There's been quite a bit of buzz around that whole little Warhammer game that's coming out soon, and while we're not a Warhammer blog or anything, we've at least covered the questions that keep arising over how it stack up to WoW. Will Warhammer Online be the game to beat WoW? Is Blizzard stealing Ideas from them?

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitello put his two cents into the kitty recently at an investor's meeting. Next Generation reports that he said the following:

"Warhammer Online [will be] a strong entry in the MMORPG space," Riccitiello said at the William Blair & Company's investor meeting Tuesday. "No, I don't think it's going to rival WoW, but no one would ever predict that. But it is a strong game that will ... get our returns for us. We're proud of it."

The idea of mobile MMORPGs has come up before. Blizzard is on board with the idea of a mobile WoW interface of some sort, and have even hired mobile engineers and designers. Second Life has started down the path too. Still, for all the promise of being able to run Deadmines while you're stuck in the back of a car on a cross country drive, or churning out Netherweave Bags while you're waiting at the clinic for your semi-annual medical checkup, it seems like there's hurdles yet to overcome. The biggest one, of course, is getting a mobile device to pack enough power to render WoW's graphics and keep track of all the information that WoW needs to run.

Luckily, it looks like Intel and Comverse are on the case for us. The two companies have worked together to create a 3D streaming system that compiles and renders all the graphics and data of an MMORPG on a central server, then sends it to the mobile device. You can read their researcher's post about it on the Intel blog site. You can also see the process demonstrated with Second Life in the video above, although there's not really a good shot of the mobile device screen to show us how well it actually works, unfortunately.

Still, if they can get the technology working feasibly, it should definitely put us one giant step closer to a relatively full fledged mobile WoW client. When the day comes that we can grind dailies on our iPhones, it may be that we'll have Intel to thank.

[Thanks to Bitterzoet for the tip!]

Or so wrote Robert Heinlein in Beyond the Horizon. The general idea was that, in a country where there were serious (and officially sanctioned) consequences to misbehavior from quarters other than the police, you'd wind up with a place where people really thought hard about whether it was worth pissing someone off just for the fun of it.

Whenever I'm reading about PvP, that quote always springs to mind. People who have played MMORPG's with more "hardcore" PvP systems have mentioned that the amount of random ganking you see in WoW just doesn't seem to occur on the same scale elsewhere. WoW's PvP is pretty consequence-free. Corpse runs are annoying, sure, and being camped is nobody's idea of fun. But you don't take durability or experience loss after a PvP death, and you don't lose money or items to the attacker. Nor does the attacker gain anything from killing you (unless it's honor if you weren't a gray target).

Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.

To celebrate the kick-off of HKO-Insider, Insider Trader will be doing a bonus column this week! As the closed beta has only just been put in the works, there are understandably few details floating around.

Currently, we have confirmed at least the following professions:

• Mining.
• Gathering fruit from the wild.
• Tailoring.
• Furniture-crafting.
• Farming.
• Cooking.
• House-building.
  

This week we will speculate on what we might see, and compose a wishlist for what we would like to see. Join us on Friday as we resume our normal schedule and delve deeper into the concept of mining as a profession, building on today's overview as well as player feedback.

Tonight the world will be celebrating Earth Hour, with individuals, cities and businesses turning off and unplugging as many of their electronics and lights as possible. How can you get involved when you have a scheduled raid, or when this is the only time for you to play today?

You need not feel pressured to unplug everything. Turn out as many lights as you can throughout your home, unplug the electronics and appliances in rooms you are not using, and consult Well Fed Buff for the perfect lights-out snack you can prepare before 8:00 p.m.

This event is important, not because it will change the entire world, but because it will send a message. Not only will we have the opportunity to think about our impact, and learn about just how much power the world did save in that one dark hour, but businesses and governments will realize just how serious people are today about the environment.

Gamers should be a part of that message. Lately, we have been garnering a poor reputation for ourselves, and not because we might all turn into mass murderers from staring all day violent images.

