The second Rift closed beta event kicks off today, Dec. 17, at 10 a.m. PST, and to celebrate we're posting the third installment of our exclusive Rift dev blog series! In this entry, Vice President of Development Russ Brown outlines his typical day at the Trion Worlds office. He emphasizes that player feedback is needed to make the game shine, which is why these beta events are so important to the Rift team. You can read his entire entry after the jump.

Do you want to take part in this weekend's "Guardians of the Vigil" event and share your thoughts with Trion Worlds? 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!

The Wardens of Freemarch are dead and buried in the vast catacombs of the Iron Tomb, but their eternal rest has been disturbed as cultists from the Endless Court have invaded this sacred place in search of a powerful artifact. Join the deadly struggle deep below Freemarch, as Ascended flock to drive the Death Cult from the Warden’s eternal resting place!

Be sure to check out the new screenshots in our gallery, and keep reading after the jump for the lore behind the Iron Tomb. Also, while we all wait for Rift to launch in 2011, you can still contribute in our Rift forums for a chance to win a VIP beta key! The key will get you into this weekend's second closed beta event, as well as every other upcoming beta event!

More exclusive TERA information for you all! This time around, to follow-up on our exclusive sorcerer character class reveal on Tuesday, we've got another ZAM exclusive in the form of an interview with David Noonan, lead writer for En Masse Entertainment! In this interview, we went straight to the source for some clarification on the sorcerer's unique abilities, as well as really finding out what makes playing a sorcerer in TERA so very different from any other MMORPG.

All in all, if you were ever sitting on the fence about TERA's sorcerer, wondering if this class would suit your playstyle, read up on our exclusive interview to really get a feel for this class!

While we patiently wait for Square Enix to add meat to Final Fantasy XIV, why not grab the bull by the horns and revamp your own in-game experience?

I’m talking about linkshells. Final Fantasy XIV may (currently) be a solo-centric game, but roaming Eorzea is much more fun when there are other adventurers to keep you company. If you’ve been suffering from the lonely linkshell blues, now is the perfect time to do something about it. There may never be a better time.

In the absence of content, a little fellowship can go a long ways. And there are many, many players out there who are the lone survivors in linkshells that had big plans just a few months ago. If you want to join a new linkshell, these players will be happy to invite you. If you want to recruit for your linkshell, these players are ripe for recruiting.

Discuss this in the ZAM forums!

Ever since RPGs and, by extension, MMORPGs found their place in the gaming market, the classic mage archetype has always managed to make its way into the ranks of selectable classes. Well, TERA is no different in this regard. In our latest exclusive in-depth class preview, we're looking at TERA's powerful sorcerer!

Keep reading after the jump for all sorts of details on the sorcerer, including 10 tactics tips and a video of the class in action! Also, be sure to check out all of the brand new sorcerer screenshots in our image gallery.

I must admit -- Square Enix has been making many promises regarding Final Fantasy XIV, but I fell victim to the pessimism.  They offered new items, new monsters, free months and more, but like many of our forum goers, I still felt disillusioned.

However, today's announcement has blown me away.  Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada stepped up and initiated a complete overhaul of the development team roster.  Hiromichi Tanaka has stepped down from his role as Producer, and Nobuaki Komoto has moved from Director to Lead Game Designer.

Adventurers can rest easy knowing that Naoki Yoshida is now at the reigns.

Wait, who is Naoki Yoshida?

Today SOE released more information on the Freeblood vampires.  If you were following the news yesterday you know that some early pictures of the new playable race were unintentionally released.  The art department was right on it, and this evening some very impressive pictures were posted on EQII Players.  Dave "Covic" Brown II, EQII Lead Character Artis, posted: "These are the first models that use normal maps instead of bump maps, the models are higher poly count then other character models but still within reason.  The most time consuming task is getting outfits to fit on the new geo and the facial custom bone skinnning.  But its all be worth the extra effort."

The new race has a Racial Trait called "Reveal Inner Self" which lets the character change from attractive to demonic in appearance.  It also uses a new hand-to-hand combat animation set, and will include a special “invisible” appearance weapon that lets the character use these combat animations, even if they’re wielding a sword and shield.

For more information, see the article on EQII Players or our new Freeblood race page!

While we all patiently wait for the second Rift closed beta event to begin on Dec. 17, Trion Worlds has officially revealed screenshots and lore for the Plane of Earth! As players may expect, Earth Rifts choke the air with thick dust and spawn all sorts of mighty monstrosities that must be vanquished to save Telara.

Be sure to check out the new Plane of Earth screenshots in our gallery, and keep reading after the jump for the lore behind the Earth Rifts. Also, keep participating in our Rift forums for a chance to win a VIP beta key that will get you into every upcoming beta event, including the one that will run from Dec. 17-20!

Christmas is coming, which means it's time to shop for holiday gifts. This past Sunday, I headed to the mall to find some jewelry for my wife (don’t worry, she won’t be reading this).  I walked in, stopped by a couple stores, viewed a few trinkets and picked out the perfect present.

If you do your own holiday shopping, perhaps you’ll think the same thing I did: thank goodness Mall Eorzea only exists in Final Fantasy XIV.

Discuss this in the ZAM forums!

The season of giving and cheer arrived two days early as players were surprised to see that Frostfell had been activated after today's hotfix. Word spread quickly and adventurers rushed to see Santa Glug, craft the new items or run through the holiday quests.

This year Frostfell introduces two new quests: Frostfell Fanatic and Raiding the Gifty Storehouse. A total of 37 new craftables are available to tradeskillers this year, resulting in items such as the Green Shiny Bell and Gingerbread Divider. Many of the returning event quests have new reward choices available to them.

Players with extra "gifties" from the Gigglegibber Gifty Storehouse can exchange them for Frozen Tokens of E'ci on the Enchanted Lands dock. Santa Glug can be found with his bag of goodies inside the Frostfell Wonderland Village for players to receive their daily presents. Also new this year are a banker and mailbox to accomodate those spending a lot of time inside the Wonderland Village.

ZAM is pleased to offer alt-a-holics a Frostfell Quest Tracker this year. Print it out and chart up to 15 of your characters' progress! Happy Frostfell!