Like a relentless machine, BioWare continues to roll out updates for Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR). From Rise of the Rakghouls to the new Legacy system, the development team has focused on delivering new content alongside a range of quality of life improvements demanded by the fans. With their next update on the horizon, the team shows no signs of slowing down.

Game Update 1.3 - Allies - introduces a strong blend of tools intended to make forming groups much easier, along with even more ways to customize how we play. Currently undergoing internal testing, the update should be available on the public test server soon and live later this summer.

As well as a great video from James Ohlen, we were able to catch a presentation on the update, at London’s recent Comic Con, by technical design director Emmanuel Lusinchi. We also had the opportunity to put some questions to lead designer Daniel Erickson, asking for his thoughts about previous SWTOR game updates and what fans can look forward to beyond the upcoming patch.

In this five-part miniseries, we sat down with the developers behind the highly anticipated MechWarrior Online to talk about everything you want to know about this upcoming action title. Be sure to check out our previous interviews in the series:

• Brian Ekman, Creative Director
• Russ Bullock, President
• Paul Inouye, Lead Designer
• Matthew Craig, Technical Director
• Dennis de Koning, Art Director

Sorry for the delay in our interview mini-series! We should now be back on track with an interview with Piranha Games' Technical Director, Matthew Craig, and boy does he have a lot to say! Read on for Matthew's thoughts on the future of MechWarrior Online (as well as his technical aspirations), as well as his inspirations and details on MechWarrior Online's launch day features.

The first play test just ended for Trion's newest open-world PvP content, and the next test begins this Thursday. Hal Halin (Design Producer), Bill Fisher (Lead Game Designer) and Chris Junior (Senior Systems Designer) chatted with ZAM about what this huge new PvP format will hold... and the trials and tribulations of balancing such a a major undertaking. Read on to learn more!

New Quests: A Feathered Nuisance

New Items: Grimkell's Shoes ;  Grimkell's Boots ;  Slim Copper Armband ;  Thin Copper Armband ;  Furred Bear-Pelt Shirt ;  Thick Bear-hide Tunic ;  Delicate Golden Bracelet ;  Fine Golden Bracelet ;  Lynx-Pelt Trousers ;  Lynx-Pelt Leggings ;  Ripped Feather ;  Yellowed Beak ;  Turchathol

Updated Objects: Lever of the Axe ;  Lever of the Jewel ;  Lever of the Moon ;  Lever of the Sun ;  Puzzle-vault

In an MMO all about secrets, knowing the answers to some of the riddles and puzzles can make you a very useful person to know. When you consider the meta-game that Funcom has created around The Secret World (TSW), getting a chance to speak to those in the know is like finding a hidden cache full of classified information, just waiting to be unlocked.

After our hands-on with The Secret World’s Atlantic Island Park, I had an opportunity to chat with just such a person. Funcom’s Tor Egil Anderson kindly spent some time with me. We discussed the depth of the ability wheel, player created content and the general direction of development. We also talked briefly about The Secret War, Funcom’s web based warm-up to the MMO’s launch on June 19th.

Get Your Adventurer Wings Code for War of the Immortals!

With War of the Immortals' upcoming expansion, Last Omen, launching on May 10th, 2012, we here at ZAM got the chance to chat with Perfect World Entertainment Product Manager Thang Phan to talk about what's in store for WOI players. In this exclusive interview, we talk about changes to the clan systems, new bloodline powers, the big PvP updates, and the highly anticipated scythe-wielding Harbinger class. We're also giving away Adventurer's Wings for War of the Immortals, so head over to our giveaway page to grab yours today! Read on for the interview and the expansion trailer beyond!

While much of our MechWarrior coverage here at ZAM has been on Piranha Games' MechWarrior Online (you can check out our interview series with the folks at Piranha Games, starting with Creative Director Brian Ekman here), there appears to be another MechWarrior game, titled MechWarrior Tactics (MW:T), that will be making its way to browsers around the world this year. Developed by A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games and Roadhouse Interactive, MechWarrior Tactics is a free-to-play online browser-based game that combines a tactical hex-based asynchronous combat system with those giant metal mechs that we all love. To get more details on this title, I hopped in on a roundtable call with Tarnie Williams, President of Roadhouse Interactive, and Chris Cleroux, Lead Designer for A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games Inc.

"Capture, Train, and Morph any of the unique creatures you encounter while exploring the vast and spectacular world of Spirit Tales. Strive for victory!" So begins the tagline for Koramgames "cutest fantasy game ever!" Hey, cute and cuddly doesn't necessarily mean kiddie content; and we put some questions to David Hu and the Spirit Tales team about what this new Taiwan-based MMO brings to the table.

ZAM is also having a small twitter contest to give away Winter Wolf Pup Pet Codes! Just tweet / follow @ZAMOfficial or @Pwyff with why you should have a Winter Wolf Pup, and we'll select some lucky winners throughout today! You may enter once per twitter account for a total of two entries! Be sure to follow us, or we can't directly message you with your winning code!

If you win a Winter Wolf Pup code, just go to myaccount.turbine.com, and enter the code we give you. Then, log into the DDO game client and receive an item in your character inventory. You can then redeem this in-game item to Caypenn Drop-Axe near the Leaky Dinghy in the Stormreach Harbor to receive your swag bag and Winter Wolf Pup!

While the Turbine booth - a subset of the WB Games booth - at PAX East 2012 was a little understated in comparison to the huge, sprawling behemoths of other developer booths (I'm looking at you, 2K Games), the content they were showcasing was anything but. In focus this time around was, of course, the Dungeons & Dragons Online team with their Menace of the Underdark expansion set to launch June 25th, 2012. While my interview with Fernando Paiz covers most of the big features coming in Menace of the Underdark, I can't stress enough how great these graphical additions are looking in the game. After my interview with Fernando, I sat down for a brief guided tour through Eveningstar and the King's Forest, and I can easily say this is an expansion done right. Not only is the DDO team pursuing new concepts and themes with Forgotten Realms, but the whole thing just looks sharp. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what the DDO team can do with Forgotten Realms. Now on with the interview!

In this five-part miniseries, we sat down with the developers behind the highly anticipated MechWarrior Online to talk about everything you want to know about this upcoming action title. Be sure to check out our previous interviews in the series:

• Brian Ekman, Creative Director
• Russ Bullock, President
• Paul Inouye, Lead Designer
• Matthew Craig, Technical Director
• Dennis de Koning, Art Director

And we're back! After the team took a hiatus to prepare for GDC and the summer convention season, it looks like things are now back on track with our MechWarrior Online interview series! Up today is Piranha Games' Lead Designer, Paul Inouye, here to talk about his role on MWO, the proliferation of third-party VOIP programs (and why you won't get some really cool in-game voice comm jammers), griefers in MWO, and more. Read on!