In the latest Guild Wars 2 dev blog entry, Cinematic Department Lead Horia Dociu has posted the cinematic intro for the Ascalonian Catacombs dungeon. "We want the cinematics to feel like moving paintings," Dociu said, and they've certainly accomplished that task. Watch the video below to hear iconic charr Rytlock Brimstone tell the tale of the fall of the human kingdom of Ascalon.

Dungeons have been a major focus in ArenaNet's blog this week. Content Designer William Fairfield has written an in-depth blog entry that explains how the team is designing dungeons in Guild Wars 2, and Lore and Continuity Designer Jeff Grubb's dev blog entry covers the entire dungeon system.

Two new types of mounts were introduced to the game today: Leapers and Gliders. Leapers can spring high into the air, allowing players to cover a respectable distance between each jump. Gliders can also leap to a lesser extent, but their wings will catch the wind and sail, tip and climb at your command.

Adventurers and Crafters alike are offered quests to obtain these new mounts. The Leaper quests are available starting at level 30 and the Glider quests at level 60. Help protect and salvage these strange creatures and earn their trust!

To aide your journey we have two new quest guides: Leaper Mounts and Glider Mounts! Continue after the jump to see a video showing off the two new mount types in action.

E3 2011 has come and gone, but BioWare is still treating us to more Star Wars: The Old Republic videos from the convention! In their latest trailer, you can catch a glimpse of a live demo that was shown at E3 of a mission that takes place on Alderaan. In it, a group of players confronts a Republic war hero-turned-power hungry King who has seized the throne in a misguided bid to protect his people from an impending Sith invasion. Watch it below!

For more action from the floor, you can check out BioWare's E3 highlights video to see the game's major presence at the show and hear some reactions from players.

Penny Arcade illustrator Mike Krahulik has been in Star Wars: The Old Republic's friends and family beta for a little over a month, and BioWare agreed to let him share his thoughts on the site for his popular webcomic. His verdict? "I honestly think they are making something unique and fun here."

Here's an overview of some of Krahulik's impressions:

• The game's storytelling is a big deal. " I’ve had to make hard choices with my Bounty Hunter that have made me honestly think about who he is and what he’s like."
• Quests are an interactive experience that actually let you advance your character. "Playing a class in SW:TOR is like playing a single player Bioware game."
• The game's setting is supposed to take place thousands of years before the movies, but it's hard to tell since it hasn't changed much. "The reality is that I think it’s almost too much like the movies."
• As far as the mechanics are concerned, each of the classes feels unique. "Zapping the shit out of someone with force lightning is just as fun as you think."
• The game's full of noteworthy features, such as the ability to accept a quest with your party members via holoprojector. "It’s a little touch but believe me when I tell you the game is full of smart little bits like this."

Read Krahulik's full post for all the details. And while you're there, browse through Penny Arcade's comics.

Rift Update 1.3: Waves of Madness is officially live, and we've been hard at work compiling all of the information you'll need to wade through the massive content update. Here's a roundup of our guides and updated tools:

• Update 1.3 Patch Notes: Learn about all of the features and updates that have been added to the game!
• Waves of Madness Event Guide: Check out our guide to the 5-phase world event that leads to the opening of the 20-player Hammerknell raid.
• Free Character Transfers Guide: Find out everything there is to know about transferring shards with your character or guild. The guide includes links to the allowed destination shards.
• Guild Banks Guide: Following a brief bug fix, guild banks are now live! Did you know that non-combat Guild Perks get a free respec with 1.3?
• Interview with Hal Hanlin: We sat down with Rift's design producer to get more information on Update 1.3.
• ZAM's New Rift Log Parser: Thanks to Update 1.3, we can now collect NPC locations, loot tables and drop rates. Help us out by uploading your log files!
• Soul Tree Calculator Updated for 1.3: All of the latest changes to callings and souls have been added to our soul builder.
• RiftUI, ZAM's Addon Site: Addons are not included in Update 1.3 because Trion Worlds wants to make sure the system is ready before it goes live. However, you can try out the feature on the Public Test Shard and become a member of our RiftUI addon community.

Be sure to check out our Rift Wikibase for more information on the game, and join in on the discussion in our Rift forums! You can also watch the official Update 1.3: Waves of Madness trailer after the jump.

Patch 1.3 is nigh upon us and ZAM Rift is ready!  We are pleased to announce the introduction of our latest RIFT tool, the log parser, which will allow you to instantly upload NPC locations, loot tables, and drop rates with a few clicks!

Follow the simple instructions to painlessly upload your logs to ZAM Rift, where they will be parsed and the information added to our databases. This new tool comes thanks to an addition of a Discovery.log to the RIFT client in Patch 1.3.

We've also got a few nifty guides for you:

• Waves of Madness Event Guide - check here to be ready for the event when servers come up!
• Character Transfers - Everything there is to know about transferring shards with your character or guild.
• Guild Banks - Did you know that non-combat Guild Perks will get a free respec with 1.3?

Don't forget to use our Soul Tree Calculator for your next alt, and to upload your logs to ZAM Rift!

While TERA's action-based combat is an important aspect of the game, the music helps give the world of Arborea a life of its own. Frogster, the game's European publisher, sent us an exclusive interview with Inon Zur and Rod Aldernthy, the duo behind the music of TERA. They explain how they worked with developer Bluehole Studio to compose the game's music and discuss the creative process.

Just to avoid any confusion, we'd like to reiterate that Frogster is publishing TERA in Europe, while En Masse Entertainment is handling the publishing duties in North America. Now that we've gotten that clarification out of the way, check out the Q&A with TERA's composers after the jump!

This week I had the chance to chat with Design Producer Hal Hanlin and get some details on Update 1.3: Waves of Madness, the major content patch that's launching in Rift on June 22. In his own words, Hanlin is the guy who is responsible “primarily for the content of Rift.”

Keep reading after the jump to learn more about Addons, free realm transfers, guild banks, new artifacts (and the fun rewards associated with them), the world event, the Hammerknell raid and more!

Now that the excitement of E3 is over, BioWare is regrouping with a blog entry and Fan Friday post on the Star Wars: The Old Republic site. In the blog entry, Writer Ian Ryan explains how the writers work with the art team to polish the game now that the writing on the game is complete. For example, the Promenade on Nar Shaddaa was updated to look like the Hutt version of the Vegas Strip (seen above). The Fan Friday segment contains the usual fan art, as well as an interview with fan site Ask a Jedi.

In addition to these two posts, BioWare has announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic took home 15 awards at E3 out of more than 20 nominations. Congratulations, BioWare! Speaking of the convention, be sure to check out everything we learned about Star Wars: The Old Republic at E3.

One of my top priorities at E3 this year was to check out End of Nations. Produced by Trion Worlds, End of Nations is a new MMORTS being developed by Petroglyph Games. That’s significant because Petroglyph is comprised of former members of Westwood Studios, which is responsible for RTS masterpieces like Command & Conquer and Dune 2.

I’ve always been dubious about MMORTS games. Arguably, if you look at the market, the genre really doesn’t exist except in a theoretical sense. The last attempt at a big title, Sony Online Entertainment’s Sovereign, was canceled way back in 2003.

After getting a peek at End of Nations, I think we’re about to see MMORTS go from theory to reality. Keep reading after the jump to find out why.