Trading just got easier…and more profitable.

RuneScape’s Grand Exchange auction house has been finished, finally. You can place an item up for sale, pick your price, and wait. You can play RuneScape…or log out and do other things while you wait for the item to be sold. You can buy anything up for sell using a handy search tool.

Also introduced are Armor Sets, boxes containing entire sets of armor…so you can forget hunting for an entire set of gold-trimmed Rune armor!

“The beta ends…and the revolution begins.”

By November 1, the Pirates of the Caribbean Online MMORPG will be live for all to play. You can play for free, but paying “premium” members get more (of course). The downloadable client will be available in Mac and PC formats, so sharpen your cutlasses and all that. Get ready for some serious fun.

The pricing scheme for Pirates of the Caribbean Online has been announced. According to the released information, the Premium accounts, which offer more features than their free counterparts, will cost $9.95/month.

According to Disney, Premium accounts will feature “bigger and better ships,” the ability to create guilds, “expanded PVP combat,” and “expanded quests.” Just how much will free player get? What ship classes will be locked to free accounts? What quests won’t be available?

Hopefully Disney won’t be overly-cheap on the freeplay feature set. Too often free users are totally neglected in MMORPGS, rarely seeing anything new, or not having much to do at all.

Jagex LTD has expanded the RuneScape Clan Chat system today. Now you can set-up your clan to share drops earned in multi-combat zones among nearby clan members. Whenever a monster is beat, the loot will be semi-randomly given to a clan member within 16 “squares” of the monster. If you’re not lucky enough to get the loot, the game will remember and try to improve your probability the next time around. You can read more in the RuneScape Knowledge Base.

Here’s an interesting idea that merits experimentation: What if you attack the lesser demon in the Wizards’ Tower with your clan? Will someone get the loot without having to use Telekinetic Grab?

On July 16th, phase one of the Pirates of the Caribbean Online beta testing will be concluded. After that date, the game will go offline until September ( ), when phase two of the testing will begin.

In the meantime, the following will happen:

• The developers will fix a ton of bugs, improve things, and build a new version of the game system.
• The website will be overhauled (hint: no Flash!).
• We will get frequent updates from the developers.
• There will be some community contests.
• Screenshots, etc.

Hopefully there will be no phase three of beta testing, and the game will be launched by the end of November.

I’m sure you’ve heard of RuneScape by now. RuneScape users play it at libraries, they rant about it on forums, and they talk about it nonstop. Some people bash it nonstop instead. On forums it’s all too easy to find people arguing about whether RuneScape is A: a great game or B: total garbage. Having recently hit the “one million users mark,” it can’t be as bad as some people say it is.

I’ve been playing RuneScape for the last few years, though I haven’t been playing four hours a week like I used to. Currently I log in now and then, every couple weeks or so. (more…)

What’s more fun than watching Pirates of the Caribbean? How about playing it? Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean Online, which will be launched in May, fills the Pirate MMORPG niche finally. Originally scheduled to be released at the same time as the Dead Man’s Chest, POTC Online was moved forward a year. It is supposed to be released around the same time as Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End. Excited? Being a beta tester for the game, I can fill you in a bit.

In POTC Online, you create a character by dragging sliders to set your build, height, skin tone, clothes, eye color, nose size, and dozens of other settings. Your avatar is very customizable. Having created your character, you and Jack Sparrow break out of prison. Jack vanishes and directs you to an inn. The innkeeper teaches you a bit of how to get around, and then tells you to go to Port Royale with Captain Bo Beck. You get on the Captain’s ship as he’s about to shove off. Cpt. Beck teaches you the basics of firing canons…just before Jolly Roger shows up. (more…)