By almost any measure, Mike Donatelli is a busy man. As Content Director for Carbine on upcoming MMO WildStar, he oversees a huge number of teams. Social systems, economy, crafting and dungeons are all part of his domain. About the only thing he doesn’t manage is combat and PvP, with Carbine choosing to have a dedicated team purely focused on those classes, mechanics and telegraphs.

It’s clear that he’s also excited to be able to discuss WildStar for the first time outside a locked and sealed office door. For the person responsible for a large amount of our journey to level cap and beyond, it’s clear that he’s proud of what his team has put together.

The reason is obvious: Donatelli is one of us; a classic old-school died-in-the-wool MMO fanatic, who fought his way up after landing his first industry job with Mythic, doing Customer Service for Dark Age of Camelot. “I played the crap out of MMOs and a buddy of mine got in there and he said, ‘Hey look, they’re looking to set up customer service.’ So I got in that way and I worked myself up to customer service supervisor. When I was a supervisor I was like ‘I’m done’. But then that gave me a really good insight into the way players react to the things devs would do.”

“I’d have players telling me ‘Not only does this encounter suck, but it’s broken.’ I would troubleshoot it and then take it to a dev, and say ‘Look, I got a hundred player complaints last night about this.’ They’d be like ‘That’s the way it was intended.’  That’s not a response. I think that really colored my view of feedback. When all you’re doing is dealing with the player every day and what they love and hate, it gives you a definite view that a player is not something to abuse but it’s a customer.” Since then, Donatelli worked his way up the design ladder working on Warhammer and Crimecraft, before joining Carbine as a Senior Designer.

MMOs were once described to me as ‘The Longest Show on Earth’. For WildStar that show started earlier than most, after being launched at Gamescom 2011. When Carbine Studios’ flagship title launches in late 2013, the community team of Troy Hewitt, Loic Claveau and David Bass will have been courting fans and answering questions for over two years. 

It’s a cold day in the coastal town of Brighton when I manage to catch up with the trio. A small group of us has been given some hands-on time with the MMO, and the conversation is bristling with excitement as we share our experiences over lunch. As I sit down to interview the team about their approach to nurturing the WildStar community, I look for signs of jetlag on their faces. But there’s nothing to be found except infectious enthusiasm.

Like kids with the keys to the candy store, this is when Carbine pulls back the curtain and does the big reveal. I can tell that they’re revelling in it, partly because of all the cool news they can finally share, but also because they can’t wait to hear from the community. And although my fingers itch with a need to get back to my Spellslinger, I can feel that anticipation all too clearly.

It’s all systems go today, as we bring you an Arkship crammed full of WildStar news! From our first impressions with playing Carbine’s upcoming MMO, to interviews across the development team, we have every last drop of information we could obtain about planning your flight to Nexus later this yea. As was officially announced today, with closed beta just a few months away, WildStar is due to land in late 2013.

Kicking things off, ZAM’s own WildStar expert Michael “Ragar” Branham managed to get some hands-on time with the MMO, bringing us a detailed preview that describes why we should be getting excited about heading to Nexus. He also managed to interview Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney, discovering details about combat mechanics, milestones, scaling and more.

Over in the UK meanwhile, Gareth “Gazimoff” Harmer managed to catch up with Carbine at a European event last week. While there, he managed to spend some time with Content Director Mike Donatelli, asking him for details on WildStar’s raiding plans and how the team plan to deliver an eight week patch cycle.  He also grabbed lunch with the WildStar Community Team, hearing their thoughts on growing the community, Arkship 2013, beta and beyond.

Besides some fantastic in-depth articles, we also have some special videos to share with you. Up first is a look at Deradune, one of the earlier zones for players from level 6 to 12. We’ve also included some Vista highlights from the Explorer Path for you to enjoy.

Secondly, we have an introduction to the Exiles faction from someone who knows them best. With the burly Granok, nature-loving Aurin and rebellious Humans, this faction certainly packs a punch!

Finally, Carbine’s very own Mike Donatelli provides a preview into the Explorer Path, one of four different paths that you can choose to tailor your journey through the game.

Mercenaries (commonly shortened to "mercs") were introduced as one of the major features of the Age of Discovery expansion. These NPCs take up a group slot and assist the player in combat, whether it be through healing, tanking, DPS, or support. They have become a common staple to see alongside many players as they head out adventuring, but are not quite capable enough to be considered a replacement in group or raid zones with current content.

These mercenaries can now be obtained a variety of ways. Many are simply picked up at one of the player cities while others are unlocked via questing or by consuming a loot dropped item. A few mercenaries have been introduced through special means, such as the Legends of Norrath loot card merc, Noftu, or the Chains of Eternity Collector's Edition mercs, Krivik and Krivok. Players with extra platinum on hand can seek out one of the three elite mercenaries, who perform above and beyond the common tavern mercenaries.

