What do you think of when you hear the word "invasion" in an MMORPG? The first image that comes to my mind is a bunch of NPCs screaming for help, while some foot soldier grunt enemies stand around waiting for you to slaughter them, pick up their loot and move on. The town still is invaded after (perhaps until you hand in your quest), the NPCs still scream, you yawn and go back to collecting rabbit feet or whatever else is in your quest log. Somehow, the terrified quest-giver still wants her rabbit feet while frenzied nasties are destroying her town; which remains intact. Sigh.

Imagine instead you're on your quest to find rabbit feet when you notice something odd. You've been down this path a hundred times, but you don't remember seeing these kinds of trees... and why are there skeletons popping up? What’s with the music changing all of a sudden? And... are those tentacles coming from the sky!? You make like a jack rabbit and run as fast you can back to town, only to find that those skeletons have taken it over and are creating more skeletons to find sacrifices to whatever tentacled beastie is coming out of the hole in the sky. And then they rush at you. Welcome to Rift.

Norrath is full of content to suit any style of adventuring. From the comfortable reaches of your home city through the depths of the Underfoot, players encounter an endless variety of quests and creatures to battle.

Ever wonder what content you may have missed or where to adventure next? Our progression guides will help take you there!

• Solo Progression
• Heroic Progression
• Raid Progression

Now that the third Rift closed beta event is planned and the beta NDA has lifted, we were curious to find out Trion Worlds' thoughts on the entire process. We decided to go straight to Trion Worlds CCO and Rift Executive Producer Scott Hartsman to discuss what the team has learned from the feedback that was submitted from the two previous beta events.

While Hartsman did touch on the subjects in his recent letter to the community, we were able to get him to elaborate a bit more on the third closed beta event, large scale events and more. Keep reading after the jump for the full interview!

There is a a new blog post by David Campbell, Marketing and Web Writer for ArenaNet, on the second novel in the Guild Wars series "Edge of Destiny." Included in the blog post is the first chapter of the novel written by J. Robert King.

Our band of adventurers, Destiny’s Edge, forms during this tumultuous era, and their deeds become the stuff of legend.  You’ll meet many of these characters in-game from the very beginning of Guild Wars 2, but you don’t have to wait until launch to get to know them. They are the dashing human champion Logan Thackeray, the fierce charr warrior Rytlock Brimstone, the asura inventor Snaff and his protégé Zojja, the enigmatic sylvari known as Caithe, and the norn heroine Eir.

Edge of Destiny is the story of how these mismatched heroes band together, how they become a team capable of taking down the most fearsome foes… and what happens when they dare to challenge the power of an Elder Dragon itself.

See the blog posting here and leave your comments on the novel in our forum at ArenaNet: The New Guild Wars Novel – Edge of Destiny.

Trion Worlds just announced that the third Rift closed beta event, "Enter the Rift," will begin on Dec. 28 at 10 a.m. PST and run through Dec. 31 at 10 a.m. Players will be able to create a character from either the Guardian or Defiant factions and play through the first 20 levels of content.

In addition, the non-disclosure agreement for the closed beta officially lifted today! Beta participants are now allowed to share their experiences regarding the closed beta events. So what are your thoughts on Rift? Let us know!

Do you want to participate in the third closed beta event? We're still giving away VIP keys that will grant you entry into every Rift beta event, and all you need to do is contribute in our Rift forums. Winners are selected based on their activity on our new Rift site, so keep posting in our forums and commenting on our articles!

Trion Worlds has sent us an early holiday gift: the complete introduction movies for Rift's Guardian and Defiant factions! These cinematics are the lore pieces that players will see just after they create their characters, before jumping into the starting zones.

Are you trying to decide whether to make your first character a Guardian or Defiant? Do you want to know more about the story behind this upcoming fantasy MMO? Do you just want to watch some epic videos? Then check out the intro movies after the jump!

UPDATE: It turns out the original Guardian cinematic that Trion Worlds sent over contained placeholder voice-over work. The video has been updated to contain the correct voice acting, which is definitely more impressive. Watch it below!

As a special holiday gift, En Masse Entertainment has sent us some new TERA screenshots! You can view them by clicking the above image or by heading over to our image gallery. Enjoy!

If you're itching for more TERA news, be sure to check out our recent exclusive in-depth look at the sorcerer class, as well as our sorcerer Q&A with Lead Writer David Noonan.

ArenaNet brings us a new blog with Concept artist Jamie Jang this time as he talks about making this year's ArenaNet Holiday Card.

Early on in the process, Jamie decided she wanted to design a card which features stockings for each of the five iconic characters from Guild Wars 2 and the upcoming Guild Wars novel Edge of Destiny: Logan Thackeray, Rytlock Brimstone, Zojja, Eir Stegalkin, and Caithe. They are Destiny’s Edge, five heroic individuals who answered the call and rose to fight for their people – and on this card they are just as cute as heck!

“I had this idea of stockings hanging over the mantel,” Jamie Jang says. “Since these characters are going to be the center of the new Guild Wars 2 novel, it made sense to create an image where they are the focus and the subject.”

See the rest of the blog here.

The White Knight - A self-appointed hero who tirelessly defends those in need. The slings and arrows of outrageous customer dissatisfaction shall not scar Square Enix while this stalwart figure is there to defend their actions.

The Troll - Enemy to all but himself, the contrarian Troll knows his opinion is all that matters. No point of view goes undulled by his grinding criticism while he is around.

Today, these two icons debate whether Final Fantasy XIV can survive -- in the face of its own players.

Where do you stand?  Discuss in the ZAM Forums!

Disclaimer: This is a point-counterpoint editorial meant to open a discussion and not necessarily promote either view expressed by the characters within.  Also, I realize it's an Ogre.  FFXIV has no Trolls!

En Masse Entertainment has added an awesome new feature to their website in the form of an interactive map. The map allows the user to view geographical maps of areas and zones along with providing location-specific lore.

Currently the map has broad utility allowing the user to view continental regions such as Northern Shara, Southern Shara and Southern Arun. Clicking on these regions will bring up access to the primary cities and the native races from them. We are looking forward to more information regarding individual zones and hope that En Masse continues to update their interactive map.

You should head over to the Official TERA homepage and check out the new map for yourself!