Living a Fantasy Life: Or, Who are Those Guys with Swords?

Last week we had some rumors of Wrath of the Lich King going into alpha, and people everywhere reacted with reverent discussions of what this means to the gaming community, what a possible release date would be, and what we can expect to see from Blizzard.

Shockingly (can ya feel the heavy sarcasm here?), Blizzard hasn't announced anything. Nor do they plan to. Why? They don't care. And neither should you! Alpha means nothing. Even beta means nothing … unless you happen to be picked for it. Then it means not letting your friends find out unless you plan to protect your very life from your best friend who would kill you in your sleep for a chance at playing a Death Knight before anyone else!

In reality (where I hope most of you live), this type of rumor is probably true, but changes nothing. Blizzard will release the most highly anticipated expansion, followed in fan support only by Burning Crusades, when it's done. Even if it means pushing it back, and not talking about it for months, as they are prone to do.

That's how it's always been for them, and always will be. It's why, in the end, Blizzard is a top notch company with a reputation for polish and style that no one has been able to match.

This wasn't the only news to bring sarcasm and interest on the part of yours truly! Read on to find out what else is going on in the MMO world!

I know that typically you won't see an interview with a rock band on a MMO media site, but in this case I think we're okay. The Sword is a "heavy metal" style rock band that is making its way onto the scene with lyrics and a sound that fits right in with our entertainment. Sending their message using terms like "to mourn the death of our ancient queen" ("How Heavy This Axe ") and "Imprisoned by wizards to sing for a serpent" ("Under the Boughs "), The Sword is a music group after our very own hearts. Hailing from Austin, Texas, John D. Cronise took a few minutes to chat with us about their music, his viewpoints, and ninjas!

Allakhazam: Hi there! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Could you please tell us who you are, what you do, and a bit about yourself for our readers?

John: I am John D. Cronise of heavy metal band The Sword.  I sing and play the guitar.  I'm a Gemini.

The Frag Dolls are a group of women recruited and promoted by Ubisoft to bring the presence of women in gaming to the industry's attention.  At least, that's what they started out to be.  However, they are really a bunch of really cool gamers who can kick some serious ass on the PC - and they just happen to be women.

Our top notch network news reporter, Becky "Tovin" Simpson, caught up with the Frag Dolls recently for some interviews, and here is the next in our series.  In this installment, Tovin chats with Marcella " Pyra " Fernandez , a Pharmameutical student and world-class female gamer. Pyra was a member of the all-female team to ever place 6th in the Cyberathlete Professional League (the highest for an all-women team in the League's history), all while playing Halo 2.

Trading card games. TCGs. Table-top cards taking the place of traditional board games. This has become a phenomenon in the past decade that has surpassed what many believed possible. Take Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, or Yu-Gi-Oh. Seriously - pocket pets that have become a multi-billion dollar industry comprising of toys, television, movies, collectibles and more?!?

Hard to believe, isn't it?

Well.. not for some. In fact, the TCG industry has gone even further and invaded our online gaming. Maybe "invaded" isn't the right term, especially since that implies an unwanted presence. Rather, TCGs have expanded and grown into the online media so well that they're no longer just an "accepted norm", but becoming part of the overall expected package included in many initial new game designs.