Check out our Mercenaries guide for information on where to obtain them and much more!

In today's Rift patch notes Amanda "Amary" Fry published a letter to players addressing the horrific spike in botter activity over the holidays.  If you use keyboard assist software it might give you some trouble for the next couple weeks, and you are advised to not use it until further notice.

During this action Trion has addressed the needs of differently-abled gamers: should you be completely unable to play because of these temporary changes over the next couple of weeks be sure to contact Trion Customer Service.

Fry's entire post is available below.

EVE Online is certainly unusual among MMOs. In the staggering ten years it’s been running, the spacefaring sandbox has consistently grown in popularity. Yet Icelandic developer CCP shows no signs of slowing down, releasing Retribution – the game’s 18th expansion, planning a 10th anniversary FanFest and launching shooter Dust 514 on PlayStation 3 later this year.

For executive producer Jon Lander, part of that long-lasting success comes down to the basic concept of the game he leads. “I really struggle calling EVE a game. Certainly I, and a lot of the original developers, and the developers we have now, we all think of this as a massively multiplayer virtual world.” He continued “When you approach it from that angle, you realize that the important things in the real world aren’t necessarily games. The things which make a world meaningful are generally social interactions, and the evolution of history which can then affect the actions of the present.”

As we spoke just after Christmas, Lander went on to explain why his team don’t want to be the focal point for EVE’s stories. “If you play a game, and you play the imagination of somebody else, you’re playing through a single player game. I used to play a lot of the Splinter Cell games, and then I was playing a story which had actually come out of a developer’s head. I wasn’t playing my story – I sort of had to imprint myself on that.”

Sequels are hard: everyone brings expectations to a sequel to a best-loved game. Even more ambitious is a sequel that was designed from the start to forge its own ground. Set 500 years in the future from the original EverQuest, EverQuest II has managed to embrace the lore, creatures and nostalgia of Norrath-that-was while moving down its own path and maintaining a separate identity from its predecessor.

Desert of Flames

In Desert of Flames we rediscovered the Desert of Ro. At this time good and evil factions were still held separate, and the Sinking Sands became the meeting place for people crossing faction lines for business or pleasure. The contested city of Maj'Dul gave faction meaning and djinn, orcs, and undead vied for our attention while we herded beetles. The level cap was raised to 60.

If there's one thing that makes WildStar unique, it's attitude. It exudes from every design aspect, from the short and snappy quest dialogue to character and monster animation. It's apparent in every blast of news from Carbine Studios, like the morally dubious Protostar Corporation. This is a game that's screaming to be unleashed, as if boldly declaring that I'll be kicking ass from the moment I land on Nexus. And with beta anticipated early in 2013, I'm already drooling in anticipation.

We chose WildStar to represent the fourth day of Christmas because of a unique feature: Paths. While there are some of us that spend hours tweaking a character's appearance, and choosing a name and class, the Path asks us to select one of four distinct play styles. The Explorer is interested in finding hidden pathways to secret areas, while the Scientist is focused on unlocking the mysteries of Nexus. The Settler is concerned with bolstering villages and outposts, while the Soldier generally wants to kill things.

The Path system is loosely based around the Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology, which attempts to classify players from the aspects of online gaming we find most appealing. While most MMOs include content for the various Bartle categories, WildStar is the first that intends to tailor the leveling experience to our preferences. If Carbine manages to pull it off, the result will be an MMO that's more in tune with our individual likes than any other out there.

EverQuest II started the year fresh off of its eighth expansion, plus a Free-to-Play conversion, and ended it with its ninth expansion, Chains of Eternity.

Players began their year adjusting to the Free-to-Play model, first introduced as EQ2 Extended, which was introduced as the new subscription model December 2011. EverQuest II was the first of Sony Online Entertainment's games to introduce a Free-to-Play option since Free Realms, and most of SOE's other games quickly followed. Populations flourished as new and old players alike visited Norrath to give the seven year old game a spin.

UPDATE: The winners have been chosen!  If you entered check the contest page to see if you're a winnter! Thanks to everyone who entered!

To celebrate Frostfell, ZAM has acquired THIRTY-TWO new and exciting Festive Gingerbread Pet item codes to give away and FOUR Station Cash codes for grand prizes! All you have to do is bring us your best Norrathian-themed Holiday Haiku and you could be a winner!

Please check out the official rules for instructions and stop by our forums to enter! The contest runs through December 21, and we'll announce winners by December 24.