system.  So we’re not going to get too technical, but you should get a good idea on what you're getting when you purchase Sapphire’s OC version of the AMD 7870HD.

Read more of Arden Bartlett's The Sapphire AMD 7870 HD Review.

In a recent video developer blog, Carbine Studios laid out an amusing but true video about how MMOs need to transcend the WASD keys. In an exclusive interview, we talked with Lead Combat Systems Designer Chris Lynch about how movement will matter in WildStar. Read on and then leave your ideas in the comments.

First off, I asked the guys why movement should get so much attention from MMO players, and the answer was simple: movement in most MMOs is taken for granted, and it serves as a core part of the combat and exploration experience in WildStar.  Every ability involves positioning (from attacks to heals, and of course dodging), so why not show WildStar’s prospective players why movement is not only a key component of the experience, but also different from your run of the mill MMOs?

Read more of Bill Murphy's WildStar: Why Movement Matters.

Wargaming is bringing a little charity into World of Wartanks. May is National Military Appreciation Month and players purchasing special bundles this weekend will see proceeds go to a trio of charitable organizations that directly affect military personnel and their families.

It's become our tradition to honor our veterans during the month of May, National Military Appreciation Month, by donating a portion of our proceeds from the Gift Shop to various charities. This year is no exception; we'll be splitting 10% of all revenue from the sale of our special National Military Appreciation Month Bundles to three charity organizations: Homes For Our Troops, AMVETS, and the Military Families Fund.

Check out the full details of the bundle on the World of Tanks site.

With Vanguard's recent free to play conversion, many former players are revisiting their old friend. The Tourist is no exception. See what he discovered on reentering the game and then tell us of your own experiences in the comments.

To say that Vanguard: Saga of Heroes had the hearts of players would be an understatement. The excitement surrounding its 2007 launch was not unlike last year's Guild Wars 2. And why not? World of Warcraft was preparing to deliver its first expansion and Everquest 2 its third, but both games felt little like the original Everquest. Brad McQuaid and his team at Sigil promised something different. A return to form; an MMO that felt like the game we all loved but delivered so much more. Here, after years in wait, we were offered a virtual world instead of a cardboard cutout. One disastrous launch and a parking lot firing later, Vanguard found its true and tragic place in the pantheon of MMOs. Even now, its legacy is one of disappointment and squandered opportunities. Does the game have six years and nothing to show for it or is it finally worth going home to? Read on to find out.

Read more of Chris Coke's The Tourist: Revisiting Vanguard.

Neverwinter is receiving a lot of attention these days as the 'new kid on the MMO block'. In today's Tingle's Touchy Subjects, we take a look at Neverwinter as it relates to our past experiences in D&D and much more. It's a terrific read that you will want to discuss in the comments.

So that's why I make a point not to read or watch anything about new games that initially excite me, and that I don't have to report on. Neverwinter happens to be one of those products.  When Cryptic announced the game, I must admit I was stuck between two tracks of thought. Firstly, while I admire what the developer does, I can't say that I have found my "virtual home" within any of their products. Secondly, oh-my-freaking-gawd it shares a similar name as the graphical MUD from 1991.

Read more of Adam Tingle's Tingle's Touchy Subjects: On Neverwinter.