NCsoft and ArenaNet just unveiled the latest Guild Wars 2 profession, and it's the Engineer! If you like the thought of tinkering with explosives, gadgets and elixirs, then it looks like the Engineer will be your dream class. Here are some of the tools at their disposal:

• Backpack and Weapon Kits: When activated, these kits replace the engineer’s current weapon skill set with all new offensive tech. Lob smoke, concussion and fire bombs with the bomb backpack, or dish out massive area damage by utilizing the flamethrower skills activated by using the flamethrower kit.
• Turrets: By launching and moving around various types of turrets, the engineer controls and defends the battlefield.  The engineer can place, pick up and move turrets during battle, and can even use the individual overdrive mode of each turret for extra devastation.   
• Tool Belt: An engineer would be lost without a Tool Belt, as it increases the effectiveness and functionality of the engineer’s skills. Adding an additional set of skills above the weapon bar, the tool adds an extra function to turrets, mines, grenades and more.

You can check out some screenshots, videos and wallpapers on the official Engineer page. There's only one more profession reveal to go before all eight are unveiled!

Lead Battle Planner Akihiko Matsui has finally revealed the blueprint for upcoming changes to Final Fantasy XIV’s battle system – and the list is extensive.

Some of the information in the Battle Reform Blueprint was already common knowledge, such as the implementation of auto attack and the desire to continue catering to solo players. However, Matsui’s blueprint for the FFXIV battle system changes has lifted the curtain from other upcoming revisions, such as how quests for unlocking traditional Final Fantasy jobs will be acquired by ranking up existing classes.

“Having read the blueprint, there is bound to be more than a few players who feel that we’ve only recited a handful of things common to all MMORPGs,” Matsui says in the closing statement of his blueprint. “There may be others still who are saddened - perhaps even piqued - that elements they felt made FINAL FANTASY XIV unique will be going to the cutting block.

“I would like to clarify here that the battle team’s overarching objective is to lay a solid foundation upon which to build new elements - elements that will bring out the best in FINAL FANTASY XIV,” he said.

Read Matsui’s post about the FFXIV battle system changes in the Square Enix FFXIV Forum.

Discuss this in the ZAM forum!

May has been a tumultuous month for EverQuest II with the extensive downtime that all SOE games have experienced. The game came back online the evening of May 14th and all players are being treated to a week-long run of events.

Double experience is active for adventuring, alternate advancement, crafting and guild XP. The server will be rewarding a 100% bonus to experience throughout the week. A "loot bonanza" is also in effect, which is a greater chance of high quality loot to drop from past and present hot zones as well as group and overland zones in Velious. Both bonuses are in effect until 9am PDT on Monday, May 23.

The Freeport City Festival had kicked off on May 1st, but the downtime intruded upon it, leaving its status unknown. In compensation all city festivals are now active until 9am PDT on May 23. Visit Chris Weathers at any festival venue to browse wares for all cities which include a total of 16 new local specialties.

Norrath's moons are experiencing an unusual alignment this month, revealing the mushroom grottos for an extended period of time. Seek out your missing collection items and complete quests for merchant tokens to purchase grotto-themed house items. Moonlight Enchantments will run through 9am PDT on May 23.

The gnomes of Norrath are always keen to have unwitting adventurers test their latest inventions and their Aether Races are no exception! Taking advantage of the return of many denizens, the original three race courses in Butcherblock, Lavastorm and Tenebrous Tangle are once again open. Players can also visit the Antonica and Commonlands race tracks for even more death-defying gnomish fun. All of the Aether Race courses will be open for business until 9am PDT on Monday, May 23.

Finally, a "May Madness" sale in the Station Cash Marketplace was planned to occur earlier this month. This sale will be opened up on Tuesday, May 17th. We'll have more details once they are released!

Planarite: They have it -- you want it! Patch 1.2 introduces "Slivers", which are purchased for 25,000 Planarite. It's not only the new slivers that you'll want Planarite for, though. There are Planar Vendors which sell goods in exchange for these little shinies. 

Join us as ZAM's Osarion brings us tips and tricks for solo Planarite Farming in Rift.

Trion has released the 1.2 data and we've updated our Soul Builder!  There were a lot of changes to abilities with patch 1.2, and they're in and ready to be played with.  So take some time and figure out just what sort of awesomeness you can create with your toons, because it’s doable in the calculator. Make some builds for the mage, cleric, rogue, or warrior callings then post them in the official or ZAM forums for other people to check out.

Check out our updated Soul Builder!  Then check out the top Soul Builds!

Patch 1.2 launched on Tuesday with a late-night hotfix to correct a few problems, but Trion held over the Spoils of War prelude event so you can earn more loot!  There's no end ETA for this event, so be sure to get out there and collect your Ancient Golden Dragon Egg Shells wherever there are Earth or Fire rifts. 

Check out our Spoils of War prelude event guide for more information!

With patch 1.2 Rift players are seeing a myriad of changes, many of which focus on end game and max level players. Trion is making many changes to class balance for both PvE and PvP, adding a new raid instance and 10 man raiding, while also revamping their token system.

On May 10 when Rift's Patch 1.2 goes live the LFG Tool should be available to all Ascended. This new game feature allows players to queue for a specific dungeon, join the random dungeon queue, or look for quest or rift groups. 

With Patch 1.2 scheduled to go live May 10, there will be Wardrobe Sets built into your character window. Wardrobe Sets allow you to display a different armor appearance on your character.

For armor, you may only equip your calling's intended armor type in the Chest, Legs, Hands, Feet, Shoulders and Head slots. Warriors can wear plate, rogues can wear leather, and so forth. Eventually there will be "costume-only" or "wardrobe-only" items that anyone will be able to equip.  You cannot equip anything higher than your current level.

One wardrobe set is available by default with three more sets that are unlockable by spending platinum. These additional slots can be purchased by clicking on their locked icon (akin to unlocking banker slots) and clicking "ok" to accept the price, which ranges from 10 platinum for Set #2 to 100 platinum for Set #4.

View a brief video of this feature and continue after the jump to keep reading!

If Naoki Yoshida were a sculptor, then Final Fantasy XIV would be a giant block of marble. For the past several months, Yoshi-P and his team have been chipping away at the large piece of earth, hoping to bring forth the MMO equivalent of Michelangelo's David from within.

Clearly, Yoshi-P has a vision for this game. However, despite all the work by the development team, many players still look at Final Fantasy XIV and see a giant block of stone. Some say the improvements aren't coming fast enough, while others say the improvements don't go deep enough. Perhaps we feel a sense of entitlement after sticking things out for the past eight months, even if we are playing on Square Enix's dime.

Make no mistake though -- soon Yoshi-P's vision will become much easier to see.

Discuss this in the ZAM forums.