As 2010 winds to a close and we prepare for 2011, the ZAM news team decided to take a look back at this year's highs and lows, as well as share what we're excited to see in 2011. Our team has changed a bit recently, so we wanted to take the time to properly introduce ourselves and talk about about our favorite topic: gaming.

Over the next few pages, you'll get to meet Editor-in-Chief Darryl "Togikagi" Gangloff (yours truly), Senior Staff Writer Chris "Pwyff" Tom, Reporter Kayla "Reiyami" Smith and Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland. Keep reading after the jump for my personal thoughts on 2010 and then flip through the pages to hear from the rest of the team.

We'd love to know what you thought about 2010. Feel free to share your opinions in the comments section below, or contact us at news@zam.com. You can also find our individual contact information on the staff list page.

Are you ready to ring in the New Year? Nexon is helping Vindictus players kick off 2011 with a bang by offering the New Year's Renewal Pack in the Supply Depot for a limited time only. From today through Jan. 11, you can purchase the pack and gain the following:

• Storage Chest Expansion Ticket (90 Days)
• 30 Day Hair Coupon (worth up to NX 1900)
• 30 Body Tattoo Coupon
• Title: "Might of the Lepus"
• 10,000 Gold

The entire package costs 9,900 NX and is only available to purchase once per character.

Seems like every MMO is gearing up for the holidays with events, items, and more. Vindictus is no exception, but they're giving fans a sneak peek before the festivities begin on Dec. 15.

A new video has been posted to YouTube showcasing some of the Holiday events and items. Check out the snowball fight and festive gear (girls in bikinis) as well as a first look at the all new Laghodessa Raid mission.You can watch the full video after the jump.

UPDATE: Nexon has extended these events through Sunday, Dec. 12! Enjoy double exp from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. PST and free boat rides from 6-7 p.m. PST each day this weekend.

In order to thank Vindictus players for their patience during several recent unscheduled maintenance periods, Nexon is hosting a double exp event today, Dec. 9, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. PST! The event starts in about 30 minutes, so hurry and log in to take advantage of the experience boost!

If you don't have time to play Vindictus right now, you can also enjoy free boat rides tonight from 6-7 p.m. PST. This means you won't have to pay a single token to enter any of the dungeons!

The ZAM Network is growing! We are extremely pleased to unveil SC2Ranks.com, VindictusDB.com and TorchlightArmory.com, some of the most well-designed, informative, and accurate websites for StarCraft II, Vindictus and Torchlight! These three games are among the most popular PC games to be released in the last few years, and each site features its own impressive set of tools to help the gamers they serve. While you may come to ZAM to learn more about World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy or EverQuest, we're guessing that one of these new sites may focus on another game you're interested in.

Improving and enhancing the gameplay experience of gamers and online communities has always been the single most important goal at ZAM, and all three of our brand new sites continue this trend. Both Shadowed and Premixedpie, the founders of the sites, will continue to run their day-to-day operations and be the faces for their communities; some of you may recognize Shadowed from his efforts on WoW Interface and he's done a great job with SC2 Ranks. Any of you that frequent the Vindictus official forums may have heard of Vindictus DB, but if you haven't you'll find the same sort of terrific database experience that you've come to expect from ZAM's properties.

That said, the staffers here at ZAM are excited to further the vision of each of these sites. With over 10 years of experience in databases and resources, we're eager to bring our expertise to these sites while keeping the core of what made them great in the first place. So, if you dream about destroying Zerg, drop-kicking gnolls, or crushing endless waves of spiders with your bare hands, go check out SC2 Ranks, Vindictus DB and Torchlight Armory. Let us know what you think, and please shoot us your thoughts here or in our feedback forum!

Episode 4: King of the Gnolls is now live in Vindictus. The update introduces new dungeons, new enemies, and a new level cap of 44 to the free-to-play action MMO. Players now have access to the Prairie Entrance and the Ruins of Sanctity dungeons and can earn new armor and skills. Also, the Balance, Critical and Attack Speed stats have been added to the weapons system. More details can be found in the patch notes.

To help you level up your character, Nexon is hosting a double exp event Dec. 1-3 from 6-8 p.m. PST each day. Also, each character will receive three free Mercenary Recovery Potions every day from Dec. 1-14 to celebrate the holidays.

Episode 4: "King of the Gnolls" is scheduled to launch on Dec. 1 in Vindictus, and it will introduce new dungeons, new enemies, and a new level cap of 44 to the free-to-play action MMO. The update will give players access to the Prairie Entrance and the Ruins of Sanctity dungeons and let them earn new armor, weapons and skills.

You can get a sneak peek at Episode 4 in the video after the jump. More details on the update can be found on the official Vindictus site.

G-Star 2010 was recently host to the annual Korea Game Awards in which Vindictus was awarded Grand Prize. The game took five other awards as well, making it the big winner this year. Vindictus recieved high scores for its action and graphics. It was praised for achieving the feat of implementing a physicis engine online, thus winning the first Grand Prize ever for Nexon.

Director Eun Seok Yi, in charge of the overall development of Vindictus, won all of the techincally creative categories (game planning/scenario, game graphics, game character, game sound) which was a first in the Korea Game Awards history. Vindictus also won the “Popular Game Award” in the Online Game Category.

Congratulations to everyone at Nexon and the whole Vindictus team!

Vindictus may have officially launched on Oct. 27, but Nexon has just released a new launch trailer called "The Way Out" to entice more players to try out the free-to-play action MMO. The trailer is pretty epic and is certainly worth a look. You can watch it after the jump.

Have you tried out Vindictus yet? if you have, which character is your favorite: Lann, Fiona or Evie?

Our Vindictus launch giveaway has come to a close, but some lucky players will be taking home prizes that include a Killer 2100 Network Gaming Card, a pair of Gunnar Optiks MLG Phantom Glasses, and a Tritton AX 720 Headset! The following grand prize winner is now the owner of all three items:

• Kyle J.

The following daily winners have earned the Killer 2100 Network Gaming Card and a pair of Gunnar Optiks MLG Phantom Glasses:

• Elizabeth B.
• Tania S.
• Kyle C.
• Joe S.
• Ryan L.
• Jonathan R.
• Mathew R.

Congratulations to all the winners! Be sure to check your e-mails for confirmation and to claim your prizes!