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!

A few weeks back, I flew out to Edmonton to join close two dozen other journalists to get a really good understanding of BioWare's latest epic RPG: Dragon Age 2. Well, no story simply ends at one author's opinions, and this is definitely the case today. I managed to snag the attention of Executive Producer Mark Darrah to pick his thoughts clean on a huge variety of things, ranging from just how happy he is with Dragon Age 2, all the way to the reason why BioWare is so good at making unique and lasting games. So without further ado, let's get on with this hefty interview!

Following Sony Online Entertainment's announcement yesterday that DC Universe Online will launch on Jan. 11, 2011, we decided to go straight to Game Director Chris Cao to find out how the team is preparing for the imminent release of the game.

The action MMO was originally scheduled to launch on Nov. 2, but was ultimately pushed back to make sure it was truly ready to go live. What has the team learned from the extra time in beta? What's the mood like at the office with only three weeks until launch? Keep reading after the jump to find out!

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!

UPDATE: Rob ultimately dinged 85 in the final hour of the WoW marathon. While he didn't achieve his goal of a world first level 85 character, his team did raise more than $1,600 for Free Wheelchair Mission.

It's safe to say that most World of Warcraft fans have plans for tonight. Once midnight PST hits, Cataclysm will go live and bring with it a new level cap, two new races, new zones, and much more. Your guild is ready, friends are standing in line with you at your local video game store (unless, of course, you digitally pre-ordered the expansion), and copious amounts of caffeinated beverages have been purchased. What could be better? How about playing a game you love for a good cause? That's exactly what a group of players in California are doing for the next two days.

Rob “Scrawn” Flaska is an avid WoW player who has achieved several milestones since he started playing in the friends and family alpha, back when the highest level was 10. Once Cataclysm launches in a few short hours, Rob will be attempting to be the first person in the world to reach 85. Yeah, yeah, him and about a million other people, right? Well, Rob has a little experience in this area, including several server firsts when Wrath of the Lich King was released. And while it may be his personal goal to race to the level cap, his main motivation is to raise money for charity.

We had a chance to sit down and talk to our friends over at TeraWorld about their experiences with the TERA Korean stress test.  They agreed to answer a few of our questions and help shine some light on what kind of gaming experience TERA has to offer. Of course, just as a reminder, the Korean version of the game will differ slightly from the westernized version for North American and European players. Keep reading after the jump for all the details!

ZAM:  What kind of latency did you experience? How did this affect your ability to effectively play both PvE and PvP?

TeraWorld:  Here in Spain we don't have the fastest connections in the world and playing on a Korean server, the ping can be annoying. In PvE this is not a big problem; you can still play almost normally, but you lose your speed attack (and it shows a lot in fast classes). But in PvP, where you need to be much more accurate, it can actually become a problem. It was very difficult to duel Koreans. You were at a disadvantage.

The Wizard101 Test Realm opened last night to add a surprising new feature to the game: Gardening! Once the update hits the live servers, players will be able to grow plants in their dorm rooms and castles for the chance to harvest all sorts of items, including reagents and gold. Young wizards will need to nurture their plants in order to climb up the 10 ranks of gardening, which will give them access to more gardening equipment and spells.

We wanted to get more details on the new gardening system, so we went straight to Vice President of Marketing Fred Howard and Public Relations Director Benjamin Conrad for some answers. Keep reading after the jump for some in-depth information about gardening in Wizard101!

Released in February 2009 in Europe and July 2009 in the United States, Darkfall is a subscription-based fantasy game that differs from the standard MMO model. Setting aside experience and levels, Darkfall focuses on skills as a method of advancement – for example, the more you use a spell, the better you get at it. Besides this skill-based scheme, Darkfall also hosts unfettered PvP combat: you can be attacked anywhere, at any time.

Darkfall has been described as having a steep learning curve, and the game has undergone several changes to entice new players. Aventurine has implemented everything from bug fixes and a streamlined introductory flow to a new blog and Facebook page to bring new players into the fold. We had a chance to speak with Developer Tasos Flambouras (who also got some feedback from Designer Claus Grovdal) about the game’s new features, the recent Hellfreeze expansion and Aventurine's vision for the future, which includes the possibility of a Darkfall sequel. Keep reading for all the details!

About a month ago, Champions Online announced that they would be making the shift to free-to-play. After the dust had settled and the details became clear, I felt that this really wasn't Champions Online going "free-to-play," rather, it felt as though Cryptic just wanted to introduce an endless free trial to their game. In my editorial, the problem I pointed to was the fact that it seemed as though Silver players (as in all non-subscribers, regardless of how much they've spent on microtransactions) would never be able to play with the same freedom as subscribers, and this struck me as a little bit odd.

There are always, however, opinions to be found for every side. We decided to sit down with Champions Online Executive Producer Shannon "Poz" Posniewski to get the real details on the major decisions made with Champions Online and why Cryptic feels that players should have nothing to fear when it comes to Archetypes and more. Read on!

With all signs indicating that the world-changing patch 4.0.3a will hit the live servers this week, we thought it was the perfect time to sit down with Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton to discuss The Shattering patch, the upcoming Cataclysm launch, the sixth anniversary of World of Warcraft, and more.

Stockton reflects on the design process behind the massive expansion and explains why he feels everything should run smoothly when Cataclysm is turned on at the stroke of midnight PST on Dec. 7. He also speaks at length about dynamic events like the Elemental Invasion and hints that similar world events could start appearing in WoW on a regular basis, including an expanded Darkmoon Faire. Keep reading after the jump for all of his answers!