Last week Acclaim announced 2Moons, a new massively multiplayer online role-playing game that is geared specifically towards adult gamers. Heading up this project is David Perry, the founder of Shiny Entertainment. 2Moons will be playable without a subscription fee. This isn't anything new to gaming; titles like Guild Wars are already playable without a monthly subscription fee, so what's different about Acclaim's approach with 2Moons? We asked David Perry for some answers.
David Perry on 2Moons
GameSpy: Is it true that gamers can turn off the in-game ads in 2Moons? If so, will advertisers still be interested in advertising on 2Moons even though their ads may go unseen?

David Perry: The advertisers don't control the flow, we do. If the flow is closed to that gamer, they never need to worry, as the flow will be open to another user. I'm sure advertisers would like to know if they were about to serve an advert to someone that frankly hates adverts. (We save them that wasted money and negative brand impact.)

Perry: Yes, we let you pay if you want to, however we first look through our system to see if an advertiser is willing to pick up the cost of an item for you. It sounds kind of crazy, but it makes complete sense. I've applied for the design patent to control how this data is handled, so when that's published, the detail will be there for other companies to see how it's done. It's a great way to keep the gamer from paying wherever possible.

2Moons will require no subscription fee to play.

GameSpy: Some gamers have a bad reaction to seeing ads in-game. Why do you think this is the case? Do you see anything happening to change this way of thinking?

Perry: Excessive advertising bugs me, for example the way it is on TV and 'in-my-face' on websites. (Especially the giant ads that cover the entire section I'm trying to read on a website.) That's just abusive, and in the long-term it's exploiting the viewer. Meaning if people could think of ways to make more money and screw the consumer even more, they will in a heartbeat. So we are swimming 100% against that stream. We will be the best friend the in-game advertisers will have, and we will be protecting the consumer at every turn. It's radically different from how TV, radio and the more abusive websites work today.
Why did Google work? I think it had a lot to do with simplicity, being fast and available without choking on adverts. They could turn to the dark side and fill their homepage with adverts; you can bet it's been pitched to them a million times... I think they could still expand their model, meaning if you turn on an advert on the Google homepage, then you get an immediate benefit, like access to a massive music library or complete movie library for free. That's where I'm coming from. A real reward makes it all much more acceptable.

GameSpy: Do you believe this free-to-play model is the future of MMOs? Or will there always be subscription-based MMOs?

Perry: EA has announced they're going to stick with subscriptions. That makes me happy for us. I hope they raise their rates! :) I hope they also ram adverts into everything they do and give zero benefit to the consumer. That will be the long-term downfall of EA if they do this. I'm saying there's lots of new business models out there, and we're proving that by the approach we're taking. They need to innovate too.

Perry: Our industry has a stigma now about violent games. I personally enjoy them, so unlike Take 2 (when challenged), we are being clear up front. "It's a violent game." My next game is the exact opposite, so you will see two completely different streams of adverts coming to the games. We control that too as we choose what's appropriate and what's not. That said, you could even have fun with it... A Band-Aid advert right after ripping a monster's head off. (Just kidding.)

Erotik mit Fantasy-Elementen: Basierend auf dem Online-Rollenspiel "World of Warcraft", hat der amerikanische Porno-Produzent Dez die Serie Whorecraft entworfen. Inhalt: Elfen, Orcs, Magie und Sex.
Für die mittlerweile sechs Episoden wurden einige Stars und Sternchen der Erotik-Branche verpflichtet. Bekannte Namen wie Monica Mayhem und Taylor Rain finden sich dort ebenso wie bislang unbekannte Darstellerinnen.
Klar: Der Inhalt der Whorecraft-Folgen dreht sich vornehmlich um Sex-Szenen. Mit Kampfszenen und Special Effects versuchen die Macher eine Hintergrund-Story um Schwerter, Magie und Fantasy zu stricken.  (fho)

Der 15-jährige Benjamin aus dem belgischen La Louviere ist beim WoW-Spielen ins Koma gefallen.
Erst nach etwa 24 Stunden sei er im Krankenhaus wieder zu sich gekommen, berichtet die Zeitung Het Nieuwsblad op Zondag. Um bei World of Warcraft möglichst lange durchzuhalten, hätte er literweise Kaffee und Energy-Drinks getrunken, erzählte Benjamin dem Blatt. Seine Mutter erzieht die fünf Kinder seit dem Tod ihres Mannes allein. "Ich habe versucht, meinen Jungen vom Computer wegzuholen, aber dann wurde er aggressiv", sagte sie der Zeitung. In Zukunft wolle sie aber härter durchgreifen.  (hst)

It was one year ago, today, that the blood elves and draenei joined the armies of Azeroth, and the Dark Portal was opened to the beautiful and terrifying vistas of Outland. On January 16, 2007, The Burning Crusade was released and sold almost 2.4 million copies worldwide in its first 24 hours of release, winning multiple awards from industry representatives. Since that time, World of Warcraft has reached the epic milestone of 9 million subscribers worldwide, and players have discovered the might of the Burning Legion, fought against the allies of Illidan in Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep, and even faced down the Betrayer himself in the Black Temple.
For those who have not yet had the chance to venture into the perils of Outland, a free trial of the Burning Crusade is available for download. For players yet to experience World of Warcraft, a free trial of the original game is also available.

World of Warcraft's community continues to grow, recently hitting a new high of 10 million subscribers around the world. In the three years since the game was first released, the way it has been embraced around the world has far surpassed our expectations, and we're grateful to all of the players who made that possible. We just wanted to take a moment to share the news, welcome the many new and returning players who entered the game over the holidays, and thank all of you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm.

WoW Radio is in the last stretch for their WoW Idol 2008 contest, where they are looking for the very best, most humorous, or even worst entries. See the finalists they've chosen here and don't forget to give a listen then cast your votes.
WoW Interface has not only moved to new servers, but has updated the layout of their site. To find out more about the changes that have occurred, please read their forum post.

Here is the next honorable mention from this month's comic contest submissions. Remember, the contest will go on all year long, so don't miss your chance to win a Blizzard Edition iPod Nano. Keep those comics coming! Check out today's honorable mention from Pyromoose.