Before I started playing World of Warcraft, I hadn't played any other MMORPGS. As a matter of fact, I didn't even play video games regularly at all. I was always fascinated by hearing horror stories about the crazy things people did while playing Everquest. But I was also amazed by achievements and the vastness of the settings.

I've been playing WoW for about two years now. My boyfriend suggested I try it. I was hesitant to begin my adventures in Azeroth. I was afraid that buying the game would be a waste of money. I dragged my feet as I walked into the game store and grimaced a bit as the clerk swiped my debit card. I was dreadful at navigating in video games and was overwhelmed by the amount game knowledge it took to be successful. It took me about ten months to get my first level 60 character. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I first started playing. I really wish I had discovered WoW Rookie sooner. In the end, I discovered that WoW is awesome. I love being part of the community.

MMO sites across the 'net have recently been abuzz with the question of what everyone's top ten MMOs are, inspired by a forum thread on f13.net. As of this morning, f13 has compiled the following rankings:

814 pts. - World of Warcraft
514 pts. - City of Heroes/Villains
471 pts. - Dark Age of Camelot
459 pts. - Ultima Online
450 pts. - EverQuest
435 pts. - Eve Online
349 pts. - EverQuest 2
348 pts. - Star Wars Galaxies
308 pts. - Lord of the Rings Online
219 pts. - Planetside

Though our game of choice, World of Warcraft, is ahead of the competition, this morning I'd like to ask you where WoW would rank in your own top ten list. Is it number one, matching f13's list, or not?

We've been working through the night to put the final touches on our new MMO-centric blog, Massively. Be the first to stop by and establish your FIRST POST cred in our comments.

So what should you expect to see on Massively? The same level of in-depth game coverage you see on WoW Insider, only for more MMOs than you can count -- even if you use all of your fingers and all of your toes. While WoW Insider will still be here, covering everything about World of Warcraft, we invite you to visit Massively for all the news on the other virtual worlds in the neigborhood. And who knows: you may just find a new MMO to love.

But for those of you who need more encouragement to join us, we're launching with a bang and a 24 hours of Tabula Rasa giveaway. Every hour on the hour we're giving away Tabula Rasa swag from NCsoft to kick off two weeks of daily game giveaways. And if that's not tempting, I don't know what is.

...or second choice? While those of us here at WoW Insider heavily obsess over World of Warcraft, we're vaguely aware that it's not the only game out there. But here and now we're not going to talk about World of Warcraft -- we're going to talk about the other games you play. Do you moonlight with another MMO? Tell us what your favorite is in our poll -- or if it's not an option on our poll, leave us a comment!

Do you live and breathe massively multiplayer online games? Can you chart the history of your game characters all the way back to Ultima Online? Is the list of betas you've participated in enough to wallpaper a small room? Then you may just have what it makes to join us and make some money doing something you love -- writing about games. The Joystiq network is looking for some talented writers with an interest in those funny "massively multiplayer online" games to add to the team. Have we got your interest yet? Then keep reading for complete application instructions!

I'm going to make a guess that since you're here reading this post, World of Warcraft is probably your MMO of choice. But that doesn't mean it's perfect... and I imagine even the games' most stalwart supporters can see room for improvement in places. So for today's topic, I'm asking what you'd put in an MMO designed just for you. What would your perfect MMO have -- and does World of Warcraft have it?

Over on the official forums, Granada asks what features you've seen in other games that you wish were available in World of Warcraft. Sure, some of the suggestions are just silliness (do we really need chainsaws and nailguns?), but there's quite a bit of good info in the thread as well. Some common suggestions:

• The music-playing system from Lord of the Rings Online
• Player or guild housing found in many games
• Fully automated NPCs that could be hired to fill party slots, as in Guild Wars
• Armor dyes found in many games

So, have you seen anything in another game that you'd like to find it World of Warcraft one day?

Just yesterday we were discussing an interview in the Guardian Unlimited with Richard Bartle, the well-known co-creator of the MUD. I found the interview to give us a fascinating perspective on the genre from someone who was there when it was just beginning, but at the end he made a comment about World of Warcraft which are what's making all the headlines. The Guardian Unlimited introduced the article under this title:

"I'd close World of Warcraft!" MUD creator Richard Bartle on the state of virtual worlds.

While anyone who reads the rest of the article will walk away understanding the point Bartle's attempting to make -- that the millions of people playing World of Warcraft should give other games a chance, because by having all MMO players congregate in a single game, we miss out on potential new and innovative game development -- but how many people stopped reading at the headline? Today Bartle comments on his personal blog about his thinking when answering the question:

The question used the word "major." So, what major virtual worlds are there? Well, there's WoW, and ... er ... some in Korea? Whereas 5 years ago we had several major virtual worlds (UO, EQ, AC, DAOC, AO, ...), now they're all minor compared to WoW. WoW has done a fantastic job of engaging with players, giving them a great experience, and educating them in the ways of virtual worlds. If it weren't for WoW, ... Hmm. Actually, now WoW has done all that, if it were to disappear overnight then it would be a huge boost to the rest of the industry.

It's not a totally unreasonable line of thought, but with a headline like that... Bartle wonders how many people will think that he "actually want[s] to close down WoW, and start sticking pins in their Bartle voodoo dolls as a result."

tehkittyboy over on the WoW LJ passes along this WoW Purity Test. I'm not usually one for taking these online tests, but considering it had to do with WoW, I went ahead and filled it out. Just like all of these quizzes (in the great tradition of Cosmo quizzes), it's silly, but you end up with a number that you can feel good (or bad?) about. In my case: 35%. Which sounds low, but then again, maybe it's a good thing that I don't have 60 days /played on one character.

And if you're after something a little more serious, Curse points us to this slightly more academic gamer psychology test on GuildCafe. It's based on the Bartle Test, a famous test about 10 years old meant to categorize online game players into four different groups: Achievers, Explorers, Socializers, and Killers. The test was originally created for players of MUDs (if you remember those), but it's now been updated for MMORPG players. According to this test, I am an SAEK, which means I'm more interested in socializing and achieving than finding new places ingame and killing other players. Is that why my WoW Purity score is so low? Who knows.

A tipster informs us that researchers at the University of Texas at Austin are conducting a study to try to determine the "personalities and motivations" of people participating in World of Warcraft and other online games. And they're asking for our help! So if you have 10 or 15 minutes of free time, why not go fill out their MMORPG Survey? (Or if learning about the personalities and motivations of yourself and fellow players doesn't interest you, there's another study running at the university that seeks to understand how people interact in online environments. However, I've got to warn you, that one will take 20 to 30 minutes of your time.) The survey itself looks like a standard personality test, and, I have to say, is pretty uninteresting. However, I'm quite interested in seeing what sort of results they come out with in the end -- and if you're as curious as I am participating will only lead to more varied results in the end.

Update: There is a great deal of discussion in our comments about the possibility of this site being a scam of some sort. While I agree that the domain name of the site is fishy, the content looks completely legitimate. (And, yes, I did run through this on my personal computer before passing it on to you.) With the original and subsequent e-mails we've received about the site, I would say it's legitimate. However, I have removed the link to the site pending further verification.

Update 2: After trading e-mails with Austin Harley (yes, through a valid University of Texas mailing address), one of the researchers involved in the study, I am convinced that this is, in fact, a valid project. Of the odd hosting arrangement, he says:

A good friend of mine offered to build a web page for my site and link it to an already functional database he had. He said this would be easier on him than building one off a webpage on the utexas server so I happily agreed since he was really doing me a huge favor. I had no idea so many people were worried about a potential scam or that my site would cause such a stir.

Update 3: To further assure anyone's concerns, I have talked to a member of the UT faculty overseeing this project, who, again, assures me that this is a legitimate study.